Glossary
Acquirer
The merchant's bank in the card system: a Visa or Mastercard member that accepts card payments for businesses and pays the issuer back when a chargeback lands, even if the merchant can't.
Also called: acquiring bank, merchant acquirer, sponsor bank.
The chain runs from the cardholder's bank (the issuer) through the card network to the acquirer, which settles the money to the merchant. Processors, payment facilitators and sales agents (ISOs) work under an acquirer's licence, and the acquirer is the one the card networks fine.
That liability is why acquirers underwrite carefully, hold reserves and pass network fines down by contract. Stripe's own documentation says network assessments charged to it "might be passed on to you."
When you vet a payment provider, ask which acquirer settles your payments. A provider that can't name one is asking you to trust a layer you can't check.
Related terms: Merchant account, PSP, Payment facilitator, Chargeback, MCC.