What is Acquiring (merchant acquiring)?
A banking service that allows a retail or service business to accept payment by bank card. The bank providing this service is called the acquirer. It concludes an agreement with the business, connects a POS terminal or an online payment page, routes the payment authorisation request to the card network, and then transfers the received amount to the business's account. However, the full amount may not arrive: if the agreement provides for the acquirer's service fee (commission), it is withheld; its size and calculation method depend on the agreement. The cardholder is served by the bank that issued the card (the issuer), while the business is served by the acquiring bank. If a disputed payment arises (for example, the buyer asks for a refund), the acquirer manages this process on the business's side. For an accountant this has a clear practical meaning: money from card payments may arrive from the bank with the service fee already deducted, so the sales amount and the amount credited to the account differ.