Introduction
A merchant acquirer is an acquiring bank that processes transactions on behalf of the merchant. They allow merchants to accept payments made by the cardholders, and they are also a link between merchants, issuers, and payment networks.
How does merchant acquiring work?
When a customer makes a purchase online, they provide the merchant with their card details. The merchant forwards customers’ card information to the acquirer, which sends this information to the card association. The card association sends the transaction information to the issuing bank. Now it is the issuing bank’s duty to validate the transaction. That is how a transaction is processed.
Benefits of Merchant Acquiring
Easy to use
Sometimes, businesses provide their customers with the option of cash on delivery (COD) on purchases of products and services. However, this option can be risky because the customer is not available at home when the delivery is supposed to be. Therefore, providing an option to pay online is essential as it is quick and the transaction can be made in mere seconds.
Efficient security management
Oftentimes, online transactions can be perceived as unsafe as it requires card details. Having an acquirer can help businesses with ensuring their customers of high level of security. The merchant acquirer will have their own security management system and the businesses will have their own. Together, this makes the online transaction highly secure.
Increased customer loyalty
Today’s customers are tech-savvy and they expect every process to be smooth and seamless. They also expect retailers to provide them with more than one method of paying for their transactions. Therefore, if you are a company that provides several products and services, but have limited payment options, your customer base can shrink.
Offering the customers with online payment options will make the transaction process smooth and less time-consuming, which would earn you extra points from customers.
Merchant acquiring services and covid-19
The year 2020 surely accelerated the spread of contactless payment methods. Now customers expect every business to provide them with advanced contactless payment options. Customers are also not too excited about visiting stores or paying cash for deliveries. Therefore, providing online payment methods has become absolutely necessary where customers do not have to worry about being in direct contact with others. In this case, having a merchant acquirer will help your business in extending online payment processing services, and will help your business.
Conclusion
The world is becoming more and more digitized with each passing day. Tasks that had been performed physically such as shopping, can now be carried out through digital devices. In today’s time, incorporating online payment methods is highly essential for a businesses success. Having a merchant acquirer will not only make the transactions easier but it will also ensure increased security.
