Latest news with #acquiring
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Modernising acquiring: What banks must consider in a changing payments landscape
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. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CARD91 Launches Full-Stack UPI Acquiring Switch to Power Merchant Payments at Scale
BENGALURU, India, May 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CARD91 is proud to announce the launch of its Full-Stack UPI Acquiring Solution to power merchant and corporate payment collections. With UPI surpassing 18 billion monthly transactions—and over 60% attributed to Person-to-Merchant (P2M) payments—acquiring has emerged as a critical driver of growth. Yet, significant gaps remain in the current ecosystem. CARD91's acquiring module within Blitz addresses these challenges head-on—offering a scalable, regulatory-compliant, and future-ready infrastructure tailored to the evolving needs of issuers and ecosystem players. Key Features of CARD91's UPI Acquiring Solution: Seamless DIY merchant onboarding with AI-powered checks to reduce fraud and streamline the process. Instant VPA creation and QR code generation (both static and dynamic). Full transaction lifecycle management, including reconciliation and settlements. Comprehensive bank and merchant portals for operational control and advanced reporting. Bulk disbursals and collections for corporates through Netbanking. API-first architecture, with well-documented endpoints and response codes for smooth integrations. UPI IPO Management, enabling IPO applications via ASBA through UPI. Ajay Pandey, CEO of CARD91, remarked: "This launch represents a pivotal step in our mission to transform UPI acquiring infrastructure in India. From empowering micro-merchants to supporting corporate acquiring, our platform is built for scale, resilience, and adaptability. We are committed to enabling our partners to grow confidently in an increasingly dynamic digital payments landscape." CARD91 is certified for UPI 2.0 acquiring, supports 2000+ transactions per second, maintains ~0% technical declines, and ensures 99.99% uptime. With integrated mobile apps and web portals for merchants, and centralized UPI control centers for banks, the solution is robust, intuitive, and cloud-deployable. Whether enabling micro-merchant collections, expanding QR coverage, or launching a white-labeled merchant app, CARD91's acquiring stack is fraud-checked, compliance-ready, and built for scale. This launch further reaffirms CARD91's commitment to strengthening India's digital payments infrastructure—delivering speed, simplicity, and scale to ecosystem players committed to responsible digitization. About CARD91 CARD91 is an Issuance Platform-as-a-Service company providing unparalleled technology infrastructure to banks, prepaid license holders, and authorized dealers. The company enables them to issue various payment instruments (PPI, Credit Cards, Multi-currency Cards, UPI, and now, Credit Line on UPI) to their customers—ensuring seamless issuance and enhanced control. CARD91's support for multiple use cases aligns with its vision of making issuance seamless and swift for Issuers. With a team of 100+ professionals, CARD91 operates across key financial hubs, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and Chennai. For more information, visit or contact sales@ Logo: View original content:
Finextra
07-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
MyTU secures Visa and Mastercard acquiring licences
myTU, a fully automated, AI-native and cloud-first digital bank, has been granted acquiring licenses from both Visa and Mastercard, furthering its mission to build a scalable, secure, and innovative payments-as-a-service infrastructure for partnering businesses. 0 This milestone will enable myTU to process card payments directly through its own acquiring infrastructure, across e-commerce platforms, retail stores, and POS terminals. Securing acquiring licensing from both main global payments providers marks a pivotal step in myTU's strategic growth and unlocks the ability to offer card acquiring services directly to its business clients. myTU's partnering businesses will be able to accept Mastercard and Visa payments both online and offline to streamline their transaction processes and operational flexibility. This is especially valuable for e-commerce and online retail, cross-border or international businesses, and high-volume retail. Being a principal member of Visa since 2023, myTU has now secured a new principal membership with Mastercard affirming its strong compliance and due diligence standards. It reinforces myTU's position among leading global financial institutions while preserving the speed, flexibility, and innovation of a next-gen fintech. Raman Korneu, Co-Founder and CEO of myTU: 'Becoming a direct acquiring partner of both Mastercard and Visa allows us to offer faster, more secure, and cost-effective payment services to our business clients. This is a key part of our strategy to evolve as a payments-as-a-service infrastructure provider for our business partners and empower their growth with the tools they need to manage and scale their payment operations efficiently.' myTU has already signed agreements with processing centers, gateway providers, and key partners in preparation for the integration phase. With all agreements approved by regulatory bodies, the groundwork for a seamless rollout is firmly in place. The service is expected to launch in Q3 2025. Through these advancements, myTU continues to challenge traditional banking models in delivering high-speed, secure, and AI-powered financial services that meet the evolving needs of today's businesses.
