Card acquiring on a direct scheme membership, for EU, UK and Commonwealth merchants.
BazPay is the card acquirer that clears your card traffic. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Cartes Bancaires all authorise on our own regional acquiring licence with a merchant identifier named to your entity. No reseller in the chain, no aggregated MID, no blended-rate reporting.
Built for merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand: e-commerce sellers, subscription software firms and professional-services businesses. Interchange++ line detail on every settled charge and settlement to your own local settlement account.
Why direct card acquiring beats a reseller model
The card acquirer decides how clean your chargeback attribution is, how transparent your reporting looks and how quickly your funds arrive. Four properties keep those three metrics honest.
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Direct scheme membership, not a reseller
BazPay clears card traffic on our own regional acquiring licence, with named memberships at the card schemes. There is no downstream acquirer in the chain — the entity that boards you is the entity that settles your card volume.
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A named MID per merchant
Every merchant boards on its own merchant identifier. Chargeback ratios, decline data and scheme-fee reporting are attributed to your entity — no dilution across an aggregator's pool, no shared-MID risk from other merchants' traffic.
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Interchange++ transparency on every card charge
Interchange, scheme fees and the acquirer margin appear as separate lines on every settled card transaction. Finance teams reconcile against the source rather than a blended monthly rate.
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Higher authorisation quality on live traffic
BIN-aware routing, PSD2 exemption logic and network-token refresh keep approvals steady on real traffic. Cascade retries recover recoverable declines without adding a shopper prompt.
The card scheme relationships behind the acquirer
Four scheme families run through one BazPay contract. Wallet-issued network tokens ride the same card rails without pulling PAN into your integration.
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Visa
Visa card acquiring on the regional licence
Direct Visa scheme membership through BazPay's regional acquiring licence. Cards issued anywhere Visa operates authorise on the same contract and settle into the same EUR balance as domestic transactions.
- Visa
- Visa Electron
- V PAY
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Mastercard
Mastercard credit and debit
Debit Mastercard and the domestic debit schemes clear on the same acquiring contract. Debit and credit cards authorise through the standard charge object; the response identifies which network actually carried the transaction, which is what makes least-cost routing auditable rather than a claim.
- Mastercard
- Debit Mastercard
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CB
Cartes Bancaires
Canadian domestic scheme processing for merchants selling into Canada. Cartes Bancaires runs alongside Visa and Mastercard on the same MID with the same settlement cycle.
- CB
- CB2A
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Wallets
Wallet-issued network tokens
Apple Pay and Google Pay ride the card acquiring rail with wallet-supplied network tokens. No PAN in the request; the wallet handles device-side authentication before the charge reaches BazPay.
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
The merchant-side view of the same contract on merchant acquiring. Payment-method breadth on card and APM processing. Bank-rail context on Single Euro Payments Area processing.
The life of a card acquiring transaction
Six stages move a card payment from checkout to settled dollar on your bank account. Each stage is visible in the dashboard and each stage change fires a signed webhook.
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Capture card
Hosted fields, hosted checkout or a mobile SDK collects card details inside BazPay's PCI environment. Your servers never handle raw PAN.
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Authenticate
3-D Secure 2.2 runs only when the risk earns it. PSD2 exemption logic claims risk analysis, low-value or trusted-beneficiary where the rules allow.
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Authorise
The processor posts an ISO-8583 authorisation to the scheme with the authentication result bound. The response returns the issuer's authorisation code.
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Capture funds
Auto-capture at authorisation or a delayed capture within the retention window — the choice is on the charge request.
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Clearing
Cleared transactions batch to the scheme per acquirer cycle. Interchange fees and scheme fees are calculated per transaction on the interchange++ schedule.
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Settle to settlement account
Funds land in your local settlement account per scheme cycle. Every settlement line breaks out interchange, scheme fees and the BazPay margin.
Direct card acquirer vs reseller on someone else's licence
The card acquiring business you contract with dictates the shape of every downstream metric. The comparison below shows where each model earns its keep — and where each costs you visibility.
| Dimension | BazPay (direct) | Reseller model |
|---|---|---|
| Scheme relationship | Direct BazPay membership on regional licence | Reseller on someone else's acquirer |
| MID | Named per merchant | Shared MID pool |
| Chargeback attribution | Attributed to your MID | Diluted across the pool |
| Reporting | Interchange++ line detail | Blended-rate summary |
| 3-D Secure engine | 3DS2.2 with exemption logic | Blanket 3DS or none |
| Settlement | local settlement account per scheme cycle | Aggregated payout, common delay |
| Underwriting scope | Merchants across the EU, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand (explicit list) | Broad, few exclusions |
Rate structure on the pricing page. Buyer's shortlist on payment processors. Broader network angle on payment network gateway.
Features engineered into the card acquiring rail
Every capability below ships on the standard integration. Turn features on with a request flag or a dashboard toggle — no premium tier gates BIN-aware routing, network tokens or interchange++ reporting.
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BIN-aware routing
Each authorisation is routed against the connection with the best recent approval record for the shopper's BIN range. Live traffic beats synthetic test averages.
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Network tokens
Visa and Mastercard network tokens replace PAN at storage. Automatic token refresh keeps card-on-file charges alive when a card is reissued.
