Direct acquirers
Direct acquirers assume all obligations associated with acquiring transactions themselves. These obligations include clearing, settlement, network management, technology and regulatory compliance.
To interface with other card participants, they need to have certain relationships in place:
Direct acquirers should consider becoming a member of the IAC. Under its Code Set, the IAC gives participants assurance that their partners meet certain minimum security, interoperability and efficiency standards, including for all point-of-sale technology, ATMs and unattended devices. AusPayNet also manages the AIN-BIN database, which houses all the unique identifiers critical to routing transactions to the right issuers or acquirers. Acquirers and issuers should be part of this database so that other participants can recognise their identifiers. Acquirers also have to use AusPayNet-approved devices. The list of all devices certified for use in the network is available here. Any new device must be certified by AusPayNet before use. There are separate certification processes for standard and non-standard technologies and manufacturers do not have to be member of AusPayNet to have a device certified. Contact AusPayNet for more information.
Indirect acquirers
Acquirers can access the card system indirectly by entering a commercial arrangement with a direct acquirer or a service provider. Indirect acquirers still own the relationship with the merchant but outsource some or all of the acquiring services to the direct acquirer or service provider. These services include:
Other considerations for acquirers
In recent years card-not-present (CNP) fraud has grown in line with the increase in online shopping. As part of an industry approach to reducing CNP fraud, card acquirers need to have certain CNP fraud mitigation strategies in place. More information is available here.
Merchant (least-cost) routing allows merchants to work with acquirers to route contactless payments via their preferred network. The RBA publishes guidelines on merchant routing.