Market review into the supply of card-acquiring services

Last updated: 26 January 2022

We have been carrying out a market review into the supply of card-acquiring services and on this page, you will find links to the information we publish about this review.

Card payments are critical to the smooth running of the UK economy. They are a popular way for people to pay for goods and services, and their use is growing.

For merchants to accept card payments, they need to buy card-acquiring services. The costs of these services may ultimately be reflected in the prices and services they offer to their customers.

We have been carrying out a market review into card-acquiring services following concerns that the supply of these services may not be working well for merchants, and ultimately consumers.

We published the draft terms of reference for our work in July 2018. We published final terms of reference in January 2019 taking account of the feedback we received.

On 15 September 2020, we published our interim report on the supply of card-acquiring services which shows that merchants could make savings by shopping around and either switching or negotiating with their current provider – but many small and medium ones don’t.

On 3 November 2021, we published our final report on the supply of card-acquiring services.

On 26 January 2022, we published our initial remedies consultation for the card-acquiring market review.

On this page, you will find helpful links to documents and announcements associated with this market review.