Definition
An acquiring PSP (payment processor, acquirer-as-a-service) contracts with merchants to let them accept payments by card, transfer or wallet.
It runs the technical integration (terminal, web page, API, SDK), handles anti-fraud, 3DS2, routing and reporting, and then pays the merchant the proceeds of their sales after deducting the MDR. European leaders: Stripe, Adyen, Worldline, Mollie, Checkout.com.
Acquiring PSP vs regulated acquirer
- Regulated acquirer — the banking status (an EMI or a credit institution) that holds the scheme contract (Visa, Mastercard, CB) and receives the funds.
- Acquiring PSP — the commercial and technical layer that contracts with merchants. It may itself be a regulated acquirer (Adyen, Stripe) or rely on a third-party acquirer.
Stripe obtained its acquirer authorisation in Ireland in March 2019; before that, it went through partner acquirers.
The PayFac model
The Payment Facilitator aggregates many sub-merchants under a single scheme contract: the sub-merchant does not have to sign a direct contract, onboarding is instant, and the PayFac bears the KYB and fraud risk. This is the model of Stripe, Square, PayPal, Mollie and Adyen for Platforms — the one that let Shopify, Wix, Etsy and Uber onboard merchants in minutes.
What an acquiring PSP does
Beyond pure acquiring:
- a payment page (hosted or embedded), a mobile SDK, a terminal / SoftPOS;
- smart routing (choosing the optimal scheme and acquirer per transaction);
- tokenisation and a secure vault for MIT and subscriptions;
- 3DS2 orchestration and frictionless / challenge optimisation;
- proprietary anti-fraud (Stripe Radar, Adyen RevenueProtect);
- chargeback handling, reporting and reconciliation;
- multi-currency and local methods (iDEAL, Bancontact, BLIK, Pix);
- additional layers: card issuing, virtual accounts, payouts, BNPL.
Pricing models
- Blended: a single rate (Stripe France: 1.4% + €0.25 on EEA consumer cards) — simple and transparent.
- Interchange++: real interchange + scheme fees + a fixed acquirer fee — more optimal at volume, more complex (Adyen, Worldline).
- Negotiated key accounts: an MDR under 1% for very large merchants.
What an acquiring PSP is not
- Not a bank in the strict sense: it operates merchant payment accounts, not current accounts (except for a dedicated product such as Stripe Treasury).
- Not a scheme: it integrates Visa/MC/CB/Amex, without setting their rules.
- Not exclusive: a large merchant can combine several PSPs with an orchestrator on top.
- Not a wallet: Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal plug into its flow, not the other way around.
Within the PSD2 ecosystem
The acquiring PSP applies card SCA via 3DS2: it decides the risk scoring on the merchant side and requests (or not) SCA exemptions. Its ability to maximise frictionless flow without compromising security is a major competitive differentiator.
Real-world examples
- European leaders: Stripe (SaaS e-commerce), Adyen (omnichannel key accounts), Worldline/Ingenico (in-person + Europe), Mollie (mid-market), Checkout.com (e-commerce + crypto), Nexi, PayPal Braintree.
- Niche players: Lemonway, Mangopay, HiPay (marketplaces), Dalenys, Nepting (in-person), Trust Payments.
- Stripe: an authorised acquirer in Ireland, present in 47+ countries, with ~50 payment methods; 1.4% + €0.25 on EEA cards, 2.9% + €0.25 outside the EEA.
- Adyen: leader among very large merchants (Uber, Spotify, Microsoft, McDonald's, Airbnb), strong on omnichannel, with a "Single Platform" strategy.
- Worldline: FR and EU leader in the in-person space (terminals, retail, hospitality), in continuous consolidation (Ingenico, Bambora).
- AI: Stripe Radar (ML on hundreds of millions of transactions) claims a fraud capture rate above 95% with less than 1% false positives.
- Margin compression: competition on pure acquiring is pushing players towards value-added services (card issuing, embedded BNPL, virtual accounts, payouts) — an all-in-one model.
- PSR evolution: more MDR transparency for merchants and a harmonisation of chargeback rules — a direct impact on acquiring PSPs.