As the payment acceptance landscape diversifies, to support an ever more increasing number of channels, the value chain becomes more complex with multiple intermediaries participating in the model, from first contact at onboarding to fund settlement in merchant accounts.
Acquirers play a pivotal role in enabling businesses to grow their customer base by facilitating access to global card payment networks. In turn, acquirers must evidence compliance with VISA Acceptance Risk Standard (VARS): acquirers commit to applying appropriate due diligence and risk monitoring practices to ensure the suitability, integrity and legality of their acceptance channels.
Under the umbrella of the VISA Ecosystem Risk Program (VIRP), VARS provides stakeholders with a risk control framework to limit financial and reputational damage whilst protecting the integrity of the payment network. VISA acts as a regulatory body, providing oversight through its rules, regulations and suite of monitoring programmes. If a member of the VISA network is identified as non-compliant or fails to implement an approved remediation plan, VISA may impose penalties.
The VARS set requirements that acquirers must follow to minimise risk across the community of payment stakeholders. The VARS is divided across three key risk types: Business, Operational, and Legal and Regulatory. Overall, the onus is on the acquirers to evidence their readiness to meet the challenges of this model and to apply appropriate and proportionate risk remediation controls if they wish to contract external parties such as merchants, third party agents, and ATM suppliers. The greater the perceived risk the more the card schemes will expect acquirers to demonstrate resilience and preparedness.
AJC operates globally from its UK headquarters, with a team of 30+ seasoned consultants strategically positioned to cover diverse regions such as mainland Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the USA, and Australia. Our multilingual capabilities, encompassing languages including French, German, and Russian, enable us to better cater to our clients’ needs worldwide.
Our ever growing list of clients demonstrates our commitment and ability to tailor compliance and remediation solutions, catering to the specific demands of the high risk merchant sector. We take pride in our ability to adapt to the unique requirements of each client.
Our services are tailored to each individual business, aimed at delivering outstanding value and the appropriate, proportionate solution.
