Where to get a Merchant Services Agreement

Realex Payments work closely with many banks and financial institutions to process card payments for their merchants. Should a merchant wish to accept credit or debit cards it will need to complete an agreement with its card processing bank (known as the 'acquiring bank'). This is referred to as a Merchant Service Agreement (MSA) and must be in place for the merchant to start accepting the cards in a 'live' environment. The MSA is agreed between the bank and the merchant and details the currencies, card types and sales channels a merchant can process through that bank. For example, if a merchant wishes to sell online it will require an Internet Merchant Agreement (IMA) and, in the case of telesales or mail order, a Mail Order/Telephone Order Agreement (MOTO). A separate agreement will also be required for each additional currency that the merchant wishes to accept. Live payments cannot be processed until such an agreement has been finalised with the bank and the necessary merchant account details have been passed on to Realex Payments. Acquiring banks and card schemes that merchants can use with Realex Payments: AIB UK Merchant Services tel.: 028 9031 5050 Bank of Scotland Merchant Services tel.: 0800 6525 808 Barclaycard Business tel.: 0800 616161 Elavon Merchant Services tel.: 020 7029 4150 First Trust Merchant Services tel.: 028 9031 5050 Lloyds TSB Cardnet tel.: 0800 056 8669 Streamline (Natwest, RBS, Ulster Bank)  tel.: 0800 01 01 66 American Express tel.: 0127 3693555 Diners tel.: 0800 3892224 EMS Card: +31 (0) 20 6 600 168 HSBC: 0800 731 8921