Update: On 3 November 2021 we published our final report.

This annex provides background information on the industry relevant to our assessment. It describes:

  • the different types of card transactions
  • the card payment systems operating in the UK
  • the products that merchants buy to accept card payments
  • the characteristics of merchants and how they buy card-acquiring services
  • the main acquirers and payment facilitators serving merchants
  • the third parties that help merchants accept card payments
  • the pricing of card-acquiring services and other products that acquirers, payment facilitators and independent sales organisations (ISOs) offer
  • the regulatory framework, scheme rules and industry standards that apply to acquirers and payment facilitators, focusing on those requirements that are most relevant to our assessment
  • the alternatives to Mastercard and Visa cards for merchants

This document should be read alongside:

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