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3-D Secure 2.2 engine
Frictionless flow first; challenges fire only when your risk profile or the issuer requires. Liability shift applies where the scheme permits it.
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Cascade retries
Reason-code-aware retry on recoverable declines — a second connection attempt or network-token refresh happens without a shopper prompt.
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Dispute defence
Scheme dispute events fire as signed webhooks with the 3-D Secure result, the fraud signals and the charge metadata pre-assembled as evidence.
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Interchange++ reporting
Interchange, scheme fees and processor margin split per settled charge. Finance teams reconcile card lines against the source rather than a blended rate.
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Signed webhooks
HMAC-signed, replay-protected events for authorisation, capture, refund, dispute and settlement — one signature scheme end to end.
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Real-time decline data
Approval and decline reason codes visible within seconds, so operators can act on issuer response before the next scheme cycle.
One REST call posts a card charge to the acquirer
The charge object is the unit of work. Set the amount, currency and 3-D Secure preference on the request; the response returns the authorisation code, the network it landed on and any exemption applied. Idempotency headers make retries safe.
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 acquirer's authorisation code, the interchange bucket and the exemption applied. Read the schema in the API reference; handler samples in the developer docs.
Who runs on BazPay's card acquiring
The four merchant profiles below already run their card acquiring on BazPay. Each uses the same charge object, the same signed webhook envelope and the same interchange++ statement.
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Multi-country e-commerce
DTC brands running region-wide storefronts on Shopware, Magento 2, WooCommerce or PrestaShop. Card acquiring, wallets and local APMs converge on one MID.
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Subscription software
SaaS billing with network-tokenised card-on-file, MIT exemptions on renewals and dunning-aware retries. Interchange++ visibility on high-volume, low-ticket books.
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Professional services and B2B
Agencies and consultancies invoicing higher tickets with named-payer allow lists and enforced 3-D Secure 2 over a ceiling you set.
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Digital publishers
Membership and paywall businesses with card renewals kept warm by network tokens, reconciled per SKU on the same MID.
Out of scope for BazPay: adult, gambling, CBD, nutraceutical, forex, CFD, crypto-exchange, debt-collection and MLM. BazPay is not a merchant of record and not a marketplace of third-party PSPs.
Security and compliance signals on the card acquiring rail
Card handling runs inside a PCI DSS Level 1 environment assessed 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. Scheme registrations (Visa VIRP, Mastercard SPoC / PCI-CP) are maintained on the acquirer side where required.
- 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 card acquiring
What is card acquiring, exactly?
Card acquiring is the contractual and technical relationship that lets a merchant accept card payments and receive the funds. An acquirer holds membership with the card schemes (Visa, Mastercard and others), routes authorisation messages to the issuers, and settles the merchant. BazPay is the card acquirer for its regional book — the same entity holds the merchant contract and clears the transactions.
How is the card acquiring business model different from a gateway-only vendor?
A gateway-only vendor moves authorisation messages between the merchant and an external acquirer. An acquirer holds scheme membership and settles the merchant. The card acquiring business — the one you contract with — is the entity ultimately responsible for the settlement into your settlement account. BazPay is both the gateway and the direct acquirer, so there is no additional entity to reconcile against.
Which card schemes does BazPay acquire directly?
Visa, Mastercard, Cartes Bancaires and eftpos clear on BazPay's own regional acquiring licence. Apple Pay and Google Pay ride the same card rails through wallet-supplied network tokens. Cards issued outside the region authorise on the same contract because the card scheme networks are international by construction.
How does interchange++ reporting work on card charges?
Every settled card transaction breaks out three components on its own line: the interchange fee (paid to the issuer), the scheme fee (paid to Visa or Mastercard) and the acquirer margin (kept by BazPay). Finance teams reconcile against these three numbers rather than a blended rate that hides where the money went.
How are chargebacks handled by the card acquirer?
Because you hold a named MID, chargebacks are attributed to your entity rather than diluted across a pool. Scheme dispute events fire as signed webhooks and land in the dashboard with the transaction, the 3-D Secure 2 result, the fraud signals that scored it and any early-warning alert. Evidence packets are pre-assembled to the current scheme template.
Does the card acquirer need strong customer authentication on every charge?
Open-finance regulation mandates strong customer authentication on most card payments unless a valid exemption applies. BazPay runs 3-D Secure 2.2 on every card charge with an automatic exemption engine: TRA, low-value, trusted-beneficiary and MIT flags are claimed where the rules permit. Most checkouts stay frictionless; challenges fire only where the exemption engine cannot lawfully skip them.
Which merchant profiles can board on BazPay's card acquiring?
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 or a marketplace of third-party PSPs.
How does the card acquiring rail interact with local payment methods and SEPA Instant?
Cards, local payment methods and instant rails share the same charge object and the same signed webhook stream. Card acquiring settles per scheme cycle; Instant rails settle per SEPA Instant cycle. Both land in the same EUR balance on your local settlement account, so finance teams close one book across every rail rather than opening a portal per method.
Move your card acquiring to a direct regional acquirer
Share your business model, monthly card volume and existing processor. A named engineer will confirm boarding fit and scope the migration inside one working day. See also merchant acquiring, payments solutions and payment fraud prevention.