Bank processing: the acquirer bank, the issuer bank and BazPay.
Bank processing sits at the heart of every card transaction. The acquirer bank contracts with the merchant, the issuer bank contracts with the shopper, and the processing bank routes the authorisation between them through the scheme. BazPay runs the acquirer and processing roles on one platform for its regional book.
Built for EU, UK and Commonwealth e-commerce sellers, subscription software firms and professional-services companies. Direct scheme membership, named MID, interchange++ reporting and regional settlement to your own settlement account.
Why merchants pick a direct acquirer bank for bank processing
The choice on the shortlist is usually between contracting directly with an acquirer bank or sitting on a reseller's aggregated MID. Four properties keep the direct route worth the extra boarding days.
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Direct acquirer, direct processor
BazPay holds scheme membership as the acquirer for its regional book and runs the processing platform on the same licence. There is no reseller sitting between you and the network for card authorisation or settlement.
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Named MID, clean attribution
Every merchant receives its own MID with the schemes. Chargeback ratios, decline data and settlement reporting attach to your legal entity, not to a shared pool of other merchants.
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Transparent bank-processing economics
Interchange, scheme fees and gateway margin appear as separate lines on every settled charge. Finance teams reconcile against the source — the actual bank-processing costs — rather than a blended vendor rate.
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One event stream across every rail
Card, wallet, local payment methods and SEPA Instant settlement events flow through one signed webhook envelope. Your ledger reconciles bank-processing lines and card lines against the same schema.
The bank roles inside a card transaction
Four parties make a card transaction possible. Reading the table by role clarifies which contract sits where — and which one you sign with BazPay.
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Issuer bank
Issuer bank
The issuer bank is the financial institution that issued the shopper's card. It authorises the transaction on the cardholder side, holds the funds until settlement, and is the party that owns the customer relationship with the payer. BazPay is not an issuer.
- Cardholder side
- Authorisation vote
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Card scheme
Card scheme
Visa, Mastercard, Cartes Bancaires and eftpos operate the networks that connect issuer to acquirer. The scheme sets the rules, moves authorisation messages and clears settlement.
- Rules
- Clearing
- Scheme fees
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Acquirer bank
Acquirer bank
The acquirer bank is the licensed entity that contracts with the merchant, holds the merchant's MID at the schemes and receives the settlement. BazPay is a direct regional acquirer for merchants on its book.
- Merchant side
- Named MID
- Settlement
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Processing bank
Processing bank and gateway
The processing bank (or the processor operating on its behalf) moves the authorisation message between merchant, scheme and issuer, applies risk decisioning and returns the response. BazPay runs the processing platform on the same licence as its acquirer role.
- Authorisation routing
- Risk decisioning
The contract side lives on merchant acquiring. The buyer's shortlist for choosing a processor lives on payment processors.
How the four bank roles cooperate on one authorisation
Six stages sit between the shopper hitting pay and the settled dollar landing in the merchant's settlement account. Each stage names the party that owns it.
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Shopper submits
Shopper enters card details in hosted fields inside your checkout. Card data lands in BazPay's PCI environment, not on your servers.
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Gateway scores
The processing platform grades the order against your fraud rules and PSD2 exemption logic before any network hop.
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Scheme routes
Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Cartes Bancaires carries the authorisation message from BazPay (the acquirer bank side) to the issuer bank.
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Issuer decides
The issuer bank authorises or declines based on the shopper's balance, fraud posture and 3-D Secure result.
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Merchant informed
The response returns as a canonical charge object through the same processing platform. Signed webhooks confirm asynchronously.
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Settle
Funds move from issuer to scheme to BazPay's acquiring balance, then to your local settlement account per scheme cycle with interchange++ line detail.
Direct acquirer bank vs reseller on an aggregated MID
A reseller lets you accept card payments in hours on a shared MID. A direct acquirer takes a few more days at boarding and pays back in reporting quality, chargeback attribution and settlement timing. The comparison below shows where each model earns its keep.
| Dimension | BazPay (direct acquirer bank) | Reseller / aggregator |
|---|---|---|
| Merchant contract | Direct with BazPay as acquirer bank | Reseller sits between you and acquirer |
| MID | Named to your legal entity | Shared aggregator MID |
| Chargeback attribution | Attributed to your MID | Diluted across the pool |
| Processing | Same platform as the acquirer | External processor + separate acquirer |
| Settlement | Per-scheme cycle to your local settlement account | Aggregated payouts, common delay |
| Reporting | Interchange++ per line | Blended-rate summary |
Rate structure on the pricing page. The engineering foundation on payment infrastructure.
Features an acquirer bank ships when it is also the processor
Every capability below is on the standard integration. Turn features on with a request flag or a dashboard toggle — no premium tier gates the primitives merchants depend on.
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Direct scheme membership
Visa, Mastercard, Cartes Bancaires and eftpos authorise on BazPay's own regional acquiring licence — a genuine acquirer bank contract, not a reseller layer.
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Named MID per merchant
Your own merchant identifier at each scheme. Chargeback attribution and decline data belong to your legal entity.
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Hosted fields
Card, expiry and CVC inputs served from our PCI environment inside your checkout, so raw PAN never touches your stack.
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Gateway vault + network tokens
Stored credentials sit inside PCI DSS Level 1 scope. Network tokens refresh automatically when a card is reissued.
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3-D Secure 2.2
Authentication runs on every card charge with exemption logic — TRA, low-value, trusted-beneficiary, MIT — so most authorisations stay frictionless.
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Interchange++ reporting
Interchange, scheme fees and processor margin split per settled charge, so finance sees the actual cost of every bank-processing line.
