Acquiring
Cross-border transaction
A card transaction where the issuer country differs from the acquirer country, attracting higher interchange and scheme fees.
Cross-border transactions carry a 0.5–1.5% premium over domestic and often see lower approval rates. The fix is local acquiring: a MID in the issuer's region that treats the same card as domestic. Orchestrators make this practical without holding multiple direct relationships.
Related terms
The fee paid by the acquirer to the issuer on every card transaction, set by the schemes.
Fees charged by Visa and Mastercard (or another scheme) to acquirers and issuers on every transaction.
Algorithmic selection of an acquirer or MID per transaction to maximise approval rate, minimise cost, or both.
A platform layer that lets a merchant connect to multiple acquirers, APMs, and risk tools through one integration and route transactions intelligently.
Ready for velocity?
Tell us about your business. We'll match you with the right acquiring partners and the right route, typically inside a week.