Acquirer or Acquiring Bank
An acquirer is a bank that serves merchants. It is licensed to provide merchant accounts to qualified businesses, enabling these businesses to process payment card transactions.
Examples of acquirers include:
- FIS (Worldpay)
- JPMorgan Chase
- Fiserv (First Data)
- Bank of America
- Global Payments
What Does an Acquirer Do?
The acquirer is contracted with a processor through a merchant agreement to perform the following duties:
- Issue merchant accounts
- Obtain funds from the cardholder’s issuing bank and deposit them into the merchant’s account
- Assess fees to the merchant on behalf of the processor, issuers, and card brands.
- Monitor risk and implement revenue holds when necessary
Also referred to as:
- Acquiring bank
- Merchant bank
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