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Signed webhooks
HMAC-signed, replay-protected events on every state change; the same signature scheme across card and SEPA Instant events.
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SEPA / SEPA Instant payouts
Merchant payouts to your local settlement account per scheme cycle. SEPA Instant used on approved corridors for sub-10-second settlement.
One REST call reaches the acquirer bank and the processor
The charge object is the unit of work. One endpoint authorises against your named MID on the acquirer side, routes the message through the card scheme to the issuer bank, and returns the result via the processing platform.
POST /v1/charges
Idempotency-Key: 8f1c-2b3a-9e4d
{
"amount": 4990,
"currency": "EUR",
"payment_method": "card",
"capture": "auto",
"three_d_secure": "required_if_needed",
"descriptor": "ACME EU LTD",
"metadata": { "order_id": "ORD-10842" }
}The response returns a canonical charge object with the authorisation code, the network it landed on, the MID it posted against and the exemption applied. Full schema in the API reference.
Who BazPay boards as its acquirer bank contract
The four merchant profiles below fit BazPay's regional underwriting. Each gets the same acquirer relationship, the same processing platform and the same interchange++ reporting.
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E-commerce sellers
DTC brands and multi-country storefronts running Shopware, Magento 2, WooCommerce or PrestaShop. Direct acquirer bank contract on one MID across every regional market.
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Subscription software
SaaS teams billing monthly and annual plans with card-on-file renewals, MIT exemptions and dunning-aware retries. Bank-processing costs visible per plan tier.
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Professional services
Higher-ticket B2B invoicing with named-payer trust lists and enforced 3-D Secure 2 over a ceiling you set.
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Digital publishers
Membership renewals, single-issue purchases and paywall unlocks reconciled per SKU on one MID.
Out of scope for BazPay: adult, gambling, CBD, nutraceutical, forex, CFD, crypto-exchange, debt-collection and MLM. BazPay is not an issuer bank, not a merchant of record and not a marketplace of third-party PSPs.
Security and compliance across acquirer, processor and settlement
The acquiring and processing environment runs inside a PCI DSS Level 1 assessment renewed each year. Hosted fields and gateway-side vaulting keep your annual return at merchant SAQ A. Authentication runs on every card charge with 3-D Secure 2.2 and automatic exemption logic. In-region data residency is default under GDPR.
- PCI DSS Level 1
- Annual assessment on the acquiring and gateway environment
- Merchant SAQ A
- Hosted fields and gateway vault keep card data out of your stack
- Authentication
- 3-D Secure 2.2 with automatic exemption logic on every card charge
- GDPR
- In-region data residency; DPA on request
- Scheme registrations
- Visa VIRP and Mastercard SPoC/PCI-CP where required
Questions merchants ask about bank processing
What is bank processing, in one paragraph?
Bank processing is the flow that carries a card authorisation from a merchant to the issuer bank through the card scheme, returns the issuer's decision to the merchant, and later moves the settlement money from issuer to acquirer to merchant. The acquirer bank owns the merchant contract; the processing bank (or the processor operating on its behalf) routes the messages. BazPay runs both roles on one platform for its merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
What is the difference between the acquirer bank and the issuer bank?
The issuer bank issued the shopper's card and authorises the transaction on the cardholder's side. The acquirer bank contracts with the merchant, holds the merchant's MID at the schemes and receives the settled funds. Every card transaction involves both — the issuer bank and the acquirer bank sit on opposite ends of the scheme network. BazPay is the acquirer, not the issuer.
Is BazPay an issuer bank, an acquirer bank or a processing bank?
BazPay operates as a direct regional acquirer and payment processor for merchants on its book. BazPay does not issue cardholder cards, so it is not an issuer bank. It is not a marketplace of third-party PSPs either. The acquirer role and the processing role sit on the same platform, so merchants contract with one entity for both.
Do I need a separate processing bank contract if I board with BazPay?
No. The processing and the acquiring live inside the same platform for your card book. You have one contract, one named MID and one signed-webhook stream — no external processing bank to onboard separately for card authorisation and settlement.
How does the acquirer bank and the issuer bank cooperate on a chargeback?
A chargeback opens when the cardholder disputes a charge with the issuer bank. The scheme forwards the dispute reason to the acquirer, which in turn notifies the merchant through the acquirer's processing platform. BazPay pre-assembles evidence (3-D Secure 2 result, fraud signals, delivery confirmation if you sent one) so the merchant response goes back through the acquirer to the issuer for the scheme's ruling.
Which cards does the bank-processing platform accept?
Visa, Mastercard, Cartes Bancaires and eftpos clear on BazPay's own regional acquiring licence. Cards issued outside the region authorise on the same contract and settle into the same EUR balance — the acquiring is local, the card networks are global.
Which merchant types can BazPay board on its acquirer contract?
Merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand: e-commerce sellers, subscription software firms, professional-services businesses and digital publishers. BazPay does not board adult, gambling, CBD, nutraceutical, forex, CFD, crypto-exchange, debt-collection or MLM merchants and does not act as a merchant of record.
How does bank processing interact with SEPA Instant and other bank rails?
Card processing on the acquirer side and SEPA Instant processing on the bank-rail side share the same platform, the same signed event stream and the same EUR settlement balance. Card settlements and instant payouts both credit your local settlement account. See Single Euro Payments Area processing for the SEPA Instant-specific detail.
Contract directly with a regional acquirer bank
Share your business model, monthly volumes and target markets. A named engineer will confirm boarding fit and map the acquirer-bank relationship inside one working day. See also merchant acquiring, recurring billing and payment processors.