The questions merchants actually ask.

A merchant account is a type of bank account that lets a business accept card payments. Money from card sales lands there first, then settles into your normal business current account. Some providers bundle the merchant account and the technology together; others keep them separate. Either way, it's the account that sits between the card networks and your bank.

An acquirer (or acquiring bank) is licensed by the card schemes to settle card transactions and carries the underwriting risk. A payment gateway is the technology that securely passes transaction details from your checkout or terminal to the acquirer. A PSP (payment service provider) usually sits on top — packaging a gateway, and sometimes acquiring, into one product you actually sign up for. One company can play more than one of these roles.

A MID is a Merchant Identification number — a unique ID for your business within the acquirer's systems. It's how transactions, settlements and any disputes are tied back to you. You'll see it referenced on statements and in support conversations. A business can have more than one MID, for example across different trading channels.

Payment providers are obliged to run Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) checks before opening an account. That means verifying who owns and runs the business, confirming the bank account funds will settle to, and understanding what you sell. It's a regulatory requirement across the industry — not one provider being awkward — and it's the main thing that determines how quickly you can go live.

PCI DSS is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — the set of rules for handling card data safely. In practice, most smaller merchants meet it by completing an annual Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) and using compliant terminals and hosted checkouts, so that raw card numbers never touch your own systems. The less card data you store or see, the smaller your obligation. Providers often charge a fee if compliance lapses, so it's worth keeping the paperwork current.

A chargeback is when a cardholder disputes a payment through their bank and the amount is reversed while it's investigated. To defend one, you supply evidence the transaction was legitimate — receipts, delivery confirmation, communications, and proof the customer authorised it. Strong records win chargebacks; missing paperwork loses them. Clear refund policies and good fraud checks up front are the cheapest way to reduce them.

Settlement timing is how long it takes cleared funds to reach your bank after a sale. T+1 means one business day after the transaction date; T+3 means three. Authorisation happens in about a second, but moving money between banks takes days — that gap is normal. Faster settlement helps cash flow; the exact timing depends on the acquirer, the scheme and your account terms.

Interchange is the fee the card networks set that goes to the cardholder's bank on every transaction — a genuine wholesale cost no provider can waive. On top sit scheme fees (paid to Visa/Mastercard) and the acquirer's own margin. Interchange++ pricing itemises all three so you can see exactly what's cost and what's markup. Blended pricing rolls them into one rate, which is simpler to read but hides where the money goes.

Blended pricing charges one flat rate across all card types, so a cheap debit card and an expensive commercial card cost you the same. Interchange-plus (interchange++) passes the real interchange and scheme fees straight through and adds a fixed, visible margin. Blended is predictable; interchange-plus is transparent and often cheaper for the right card mix. Which suits you depends on the cards your customers actually use.

Yes. A virtual terminal lets you key card details into a secure web page to take payment over the phone or by mail order (known as MOTO). Payment links let you send a one-off, hosted payment page by text or email, with nothing to build. Both let a business start accepting cards online without an ecommerce site — useful for invoicing, deposits and phone orders.

3D Secure 2 (3DS2) is the authentication layer behind online card payments — the step where a customer may confirm a purchase through their banking app. It shifts liability for fraud on authenticated transactions toward the card issuer, and under Strong Customer Authentication rules it's required for most online payments in the UK and EU. Good implementations only challenge risky payments, so genuine customers usually pass without friction.

Look at the length of the minimum term and how it auto-renews, whether terminal rental is separate and for how long, any minimum monthly service charge, PCI non-compliance fees, and early-exit charges. These are where the real cost of a contract hides — often more than the headline rate. Read the terminal terms as carefully as the transaction rates.

An authorisation fee is a small per-transaction charge for the request that checks a card is valid and has funds — separate from the percentage rate on the sale. On its own it's tiny, but across thousands of transactions it adds up, and it applies even to low-value payments. It's one of the line items that makes a headline rate look cheaper than the effective cost.

Sometimes. Amex is often priced and enabled separately from Visa and Mastercard, and some providers treat it as an add-on. International and commercial cards usually carry higher interchange, so if a lot of your customers use them, that mix matters when comparing quotes. It's worth flagging your typical card types up front so a quote reflects reality.