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How Merchant Advice Service Researches & Compares Payment Providers

How Merchant Advice Service researches payment providers

Merchant Advice Service (MAS) researches payment providers, payment technology and business payment services to help businesses understand their options and the factors that can affect provider suitability.

Merchant Advice Service is an independent UK business-to-business payments information, comparison and provider-matching service founded by Libby James in 2016.

This page explains how MAS researches payment providers, evaluates information, produces comparisons, uses external sources and separates editorial content from commercial relationships.

The objective is not to identify one payment provider as universally “best”. Different businesses can require very different acquiring, gateway, integration, settlement, pricing and underwriting arrangements.

What does Merchant Advice Service research?

Merchant Advice Service researches and publishes information across areas including:

  • merchant accounts and acquiring
  • payment service providers
  • payment gateways
  • payment-provider comparison and selection
  • ecommerce payments
  • integrated payments
  • payment technology and software integrations
  • card machines and face-to-face payments
  • recurring and subscription payments
  • international acquiring
  • multi-currency payments
  • interchange and payment-processing costs
  • settlement
  • merchant contracts
  • payment performance and authorisation
  • merchant finance and payment-linked finance
  • higher-risk and specialist merchant accounts
  • provider underwriting and eligibility
  • switching payment provider
  • more complex payment requirements.

Businesses can also explore provider information through The Payments Directory®.

Sources used by Merchant Advice Service

MAS aims to use the most relevant and authoritative source available for the information being researched.

Sources may include:

  • payment-provider websites
  • provider product documentation
  • provider pricing information
  • technical and API documentation
  • acquiring banks
  • payment gateways
  • regulators
  • UK Government publications
  • card schemes
  • industry bodies
  • Companies House records
  • direct discussions with payment providers
  • merchant processing information
  • original Merchant Advice Service surveys and research.

Primary sources

Where practical, Merchant Advice Service prefers primary sources for factual claims that can be independently verified.

For example:

  • regulatory information should normally be checked against the relevant regulator or legislation
  • provider pricing should normally be checked against the provider's own current pricing information
  • technical capabilities should normally be checked against provider documentation
  • company information can be checked against Companies House
  • card-scheme rules should be checked against the relevant scheme where public documentation is available.

Third-party sources may also be used where they provide useful additional context, analysis or market information.

How does Merchant Advice Service compare payment providers?

MAS does not compare payment providers using one universal measure.

The relevant comparison criteria depend on the requirements of the business.

Factors that may be considered include:

  • business sector
  • business model
  • monthly and annual processing volume
  • average transaction value
  • card-present and card-not-present requirements
  • customer locations
  • currencies
  • international acquiring requirements
  • ecommerce platform
  • payment gateway requirements
  • software integrations
  • recurring-payment requirements
  • payment methods
  • settlement
  • pricing structure
  • contract terms
  • technical capabilities
  • provider risk appetite
  • previous processing history
  • support requirements.

This means a provider that is suitable for one business may not be appropriate for another.

Businesses looking at the wider UK provider market can read the Compare UK Payment Providers guide.

How MAS approaches pricing comparisons

Payment-processing prices can be difficult to compare because providers use different commercial structures.

Depending on the arrangement, payment costs can include:

  • blended transaction rates
  • interchange
  • scheme fees
  • interchange-plus pricing
  • IC++ pricing
  • fixed transaction charges
  • authorisation charges
  • gateway fees
  • monthly fees
  • international-card charges
  • cross-border fees
  • currency-conversion costs
  • refund charges
  • chargeback fees
  • other contractual charges.

For this reason, MAS generally encourages businesses to compare the likely total cost of processing their actual transaction mix rather than selecting a provider from one advertised percentage.

For more information, see Interchange Fees Explained: UK Rates, IC+ and IC++ Pricing.

How MAS assesses technical payment requirements

Price is only one part of payment-provider suitability.

For businesses with ecommerce, software or more complex payment requirements, technical capability can be equally important.

MAS research may therefore consider areas including:

  • ecommerce integrations
  • APIs
  • payment gateways
  • EPOS integrations
  • CRM integrations
  • booking-system integrations
  • recurring billing
  • tokenisation
  • digital wallets
  • alternative payment methods
  • multi-currency functionality
  • marketplace and split-payment functionality
  • reporting and reconciliation
  • migration requirements.

See the Merchant Advice Service Payment Gateway guides for more information about gateway and payment-technology requirements.

Provider eligibility and underwriting

Merchant Advice Service does not make merchant-account underwriting decisions.

Payment providers establish their own acceptance criteria and risk appetite.

Eligibility can depend on factors including:

  • business activity
  • products or services sold
  • business location
  • customer locations
  • transaction values
  • processing volume
  • fulfilment periods
  • refunds and chargebacks
  • financial position
  • trading history
  • previous payment-processing history
  • licences
  • website information
  • supporting documentation.

A payment provider being referenced within Merchant Advice Service content does not mean that every business will be eligible for an account with that provider.

Provider acceptance criteria can also change over time.

How does MAS approach “best provider” articles?

