Need to know: Acquirer processing

In our new ‘Need to know’ series, we speak with some of the product experts at Tribe Payments – starting off with Alex Kelly, our VP of Business Solutions, who tells you all you need to know about Acquirer Processing  – including how it differs from an acquirer. 

At Tribe, we often get inquiries from merchants directly who are looking for an acquirer so who is who when it comes to payment processing? The difference between an acquirer processor and acquirer (often referred to as an acquiring bank) is that the acquirer assumes financial liability for the merchant's transactions and decide if they are able to provide the merchant account and take on the responsibility of settling the merchant's transactions into their bank accounts.  Typically, this role has been filled by banks – but the 21st century has featured an increasing number of non-bank acquirers, thanks to e-money licences. 

To keep it simple: It is the acquirer that has the direct relationship with the merchant and holds the responsibility for the risk associated with merchant acquiring, and the acquirer processor is the technical partner that provides the ability for the transaction to be authorised and settled, working simultaneously to minimise fraud and chargebacks.

Can the acquirer and the acquirer processor  be the same company? Yes, but they are often separate entities – and the proliferation of ways to pay in modern society, such as mPOS and crypto, as well as a range of card schemes requiring technical integration has further increased the number of processing specialists. Those providers that can cater for an increasingly fragmented payment ecosystem – and across borders – are capitalising, and getting a jump on legacy providers.


How can Tribe help?
Tribe’s flexible modern technology is built to both match the demands of the modern payments landscape and, crucially, it’s future-proofed by way of its modular design.  

Tribe can support payments from any channel and any device type; and our solution also supports multi-currency processing. Everything is PCI compliant and our proprietary 3D Secure solution meets Strong Customer Authentication compliance requirements, so you can reduce your burden and meet standards with ease.  Whether you are looking to set up as an acquirer or enhance your existing acquiring product, with Tribe, one integration equals global connectivity – we are globally certified with multiple card schemes - Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, JCB, Discover and American Express – and our Risk Monitor platform additionally provides a real-time monitoring and assessment of banking and card transactions against an array of bespoke scoring metrics in a truly data-agnostic manner.

It’s no secret that data means everything. Tribe commissioned research surrounding the state of play with merchants, and one of the key takeaways was how merchants were yearning for greater visibility of data and trends. With Tribe, you can receive real-time notifications, view live transactions and learn from real-time data analytics in the Tribe Hub dashboard. This vital data source will help you serve your customers better, providing them with key insights and actionable intelligence. 

In short, we’ll allow you to get on with what you do best – and serve your customers better – while we manage the acquirer processing.

And don’t just take our word for it…
Vialet, an alternative financial solutions provider, works with Tribe for both acquirer and issuer processing services. The partnership is a key part of Vialet’s ambitious ongoing growth plans which include using Tribe’s end-to-end payments platform to launch several issuing products, including both digital and physical credit and business cards with digital wallet options. 

“By using Tribe’s feature-rich solutions and data-driven controls, Vialet can shape their customer experience and deliver innovative payments services for their customers. Initially, we needed a ready-to-use solution that would come at a reasonable cost – but we ultimately chose Tribe because we know we will get a supportive partner who can help us achieve and even surpass our growth and diversification plans.”