What do Enterprise Merchants want from an Acquirer?

Enterprise merchants have specific needs

Due to their size and operational complexity, enterprise merchants require much more from an acquirer than an SMB business. Their higher transaction volumes and peak trading spikes mean that the acquirer’s processing platform must scale to handle the increased volumes and without any degradation in processing performance.

Also, an acquirer should have a good understanding of the enterprise merchant’s vertical sector as each has specific needs, functionality, and integration requirements. A generic merchant service is not sufficient; it should be tailored appropriately and backed up by reference customers from the sector.

Enterprise merchants typically operate through multiple sales channels, including physical stores, eCommerce websites, customer apps, and contact centre, and they have deployed a wide range of acceptance systems. The acquirer must be able to support all of these combinations and cross-channel shopping journeys.

Enterprise merchants also run multiple IT systems, so and payment processing must integrate seamlessly with each of them. That is why an acquirer must have a modern omni-channel acquiring platform that supports rapid system integration and has pre-certified connection to 3^rd party services.

These requirements lead enterprise merchants to seek highly experienced merchant acquirers who have the understanding, capabilities and track record of delivering a high-quality enterprise level acquiring services.

Choice and Flexibility are key

Many enterprise merchants like to be able to pick and choose providers for individual services rather than being forced to take all merchant services from a single organisation. Separating the gateway transaction processing service from merchant acquiring allows best-of-breed products and suppliers to be used. Increasingly enterprise merchants like the flexibility of modular services as this increases their control and avoids them becoming locked-in to a single provider.

Fair pricing

The acquiring market is highly competitive, and cost savings are always a focus area for enterprise merchants when considering new providers. An Interchange Plus Plus (IC++) pricing model is recommended for enterprise merchants as it brings clarity and full transparency. Enterprise merchants value the greater analytical opportunities available from transaction level reporting. IC++ also highlights the smaller proportion of fees that are retained by the acquirer. Next day, funds settlement timescales are important to enterprise merchants who have treasury functions focussed on maximising cash management. Commercial terms should recognise increased sales value, with lower costs based on pre-agreed tiered bands.

The lowest cost may not always be in the best interests of an enterprise merchant, as it can lead to inferior quality, reduced capabilities, and a lack of innovation. A merchant acquiring relationship should be seen as a long-term strategic business partnership. Both sides want to walk away from the commercial negotiations feeling it is a Win-Win.

International trading

Many enterprise merchants are part of multinational businesses and sell internationally through localised eCommerce websites or in-store. Since Brexit, this adds the need for an acquirer to have separate regulated entities in the UK and Continental Europe. International acquiring also requires support for multi-currency acceptance and funds settlement, plus the ability to accept local payment methods and local languages. Dynamic Currency Conversion is an additional service that many enterprise merchants with a large international customer base are seeking. Merchant appeal increases when the acquirer manages Foreign Exchange (FX) in-house rather than partnering with a third party.

International capabilities vary considerably between acquirers and become a key differentiator. The ability to process directly through local payment schemes like Cartes Bancaires, rather than as co-branded Visa and Mastercard cards, can have a big impact on acceptance rates and transaction processing costs. Many new acquirers are still learning about the unique challenges involved in managing large multinational merchants.

The ability to provide customer support in a local language and have in-country account managers and engineers is particularly important during implementation projects and when issues arise.

Management Information (MI) is key

Large merchants want detailed MI on how each part of their business is performing. An acquirer is expected to provide a wide range of real-time data and make this available through a secure web portal. The data must be made available in an electronic format that can be customised to meet individual merchant needs and easily imported into data analytic toolsets for reconciliation and business reporting purposes. Enterprise merchant also require all invoices to be supplied in electronic format and to allow analysis at group level as well as by individual Merchant ID (MID).

Top level security

Criminals specifically target enterprise merchants due to the higher financial rewards they can achieve, which is why the highest levels of data security must be employed. Additionally, the latest fraud prevention technologies are essential to prevent fraud from occurring.

A merchant acquirer has the responsibility for ensuring the merchant is fully compliant with Payment Card Industry (PCI) and card scheme requirements. Moreover, the acquirer can provide a range of services to help protect the merchant.

Organisational factors

Enterprise merchants require high-quality customer support and account management with clear service level agreements (SLAs) and agreed escalation paths. Having a nominated executive sponsor is often a helpful indicator of how an acquirer will look after an enterprise merchant. Additionally, cultural alignment is an important consideration when selecting an acquirer.

The acquirer must be easy to do business with and demonstrate a collaborative working approach throughout the organisation. This includes a smooth contracting process and high-quality project management during the implementation phase. Enterprise merchants rely on their acquirer for proactive advice and guidance through the increased complexity of new regulations, card scheme fees, compliance demands, and emerging technologies. Quarterly business reviews provide an effective format for sharing information and improving operational performance.

Innovation must be available

Due to heightened end-consumer expectations, enterprise merchants need to continually enhance their payment acceptance systems. This means working with acquirer and gateway providers that are constantly investing in their merchant services offerings.

Innovative services can help improve the User Experience (UX), reduce costs, increase revenues and create competitive differentiations. Examples include: digital wallet support; Open banking; ‘Tap-on Mobile’ payments acceptance for queue busting, assisting selling and endless aisle use cases; least cost smart transaction routing; payments orchestration to improve acceptance rates; and SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) optimisation. Enterprise merchants will look for an acquirer who has a broad portfolio of merchant services available and continually invests in building new products, capabilities and services. 

Enterprise merchants need a specialist acquirer

In this blog, we have outlined the many different needs enterprise merchants have from an acquirer, emphasising that not all acquirers possess the experience, capabilities, platform, approach, and resources required to meet these needs. Choosing the right acquirer is a critical decision for an enterprise merchant, as it can significantly impact both their business and end-customers.