Internet acquiring

Internet acquiring involves the participation of:

• the seller,
• the acquiring bank servicing the seller’s settlement account,
• the buyer,
• the issuing bank that serves the buyer’s card,
• the service provider responsible for processing the payment,
• the payment system that develops rules for issuing banks and acquiring banks for exchanging payment data (Visa, Mastercard, etc.).

The latter is the key link in Internet acquiring. The acquiring bank often acts as such payment system (provider), or the seller can turn to third-party intermediaries that provide the corresponding service. One of the advantages of a payment intermediary is that, as a rule, it cooperates with several partner banks, which allows for speeding up the payment process.

Internet acquiring connection does not require installation of additional equipment. The service is usually paid by the seller — a certain percentage of the sum is deducted from each transaction (usually 3-6%, depending on the bank, payment service, and the set of services provided).

Origin of the term. The term “acquiring” is a derivative of the English verb “to acquire” which means “buy” or “purchase”. Under the very notion of “acquiring” is the transfer to the payment processor and subsequent processing of the client’s bank card data.

Who needs Internet acquiring and why?

Internet acquiring is needed mainly by businesses that sell their services and goods through websites and mobile applications. These include online stores, online course sellers, mobile application developers, web studios, delivery services and others. Offline companies also use electronic payment systems to pay for services in the B2B segment, pay for utilities, make other regular payments.

The Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic, accompanied by large-scale quarantine measures, became an important catalyst for the development of e-commerce and the introduction of Internet acquiring.

Pros and cons of the internet acquiring

Internet acquiring provides many advantages for both sellers and buyers. Among them are the following:

• more simple sale of goods, convenience of making a purchase;
• improved logistics;
• anonymity and security of payments;
• high speed of transactions;
• the ability to save payment card data in the system to facilitate subsequent purchases;
• the ability to set up regular payments (for example, for mobile account regular replenishment).

The disadvantages of the technology include distrust on the part of buyers (especially older ones), the need for constant application of measures to combat fraudsters, along with difficulties with the legalization and execution of such payments in certain jurisdictions.