There are a number of organisations that can provide help and guidance to merchants who want to accept card payments and also provide general business advice. The following list is not exhaustive and does not infer a recommendation from The UK Cards Association but provides a merchant with a first step to finding out more.
Acquirers
Provided below are the website links for a range of UK acquiring banks and their contact details.
- Abbey
- Abbey offers its merchant service through Streamline
Telephone: 0845 6070 666
Website: Abbey Merchant Services - Allied Irish Bank (GB)
- Allied Irish Bank (GB) offers its merchant service through First Data
Telephone: (028) 9031 5050
Website: Allied Irish Bank (GB) Merchant Services - Bank of Ireland
- Bank of Ireland offers its merchant service through euroConex
Website: Bank of Ireland Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to:customercare@boiuk.com - Barclays
- Website: Barclays Merchant Service
Send an e-mail via the web form
Telephone: 0800 61 61 61 - Bank of Scotland (HBOS)
- Website: Bank of Scotland (HBOS) Merchant Services
Telephone: 0800 652 5808 - Elavon
- Website: Elavon Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to:info@elavon.com
Telephone: 01908 554700 - HSBC
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Website: HSBC Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to:salessupportcardprocessing@hsbc.com
Telephone: 0800 731 8921 - Lloyds TSB
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Website: Lloyds TSB Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to:cardnetsalescentre@lloydstsb.co.uk
Telephone: 0800 056 8669 - NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland
- Both these banks offer their merchant services through Streamline
Website: Streamline Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to Streamline via their web form
Telephone: 0800 01 01 66 - The Cooperative Bank
- Website: The Cooperative Bank Merchant Services
Send an e-mail to:customerservice@co-operativebank.co.uk
Telephone: 08457 654 654
The Cooperative Bank Merchant Services provides a Quotation Form at the link above.
Card Schemes
The card schemes have websites that provide comprehensive details about the card services they offer and have dedicated sections for merchants that can provide additional help and guidance on accepting cards.
- American Express
- American Express’s website for merchant enquires
Web form to apply to American Express to accept cards
Telephone: 0800 339 911 - Diners Club
- Diners Club website for merchant enquiries
Telephone: 0800 389 2224 - MasterCard
- MasterCard’s website for merchant enquiries
Telephone: 0800 389 2224
MasterCard SecureCode - details for merchants
MasterCard Interchange Fees for Europe - Visa
- Visa’s website for merchant enquiries
Telephone: 0800 389 2224
Verified by Visa - details for merchants
Visa Interchange Fees for Europe
Trade Associations
- The British Retail Consortium
- www.brc.org.uk
The BRC is an association representing a range of retailers, including the major supermarkets and department stores as well as independents. They offer information, representation, discounted services and consultancy to members. - The British Shops and Stores Association
- www.british-shops.co.uk
Aimed at non-food retailers, the BSSA provides its members with advice, discounted rates on services and representation on industry-wide issues. - The UK Cards Association
- The UK Cards Association is the leading trade
association for the cards industry in the UK.
With a membership that includes all major credit,
debit and charge card issuers, and card acquiring
banks, the role of the Association is both to unify
and represent the UK card payments industry.
www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk
Other Sources of Help
- Chip & PIN
- A website dedicated to helping merchants who may have questions on Chip & PIN.
- Business Banking Code
- The major UK High Street banks have signed up to a voluntary code on how they will treat their business customers and this includes the acquiring bank relationship with a merchant customer. To find out more about the business banking code, please follow this link to the APACS website.
- Shop Safe Online
- Shopsafeonline is designed to provide online retailers, with information on MasterCard SecureCode & Verified by Visa: secure services that make shopping online safer. These services have been developed by Visa and MasterCard to provide extra protection, making the online shopping experience better for everyone - consumers and retailers alike.
Business Support
- Businesslinks
- The government, through Businesslinks, has a comprehensive website providing help on setting up in business as well as guidance on creating an online shop and accepting online payments through its IT and E-Commerce section.
Businesslinks web site Home Page
IT and E-Commerce section
