Global Merchant Acquiring Market – Industry Trends and Forecast to 2031

The Merchant Acquiring market is experiencing robust expansion, with market size projected to increase from (22.1 Billion) 2024 to (41.9 Billion) 2031, demonstrating a consistent year-over-year growth rate of 7.8% Merchant Acquiring Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report, by Types (B2C E-commerce, B2B E-commerce), by applications (Sellers, E-commerce Operators) And regions (North America(United States, Canada, Mexico), South America(Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Rest of South America), Europe(Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Benelux, Nordics, Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific(China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), MEA(Middle East, Africa)) : Industry Forecast and Opportunity Analysis for 2024 - 2031

The worldwide market of merchant acquisition refers to providing payment processes to any firm that receives card payments. Merchant acquiring companies help with the authorization, settlement, and reconciliation of card transactions so that businesses can receive payments from customers through credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. Such companies usually provide a range of services that include but are not limited to payment gateways, terminals, fraud prevention mechanisms, and client support.

Merchant Acquiring Report Highlights

Report Metrics	Details
Forecast period	2019-2031
Base Year Of Estimation	2023
Growth Rate	CAGR of 7.8%
Forecast Value (2031)	USD 41.9 Billion
By Product Type	B2C E-commerce, B2B E-commerce
Key Market Players	Global Payments (U.S.) FIS (U.S.) CUP Merchant Services (China) Wells Fargo Merchant Services (U.S.) Chase Paymentech Solutions (U.S.) Elavon (U.S.)
By Region	North America(United States, Canada, Mexico) South America(Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Rest of South America) Europe(Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Benelux, Nordics, Rest of Europe) Asia Pacific(China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific) MEA(Middle East, Africa)

Merchant Acquiring Market Trends

The global merchant acquisition market is now gearing up for the next wave of digitalization and contactless payment solutions. For merchants, demand for an almost limitless acquisition solution to enable high-value transactions across various channels is gaining importance because of the growth of e-commerce and mobile payment applications. The growing consumer preference for convenience and speed has given a boost to the adoption of contactless payment methods in the form of NFC, QR code payments, etc. This development compelled the merchants-acquirers to raise the bar of their service offerings and infuse innovative technology support for various types of payments. Increased competition in the market has again compelled acquirers to differentiate themselves by offering value-added services in the form of fraud prevention, analytics, customer loyalty programs, and so on. More and more merchants are looking for acquirers that are not only payment processors but are also giving them insights into consumer behaviour and trends to make effective use of operations to enhance their experience. This has seen partnerships and collaborations between acquirers and fintech companies advance in order to better address the needs of merchants and consumers.

Merchant Acquiring Market Leading Players

The key players profiled in the report are Global Payments (U.S.), FIS (U.S.), CUP Merchant Services (China), Wells Fargo Merchant Services (U.S.), Chase Paymentech Solutions (U.S.), Elavon (U.S.)

Growth Accelerators

Digital commerce coupled with digital methods of payment has largely fuelled the growth of the global merchant acquisition market. There are more customers purchasing products over the internet, and therefore there is a need for merchants looking for trustworthy payment processing services to handle the increased number of transactions. Consumerism has also evolved with the need for fast and secure payment methods such as mobile wallets and contactless payments, which in turn necessitated sophisticated merchant acquisition services that make transaction processing very fast and smooth, leading to high client satisfaction and retention. Awareness of global financial inclusion trends and the widespread adoption of payment solutions in the developing regions is another market growth driver. In the course of time, more and more SMEs become eager to join the digital economy, which makes it viable for merchant acquiring services because such organizations need to process different payment methods, i.e., credit and debit cards.

Merchant Acquiring Market Segmentation analysis

The Global Merchant Acquiring is segmented by Type, Application, and Region.
By Type, the market is divided into Distributed B2C E-commerce, B2B E-commerce . The Application segment categorizes the market based on its usage such as Sellers, E-commerce Operators. Geographically, the market is assessed across key Regions like North America(United States, Canada, Mexico), South America(Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Rest of South America), Europe(Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Benelux, Nordics, Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific(China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), MEA(Middle East, Africa) and others, each presenting distinct growth opportunities and challenges influenced by the regions.