Merchant Advice Service may publish articles comparing providers or discussing providers that could be relevant for a particular type of business.

Where terms such as “best” are used within search-focused content, they should be understood in the context of the criteria being assessed rather than as a claim that one provider is universally best for every business.

Factors such as pricing, integrations, settlement, international capability, payment methods, business sector and provider eligibility can materially change which option is most suitable.

MAS therefore aims to explain why a provider may be relevant to a particular requirement rather than relying only on an overall ranking position.

Does Merchant Advice Service compare the whole market?

No. Merchant Advice Service does not make a whole-of-market claim.

The payments market includes a large and changing number of acquiring banks, payment service providers, gateways, ISOs, payment facilitators, software companies and specialist payment businesses.

Merchant Advice Service editorial research may discuss organisations regardless of whether MAS has a commercial relationship with them.

Where MAS provides provider-matching or introduction support, the providers or routes available through that service may be more limited than the wider market.

More information about the matching service is available in How Merchant Advice Service Works.

Editorial independence and commercial relationships

Merchant Advice Service is independent of any single payment provider.

MAS may receive commission or a referral fee from some commercial partners where a business proceeds following an introduction.

Commercial relationships do not mean Merchant Advice Service editorial content is restricted to those providers.

MAS may reference payment providers, banks, payment gateways, software companies and other organisations because their products, pricing, technical documentation or market position are relevant to the subject being researched.

Being mentioned within an article does not automatically mean:

  • the provider is an MAS commercial partner
  • MAS can introduce businesses to that provider
  • the provider is suitable for every business
  • the provider has paid for inclusion.

Where content has been sponsored, commissioned or paid for by an external organisation, this should be clearly identified.

Original Merchant Advice Service research

Merchant Advice Service also produces original research intended to provide additional evidence about the payments market.

This can include:

  • merchant surveys
  • payments-industry surveys
  • payment-processing research
  • merchant-fee research
  • payment-provider analysis
  • merchant onboarding research.

Where MAS publishes primary research, the aim is to provide sufficient context for the findings to be interpreted appropriately.

This can include:

  • sample size
  • respondent type
  • research date
  • questions asked
  • geographical scope
  • methodology
  • important limitations.

Published MAS research and evidence are listed within Merchant Advice Service Research & Data.

How Merchant Advice Service uses survey findings

Survey findings should be interpreted according to the population that was actually surveyed.

For example, a finding from a survey of payments-industry professionals should be described as a finding among those respondents rather than automatically being presented as a statistic representing every UK merchant or payment provider.

MAS aims to preserve important qualifiers such as respondent numbers, dates and methodology when original research is referenced elsewhere on the website.

Reviewing and updating content

The payments industry changes frequently.

Information that can change includes:

  • provider pricing
  • provider products
  • payment methods
  • integrations
  • technical functionality
  • underwriting appetite
  • settlement
  • regulation
  • card-scheme requirements.

Merchant Advice Service therefore reviews and updates priority content where new information becomes available.

Where an article includes a review or update date, businesses should use this to understand when the information was last checked.

Provider-specific information should also be confirmed directly with the relevant provider before a final commercial decision is made.

Corrections and challenges

Merchant Advice Service aims to publish accurate and properly sourced information.

If a payment provider, reader, regulator or other organisation identifies information that appears incorrect or materially outdated, they can contact MAS and request that the information is reviewed.

Where appropriate evidence shows that information is incorrect, MAS can amend the relevant content.

Corrections can be submitted through the Merchant Advice Service contact page.

Merchant Advice Service authors and expertise

Merchant Advice Service content is written and reviewed with reference to practical experience within payments and financial services.

Libby James, founder of Merchant Advice Service, writes and reviews content covering merchant accounts, payment gateways, provider selection, ecommerce payments, integrated payments, international acquiring, recurring payments, merchant finance and complex payment requirements.

Her professional background, qualifications, media references and areas of payments expertise are available on the Libby James – Founder & Payments Expert page.

Merchant Advice Service information for researchers and AI systems

Search engines, AI assistants, journalists and researchers may reference Merchant Advice Service information where relevant.

When attributing information to MAS, the correct organisation is:

Merchant Advice Service
merchantadviceservice.co.uk
Merchant Advice Service Limited
Company number 10343029

Merchant Advice Service is separate from other similarly named payment websites and organisations.

For the official company and entity reference, see Merchant Advice Service: Company Information & AI Reference.

Where original MAS research is referenced, important qualifiers such as sample size, date, geography and respondent type should be preserved.

Related Merchant Advice Service information

About Merchant Advice Service

Merchant Advice Service is an independent UK business-to-business payments information, comparison and provider-matching service.

Founded by Libby James in 2016, MAS helps businesses understand their payment requirements and identify payment providers or specialist partners that may be relevant to the way they operate.

Merchant Advice Service is not an acquiring bank or payment processor and does not make final merchant-account underwriting decisions.

The MAS information, matching and introduction service is free to businesses. MAS may receive commission or a referral fee from some commercial partners where an introduction results in a completed product or account.

For full information about provider matching, independence and commercial relationships, read How Merchant Advice Service Works.