Hard criteria
MCC, licence requirements, registration country, permitted markets, minimum monthly volume and maximum single transaction. These are filters, not negotiation points.
Find an Acquiring Bank for Your Merchant Account
The acquirer holds your merchant account, carries the scheme licence and settles your funds, which makes it the party that decides whether your business is accepted, at what limits and with what reserve.
What the acquirer controls
- The merchant account (MID) and its scheme registration.
- Underwriting: industry, model, ownership, financials and dispute history.
- Processing limits, volume caps and maximum ticket size.
- Reserve type, percentage and release schedule.
- Settlement currency, frequency and payout timing.
- Chargeback liability and scheme monitoring programmes.
For the mechanics, read what an acquiring bank is and what a merchant account is.
Why acquirer appetite differs
An acquirer is exposed until your customer receives what they paid for. Two acquirers with identical licences can therefore reach opposite decisions on the same merchant, because their policies differ on permitted categories, countries, minimum volume and dispute tolerance.
Commercial judgement
Trading history, chargeback and refund ratios, delivery lag and financial strength shape pricing, reserve and limits once you pass the hard criteria.
What to prepare for underwriting
- Company registration, ownership structure and KYC on directors and UBOs.
- Processing statements or history where they exist.
- Chargeback and refund ratios for recent months.
- Website review basics: terms, pricing, refund policy, contact details.
- Licences required by your industry or target markets.
- Realistic volume, average ticket and maximum transaction figures.
Acquiring by industry
iGaming
iGaming acceptance is decided almost entirely by licensing and player geography. Providers that support a Malta or Curaçao licensed operator are rarely the same ones that support a UK or Ontario facing brand.
Forex & CFD
Trading platforms are underwritten on regulatory status and client geography. A regulated brokerage in a recognised jurisdiction has a materially different provider pool than an offshore entity taking retail clients worldwide.
Crypto
Crypto acceptance depends on what the customer receives. On-ramps selling digital assets, custodial exchanges and crypto-adjacent SaaS are underwritten as three different risk profiles.
Adult
Adult businesses are processed under specific card-scheme programmes with mandatory content controls. Approval depends on documented compliance far more than on pricing negotiation.
Nutraceuticals
Supplement acceptance turns on marketing claims and billing model. A straightforward one-off retail catalogue is a very different case from a free-trial-to-continuity offer.
Subscriptions
For recurring billing the provider decision is mostly about retry logic, card-lifecycle tooling and authentication, those three drive more revenue than the headline processing rate.
Working with a PSP as well? Compare payment service providers and read PSP vs acquirer.
Which acquirer fits your business?
Enter your business essentials once and see the acquiring routes whose stated criteria match your profile.
Find providers for my businessNothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.