A payments RFP looks like a procurement exercise.
It is actually a negotiation.
Most merchants go in without knowing that.
Providers know their numbers inside out. Their floors on approval rates by merchant category code, where they have room to move on pricing, which commercial terms they will flex on and which they will not. Most merchants on the other side of the table are working from a proposal and a gut feel. That asymmetry is where the best response is undermined. We have spent years closing it.
WORK WE
HAVE DONE
FOR A TRAVEL MERCHANT
Found the right international acquirer for their actual processing profile. Not the vendor with the strongest pitch.
We structured the RFP so vendors had to model against the merchant's real transaction mix, geographies, and card types.
The shortlist looked completely different once like-for-like numbers replaced the headlines.
FOR A SaaS MERCHANT
Renegotiated with their existing provider and walked away with meaningfully better commercial terms.
No new RFP needed. We identified exactly where the provider had room to move and what it would take to get there.
The merchant went back to the table with the right structure and used it.
Providers are not monoliths.
They have margin pressures, volume targets, and verticals they are trying to grow. We know which levers matter for which provider, and we build that into every process we touch, whether the merchant is switching or staying.
WHERE YOUR LAST RFP PROBABLY COST YOU
1
You compared approval rates that were never measuring the same thing
Every vendor quotes from their strongest merchant mix, best geographies, most favorable card types. Your processing profile sits somewhere else. Without modeling against your real transaction data, the number they gave you was theirs, not yours.
2
You evaluated a headline rate that shifted the moment transaction mix was applied
IC++ effective cost moves with your domestic vs international split, debit vs credit ratio, card type, and FX. A lower quoted rate can and does cost more in practice once scheme fees and minimums are in the picture. Most RFPs never model this.
3
The terms that define what the relationship actually costs were in the annexures
Settlement timelines, reserve requirements, chargeback liability. Not boilerplate. These are the clauses that determine what happens when volumes shift or something goes wrong. They deserved the same scrutiny as price. They rarely get it.
WHO WE
WORK WITH
Merchants
Choosing a new provider or renegotiating with the one they have. We structure the process, build the right benchmarks, and make sure the leverage in the room is actually being used.
Payments businesses
Helping respond to RFPs. A strong offering that does not come through in the response loses to a weaker one that does. We help payments businesses show up the way they deserve to.
RUNNING AN RFP?
RESPONDING TO ONE?
LET US TALK.
We have also built a free Payments RFP Template, six sheets built specifically for payments. Vendors complete it alongside your RFP. It does the like-for-like work that generic procurement templates never do.
FREE TEMPLATE COVERS
✓ Vendor profile and company viability
✓ Auth, capture, refund and 3DS capabilities
✓ Gateway, risk and fraud product questions
✓ Settlement file format and payout timelines
✓ Geographical reach across 180+ countries
✓ IC++ and blended pricing grid by market
✓ Auth rates by Visa and Mastercard per region
✓ Chargeback handling and dispute process
Get In Touch
A payments RFP looks like a procurement exercise.
It is actually a negotiation.
Most merchants go in without knowing that.
Book a Consultation
Providers know their numbers inside out. Their floors on approval rates by merchant category code, where they have room to move on pricing, which commercial terms they will flex on and which they will not. Most merchants on the other side of the table are working from a proposal and a gut feel. That asymmetry is where the best response is undermined. We have spent years closing it.
WORK WE
HAVE DONE
FOR A TRAVEL MERCHANT
Found the right international acquirer for their actual processing profile. Not the vendor with the strongest pitch.
We structured the RFP so vendors had to model against the merchant's real transaction mix, geographies, and card types.
The shortlist looked completely different once like-for-like numbers replaced the headlines.
FOR A SaaS MERCHANT
Renegotiated with their existing provider and walked away with meaningfully better commercial terms.
No new RFP needed. We identified exactly where the provider had room to move and what it would take to get there.
The merchant went back to the table with the right structure and used it.
Providers are not monoliths.
They have margin pressures, volume targets, and verticals they are trying to grow. We know which levers matter for which provider, and we build that into every process we touch, whether the merchant is switching or staying.
WHERE YOUR LAST RFP
PROBABLY COST YOU
1
You compared approval rates that were never measuring the same thing
Every vendor quotes from their strongest merchant mix, best geographies, most favorable card types. Your processing profile sits somewhere else. Without modeling against your real transaction data, the number they gave you was theirs, not yours.
2
You evaluated a headline rate that shifted the moment transaction mix was applied
IC++ effective cost moves with your domestic vs international split, debit vs credit ratio, card type, and FX. A lower quoted rate can and does cost more in practice once scheme fees and minimums are in the picture. Most RFPs never model this.
3
The terms that define what the relationship actually costs were in the annexures
Settlement timelines, reserve requirements, chargeback liability. Not boilerplate. These are the clauses that determine what happens when volumes shift or something goes wrong. They deserved the same scrutiny as price. They rarely get it.
WHO WE
WORK WITH
Merchants
Choosing a new provider or renegotiating with the one they have. We structure the process, build the right benchmarks, and make sure the leverage in the room is actually being used.
Payments businesses
Helping respond to RFPs. A strong offering that does not come through in the response loses to a weaker one that does. We help payments businesses show up the way they deserve to.
RUNNING AN RFP?
RESPONDING TO ONE?
LET US TALK.
We have also built a free Payments RFP Template, six sheets built specifically for payments. Vendors complete it alongside your RFP. It does the like-for-like work that generic procurement templates never do.
FREE TEMPLATE COVERS
✓ Vendor profile and company viability
✓ Auth, capture, refund and 3DS capabilities
✓ Gateway, risk and fraud product questions
✓ Settlement file format and payout timelines
✓ Geographical reach across 180+ countries
✓ IC++ and blended pricing grid by market
✓ Auth rates by Visa and Mastercard per region
✓ Chargeback handling and dispute process
Get In Touch
