Is my business money FSCS protected?
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme compensates eligible customers if a UK-authorised bank, building so…
Payments Explained
Payments, explained in plain English
Guides and working tools for businesses that would rather understand the infrastructure than be sold to. By a team including former FCA, MAS and MGA regulators.
The library
Chargebacks & the MATCH list, explained
MATCH (Member Alert to Control High-risk Merchants) is a database, operated by Mastercard, where acquirers rec…
Business credit card vs prepaid expense card: which one you actually need
A business credit card spends the issuer's money and bills you later, giving you a float of roughly 30 to 56 d…
Card readers for small business: cheap to start, expensive to outgrow
An app-based card reader is a small contactless terminal paired to a phone or tablet, sold with a one-off hard…
Chargeback time limits: how long a customer has
A chargeback time limit is the window in which a cardholder can ask their bank to reverse a card payment. It i…
Faster Payments limits, explained
The Faster Payments Service has a maximum transaction value of £1 million, raised from £250,000 on 10 February…
Interchange fees in the UK, explained
Interchange is the fee paid by the merchant's acquirer to the cardholder's issuing bank on every card transact…
Merchant services: what you are actually buying
"Merchant services" is the banking industry's product name for everything a business needs to accept card paym…
Payment terms explained: Net 30, EOM and the rest
Payment terms are the agreed deadline for settling an invoice, plus any conditions attached to it. "Net 30" me…
What is a merchant ID (MID)?
A MID, or merchant ID, is the unique identifier an acquirer assigns to a merchant account. Every transaction y…
What is a payment gateway?
A payment gateway is the technology that carries a customer's card details from your checkout to the acquirer …
What is a sort code, and what does it actually prove?
A sort code is the six-digit number that identifies a UK bank and, historically, the branch holding an account…
What is merchant acquiring?
Merchant acquiring is the service, provided by a licensed acquiring bank or institution, that submits a mercha…
CHAPS vs Bacs vs Faster Payments: which rail when
The UK has three main payment rails. Faster Payments settles in seconds to minutes, around the clock, with a £…
How long does a Bacs payment take?
A Bacs payment takes three working days. The payment is submitted on day one, processed by the banks on day tw…
Late payment letter templates, from first nudge to letter before action
A late payment letter escalates in four stages: a polite reminder just after the due date, a firm chaser at ar…
Client money vs safeguarding: what letting agents should know
Client money rules and e-money safeguarding are two separate protection regimes. Client money protection (CMP)…
How to open a UK business account from abroad
A non-UK company can open a UK business account without visiting the UK by using an FCA-authorised e-money ins…
Payfac vs ISO: what’s the difference?
A payfac (payment facilitator) onboards merchants under its own contract and underwriting, as sub-merchants of…
Payment gateway costs, explained
Card processing costs are built from a handful of components: interchange (paid to the customer’s bank), schem…
What is a payment facilitator (payfac)?
A payment facilitator (payfac) is a company that onboards merchants as sub-merchants under its own master rela…
What is a virtual IBAN?
A virtual IBAN is a real, routable international bank account number issued under a provider’s master account.…
What is an EMI (electronic money institution)?
An electronic money institution (EMI) is a firm authorised to issue e-money and provide payment accounts witho…
Why card payments get declined: and what you can do
Card payments decline for four broad reasons: the issuer refuses (risk scoring, insufficient funds, suspected …
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