Glossary

Acquirer

Licensed institution that processes the card transaction between the merchant and the card network, and passes the approved funds on to the recipient.

Acquirer is the financial institution licensed by card networks like Visa and Mastercard to process card transactions on behalf of a merchant. It is the acquirer that sends the transaction to the card network, receives the approval or decline response from the card's issuing bank, and credits the approved amount to the recipient.

A payment gateway can be connected to more than one acquirer at the same time. This routing between different acquirers is what allows a second route to be tried when the first one declines a transaction, a practice known as multi-acquirer routing.

Documentation exists so a seller never learns a rule on the day it costs them. Worth reading before you need it.
Wellington CostaGlobal Payments Specialist

Need to deal with acquirer in practice?

Mundpay processes payments in 190 countries with local currency checkout, a human risk team and fast payouts. Open an account and test it against your own operation.

Abrir minha conta na Mundpay

Written by Wellington Costa Global Payments Specialist

Writes about payment infrastructure, checkout conversion and chargeback reduction. Works directly with digital product sellers, affiliates and creators selling to more than 40 countries through Mundpay.