Competitive Landscape

The worldwide merchant acquiring sector is very contested, with numerous incumbents and new technology-based businesses fighting for dominance. Among the major players in the sector are conventional credit card processors such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express and technology-based companies such as PayPal, Stripe, and Adyen. The competition is fierce, and services are differentiated with high emphasis placed on creativity and affordable offerings to merchants. The market is also expected to be vibrant and competitive as new entrants will be disorderly attempting to put up challenges to the existing dominant players due to the increase in the demand for merchant-acquiring services.

Challenges In Merchant Acquiring Market

The globally unified merchant acquisition can be termed a perfect fit for problems with many challenges, as significant competition from fintech and digital payment systems is on the rise too. These new entrants tend to introduce new approaches and better practices with regards to the fees charged and any transactions involving the services offered. Hence, the old-line players, the financial institutions, ought to find ways of scaling up their operations and investing in technology, pricing strategies, and even customer care to avoid the risk of losing their position in the market. One other factor that poses challenges is the fact that the regulatory environment is dynamic, and as such, it comes with its own issues for merchant acquirers. There are numerous important regulations that these entities have to comply with, such as the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) in Europe or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and they require heavy investment in both technology and systems.

Risks & Prospects in Merchant Acquiring Market

The worldwide market for merchant acquisition represents great potential because of the extensive use of digital payments and the growth of e-commerce. Businesses understand the importance of merchant acquiring solutions that are capable of efficient and effective payment processing, as consumers are inclined to support cashless means of payments. This change calls for more advanced payment methods, which in turn implies that merchant acquirers are compelled to advance their technology and processes to include round the mPOS, payment integration, and even cloud services so that their customers’ experiences and processes are optimized. In addition, the growth of SMEs and the gig economy continues to provide room for growth in the merchant acquiring space. With the increased adoption of digital payment systems by the SMEs geared toward the young and tech-savvy consumers, there is an upsurge for acquiring solutions that are fit for different business models. Merchant acquirers have an opportunity to take advantage of these developments and formulate alliances that will help them increase their footprint in the market, thus increasing their revenues and improving their position in the new financial order.

Key Target Audience

The primary focus of participants in the global merchant acquiring market is on retailers and e-commerce merchants who need dependable payment processing solutions as part of their operations. These kinds of businesses require offers such as merchant acquiring services in order to be able to accept payments made via credit and debit cards and formulate different payment systems such as mobile payments and even digital wallets. Due to the changing payment trends wherein consumers prefer cashless transactions, retail outlets have begun to focus more on advanced payment systems in order to create better satisfaction for their customers as well as improve their performance.,, Also, there are banks and other fintech corporations, since such organisations act as acquirers in the merchant acquiring sector. These firms—acquisitors—sign up with merchants so as to provide them with payment acceptance and processing services while employing sophisticated systems for effective transaction security. The emergence of new payment technologies like contactless payment and subscription billing also motivates these financial entities to seek more funds in their acquiring services so that they take advantage of the rapid growth in the volume of digital payments.

Merger and acquisition

Expanding on the global merchant acquiring market dimension, the latest mergers and acquisitions show growth through consolidation and formation of strategic partnerships to improve the payment solutions offered as well as widen the market. Take, for example, in 2023, FIS made public that it had entered into an agreement to purchase Worldpay, which is a top payment processing company. The reason for this union was to blend their payment technologies so that the two companies would be able to better serve merchants by easing transactions. The focus of the new company’s strategy is to enhance payment processing services by employing their customer bases and technology deployed for both, apart from the technological dual. Another acquisition worth mentioning is that PayPal, the well-known payment processing company, bought Zettle, which is a Swedish point of sale (POS) system provider, at the beginning of the year 2023. This acquisition of Zettle enabled PayPal to reinforce its presence within merchant services, especially in Europe and the Nordic region, where small and medium-scale enterprises require sophisticated payment processing solutions. By adding the products and services of Zettle into its portfolio, PayPal seeks to cement its top position in the merchant acquisition industry by making available end-to-end payment services along with other features for business support.