Basic products and features
To start accepting cards, apart from having a Merchant Service Agreement with an acquiring bank, a merchant will need a terminal that connects to the acquiring bank to process a card transaction.
In the majority of cases, the terminal will provide an authorisation when a transaction is processed. This confirms, at that time, that the card used has not been reported as lost or stolen and that there are sufficient funds available in the cardholder’s account to make the purchase. However, this is not a guarantee that the transaction will, ultimately, be paid as it may be charged back due to a variety of reasons.
An acquiring bank will manage the accepted card payments; placing the money or funds, for, say, a card present transaction, into the merchant’s account, typically within four working days after the transaction has been processed. Click here for the timings of other transaction types.
A merchant can find out about the range of other services an acquiring bank can provide in the Products and Services section of this site.
