What is acquiring? A plain-language guide for Serbian merchants

Your bank calls it "acquiring services." Your accountant mentions "the acquirer." The contract says "merchant acquiring agreement." You nod and pretend you understand. Let's fix that.

Acquiring is the process that lets your business accept card payments. That's it. Everything else is details — important details, but the core concept is simple: acquiring is what happens between "customer taps their card" and "money appears in your account."

The players, explained simply

Think of card payment as a phone call between two banks. The customer's bank (the issuer) and your bank (the acquirer) need to talk to each other. They do it through a network — Visa, Mastercard, or DinaCard — which acts as the phone line.

The issuing bank gave the customer their card. When the customer pays, this bank checks: Is the card valid? Is there enough money? Should we allow this transaction?

The acquiring bank has a contract with you, the merchant. It receives the "yes" from the issuing bank and eventually puts the money in your account.

The payment gateway (that's us) connects your website to the acquiring bank. Without it, your website has no way to send a transaction to the bank.

For a child: you want to buy juice from a vending machine, but your piggy bank is at home. So you call your mom (issuing bank), she calls the vending machine company (acquiring bank), and they let you take the juice now. The phone (payment gateway) made the call happen.

Internet acquiring vs. in-store acquiring

In-store acquiring: customer physically taps or inserts their card into a POS terminal. The terminal talks to the acquirer directly.

Internet acquiring (also called e-commerce acquiring): the customer enters card details on a website. There's no physical terminal — the payment gateway takes its place.

The difference matters because:

• Internet acquiring has higher fraud risk (no physical card present), so security requirements are stricter
• You need 3D Secure authentication for online payments (the step where the bank asks for a code)
• Settlement times may differ
• Fees are typically slightly higher for online transactions

What does acquiring cost?

When a customer pays 1,000 RSD with a card, you don't receive exactly 1,000 RSD. The acquiring bank takes a percentage — the merchant discount rate (MDR). This rate covers:

• Interchange fee — goes to the customer's bank
• Card network fee — goes to Visa/Mastercard/DinaCard
• Acquirer's margin — goes to your acquiring bank

The exact rate depends on your business type, volume, and the card used. It's negotiated in your merchant agreement with the acquirer.

How to get acquiring in Serbia

Option A: Go directly to a bank. Serbian banks that offer acquiring include Banca Intesa, UniCredit, OTP, NLB, and others. You'll sign a merchant agreement, get a merchant ID, and they'll provide technical integration documentation. This works but takes time — typically weeks for approval and integration.

Option B: Use a payment gateway. A gateway like Polako Finance already has acquiring agreements with banks. You sign up with us, we handle the bank relationship, and you get one integration that works with multiple acquirers. Faster to set up, and you don't need to negotiate with banks yourself.

What to look for in an acquiring agreement

MDR rate. The percentage the bank takes per transaction. Compare across banks — even 0.3% difference matters at scale.

Settlement period. How quickly the money reaches your account after a sale. Can be T+1 (next day) to T+7 (a week later). Ask for the shortest you can get.

Currency support. If you sell in EUR or USD, make sure the acquirer supports multi-currency processing, not just RSD.

Chargeback policy. What happens when a customer disputes a payment? What's the chargeback fee? What's the process?

Contract length and exit terms. Some banks lock you into long contracts. Know how to exit if you need to.

Do I need acquiring if I use Polako Finance?

You still need an acquirer — but you don't need to find one yourself. Polako Finance works with acquiring banks on your behalf. When you sign up, we connect you to the right acquirer for your business type and volume.

You get:

• Card payment acceptance (Visa, Mastercard, DinaCard)
• Automatic fiscalization (eFiskalizacija)
• A single integration point (our API or a plugin)
• A merchant dashboard for tracking transactions

The acquiring relationship exists, but we manage it so you don't have to.

In short

• Acquiring = the service that lets your business accept card payments
• It involves three parties: your bank (acquirer), customer's bank (issuer), and the card network
• Internet acquiring is for online payments; it requires a payment gateway and 3D Secure
• The acquirer charges a merchant discount rate (MDR) — a percentage of each transaction
• You can go directly to a bank or use a payment gateway that handles the acquiring relationship for you