Lessons From the Past

Why merchants in high-risk industries need a multi-acquirer setup
June 10, 2021 | Expertise

What have we learnt?

Precisely a year ago, the Wirecard mishap caused an uproar in the payment industry. But that was just the tip of the iceberg, and even now the repercussions are rippling through the payments industry. Acquirers are losing their licenses, PayFacs their (payment) service providers, merchants their MIDs and so on. In view of the current situation, we would like to inform you about the necessity of a so-called multi-acquirer setup and its relevance, especially for the high-risk industry.

Don't leave your payment stack empty

What is a multi-acquirer setup and why is it important?

If a payment service provider suddenly becomes unavailable or is not as secure as previously thought, your company could unexpectedly lose revenue streams. Merchants who rely on only one payment service provider to process payments will be hit especially hard.

A multi-acquirer setup refers to connecting two or more different payment providers (acquirers, PSPs, etc.) to your eCommerce platform. If one payment service provider fails due to a technical issue, a transaction can be processed through the other provider. If you don’t have another provider, the transaction cannot be triggered and you lose valuable revenue and in the worst-case scenario, customers migrate to your competitor. 

Now you may say a technical issue is usually quickly fixed, but:

What happens when it’s more than just a technical hiccup?

You all know the Wirecard case that dominated the headlines a year ago. This case made big waves, some of which are only now being felt. On Tuesday (8/6/2021), the Financial Times announced that another payment company will cease its services on Thursday, 10/6/2021, due to license revocation. This company has a lot of customers in the high-risk industry (gaming, gambling, dating, etc.) who now have to change their payment setup with exactly 48h hours’ notice, 24 hours before the kick-off of the Euros 2020. 

In addition to the withdrawal of licenses in the wake of the Wirecard scandal, changing regulations at banks are also a frequent reason for the short-term closure of a MID / merchant account. Payment providers are subject to regulatory requirements, which are then passed on to their customers. If the payment provider decides that the risk of your business is too high, they are free to close your merchant account with little warning. Those are just two of many more examples that underscore the need for a multi-acquirer setup.

Why are we telling you all this?

A multi-acquirer setup includes the connection and maintenance of multiple API interfaces to payment service providers. Installing individual connections to payment service providers is costly and very time-consuming. Simply put, it's also not your core business and eats up important resources that you'd be better off using to scale your business. 

This is where a payment orchestration platform comes into play: IXOPAY allows you to centralize your payment management and provide a failover solution. With just one connection to IXOPAY, you get access to the whole world of online payments. Currently, the IXOPAY team maintains over 130 integrations to local and global payment service providers, acquirers, banks and 3rd party risk and identity check providers. Once you have signed a contract with the respective payment processor, you can configure the connection within the IXOPAY platform and process live transactions.

Win with a multi-acquirer set-up

In addition to the multi-acquirer setup, IXOPAY offers many other features, such as risk management, smart routing, automated reconciliation and settlements, extensive reporting, a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant vault for storing payment data and much more. 

But above all, IXOPAY offers you one thing: a solid foundation for processing online payments!

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Our sales team will be happy to discuss how we can support you in optimizing your payment setup.

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About IXOPAY

IXOPAY is a payments orchestration platform enabling independent, flexible and global payment processing. As a highly scalable and PCI-DSS certified “fintech enabler”, IXOPAY fulfills the needs of large merchants as well as those of “white label” clients: payment service providers (PSPs), acquirers and independent sales organizations (ISOs). The modern, easily extendable architecture offers smart transaction routing & cascading, state-of-the-art risk & fraud management, fully automated reconciliation and settlements processing, comprehensive reporting as well as plugin-based integration of acquirers, payment service providers and alternative payment methods (APMs).

IXOPAY is part of the IXOLIT Group, founded in Vienna, Austria in 2001. With local entities in Austria and the USA, IXOLIT supports national and international customers across various industry verticals. The owner-led and -financed company has grown from 2 to more than 65 employees and is focused on building innovative solutions for eCommerce.

Please find more information about IXOPAY here: https://www.ixopay.com

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