Merchant

A merchant is a business or individual that accepts payments for goods or services — typically through card transactions, bank transfers, or digital payment methods.

In card payments, the merchant works with an acquirer (acquiring bank or payment provider) to process transactions through a card scheme like Visa or Mastercard. Merchants pay processing fees in exchange for fast, secure settlement of funds.

Example:

An online retailer selling clothing accepts card payments via Stripe. The retailer is the merchant, Stripe is the acquirer, and the payment is processed through the Visa or Mastercard scheme.

Used in:

Payment processing, e-commerce, retail transactions, and merchant acquiring agreements.