Your customer wants to pay by card. You and your company accept electronic payment methods. But to do this, you need a third party to handle the payment process. You and this company have contractually agreed the procedure. This company is the acquirer, i.e. the party responsible for the acquisition of the card acceptor.

Acquiring – what it’s all about

The acquirer ensures the proper processing and forwarding of transactions, and credits the appropriate amount to your account. The acquirer is responsible for ensuring everything runs smoothly and securely.

One goal of acquiring is to further increase acceptance of electronic payment methods. So in the truest sense of the word, the acquirer manages the acquiring.

The acquirer bears the risks

When you enable your customers to pay by card, the acquirer takes responsibility for the entire payment process. Usually, participating financial institutions must ensure that the amount debited from the customer’s card account is delivered safely and securely to the retailer.

What are the costs involved in acquiring?

The acquirer charges you an amount for each transaction that covers the expenses of all parties involved in the value chain. An exception here is the fee charged by a payment service provider (PSP), if you are active in e-commerce. The fee can be a fixed sum per transaction, a specified percentage of the amount or a mix of the two.

Not all acquirers are the same

In Switzerland there is a range of acquirers. There are differences in the cost structures or in the selection of card types they accept. Some financial institutions are active on the market as both acquirers and issuers – this is the case with PostFinance, for example.

PostFinance – one provider for many payment solutions

PostFinance offers payment solutions for face-to-face and distance selling that support different acceptance partners.

• Checkout Flex: This is a flexible solution that allows you to define the acquiring partners and payment methods for your online shop or PostFinance PAX terminal yourself. Transactions are processed at the fees individually agreed with the acceptance partner. Find out more at The link will open in a new window Checkout Flex.
• PostFinance Card payment method in-store (EFT/POS): EFT/POS (electronic funds transfer at the point of sale) allows your customers to make convenient, quick cashless payments at your points of sale. This helps you reduce the cash you deal with and increases the safety of your business due to the lower amount of cash you have on the premises. Find out more at The link will open in a new window EFT/POS.
• Checkout All-in-one: A module that can be integrated quickly and easily into your online shop.
• PostFinance Pay: PostFinance Pay and e-payment methodsoffer your customers secure and reliable payment methods in your online shop without the risk of customers becoming overdrawn.

To activate the individual payment methods, you need a separate contract with the respective acceptance partner for each payment method. In-store sales require one contract per location and payment method.

PostFinance automatically arranges the contract request for you online in Checkout Flex onboarding. The amount of time it takes to activate the payment method depends on the respective acceptance partner and cannot be influenced by PostFinance.