Modernising acquiring: What banks must consider in a changing payments landscape

Yahoo

8 hours ago

The acquiring market in Europe and the wider world is undergoing a period of strategic rethinking. Traditional financial institutions are evaluating their role in the payments ecosystem, driven by the twin forces of technological disruption and evolving customer expectations. As someone who has worked closely with banks, payment service providers, and retail platforms across multiple regions, I've seen first-hand how priorities are shifting and how approaches to modernisation differ widely.
For many banks, payments are not the most profitable part of the business. Revenue often comes more from ancillary services like credit, FX, M&A advisory, or liquidity management. However, payments are a crucial touchpoint in the broader retail relationship. They're the entry point through which banks build, sustain, and deepen client engagement. Losing that foothold, particularly to non-bank challengers, can lead to a cascade of missed opportunities in more lucrative business lines.
As a result, we're now seeing two distinct strategies emerge. Some banks have opted to exit acquiring or reduce their role, choosing instead to partner with third-party providers who bring technical scale and modern interfaces. Others are recommitting to acquiring as a core service, but doing so requires significant modernisation of infrastructure.
One common misconception I encounter is that migrating to a modern platform is inherently a years-long, high-risk, multi-million-euro endeavour. For many banks, this perception creates inertia. They recognise the need to improve but feel constrained by the expected complexity of change.
The reality is that technology has advanced to the point where integration timelines and costs can be significantly reduced. I've seen implementations go live in as little as five weeks, including commercial onboarding and technical configuration. The key lies in clarity around the migration process: which components move, what remains, how risk is managed, and how internal teams are supported through the transition.
Modern acquiring is no longer just about processing transactions; it's about delivering actionable data. Retailers today want transparency: real-time insight into settlement timelines, fees, reconciliation, fraud risks, etc. The ability to provide a unified view across e-commerce and in-store payments is no longer a nice-to-have; it's expected.
Many legacy systems, built in an era when data storage was expensive and analytical capabilities were basic, are simply not designed to meet these demands. By contrast, modern systems are built around a centralised data model, allowing for full multi-channel visibility. That shift is transformative, not just for the banks but also for their clients, who can use the insights to improve margins, detect fraud, and streamline operations.
Cloud-native architecture is now foundational to any scalable acquiring operation. It brings several benefits:
Scalability: Dynamic auto-scaling allows systems to accommodate sudden volume increases without hardware constraints;
Faster Development: Cloud environments include out-of-the-box tools for everything from data encryption to monitoring, enabling faster iteration, and
Regulatory Flexibility: Local cloud instances satisfy data residency requirements without the need for physical infrastructure in every market.
This agility is especially important as acquiring becomes increasingly global. Banks need platforms that can adapt to diverse regulatory environments while maintaining consistency and resilience.
Today, acquirers are not just serving small merchants or traditional retailers. They're onboarding platform businesses, app-driven marketplaces, and large-scale fintechs. These customers expect direct integration, instant scalability, and a streamlined commercial structure. They also bring high volumes and demanding use cases, making flexibility and real-time performance critical.
I've seen this dynamic play out across Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia. While the market maturity may differ, the core demands are converging – meaning better data, faster settlement, and modular services.
As non-bank players grow their presence in both e-commerce and card-present transactions the competitive pressure on traditional institutions will only increase. This is no longer just about modernising for convenience; it's about defending strategic relevance.
Banks must ask themselves: Do we view acquiring as a necessary service to support broader relationships, or as a core business we aim to lead in? If it's the former, partnering with external providers may make sense. If it's the latter, then investing in future-proof infrastructure is not optional – it's urgent.
The tools are now available. The remaining challenge is mindset.
One of the few people in the world with over 20 years of experience in online payments, Kraal is responsible for maintaining relationships with the card schemes, acquirers, PSPs and regulators
"Modernising acquiring: What banks must consider in a changing payments landscape" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.
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