The partnership connects Visa Intelligent Authorisation, an authorisation capability available through the Visa Acceptance Platform, with Symphopay ONE, Symphopay’s merchant acquiring platform. The agreement addresses two groups: banks and other financial institutions entering merchant acquiring, and established acquirers seeking to update legacy processing environments.
How the integration works
Visa Intelligent Authorisation allows acquirers to modernise legacy payment processing through a single API connection. According to the companies, this approach supports operational resilience without requiring a complete infrastructure rebuild. Through Symphopay ONE, banks can integrate the capability within their wider acquiring environment and access further services from the Visa Acceptance Platform, including tokenisation and fraud and risk management tools.
Visa’s role is that of a technology partner, contributing acceptance capabilities and API-based services intended to strengthen security, reduce compliance complexity and streamline operations.
Symphopay ONE combines these Visa services with merchant onboarding and management, card-present and card-not-present processing, multi-vendor terminal management, support for clearing and settlement, and unified reporting and analytics. In addition, the platform also includes customer acquisition and marketing tools, as it was designed to link banking systems, processors, payment channels, terminal estates, and merchant applications within a single operating environment.
Two routes into acquiring
For new entrants, the companies note that obtaining the required licences is only the first step. Building an acquiring business also requires payment processing, merchant management, terminal operations, risk controls, reporting, and a competitive merchant proposition. Bringing these functions together on one platform is positioned as a way to shorten time to market and support differentiated merchant services from the outset. Furthermore, banks using ONE retain control over their licence, commercial strategy, and merchant relationships, with Symphopay supplying the technology layer.
Established acquiring banks face a different challenge: their payment infrastructure is often reliable but fragmented across legacy systems, channels, and technology providers, which can limit operational visibility and slow the introduction of new services. In this case, ONE connects to the bank’s core banking systems through a single API, as this process allows banks to modernise progressively, extending existing infrastructure and adding merchant services without replacing the entire acquiring stack. The bank keeps control of its operating model and customer relationships throughout the process.
The partnership also presents acquiring as a source of value beyond payment acceptance. By connecting processing, merchant operations, and transaction data, banks can use Symphopay ONE to run customer acquisition campaigns, deliver more relevant services, and offer merchants tools to engage their own customers.
Katarzyna Pawlowicz, Head of VAS for CEE at Visa, said banks in the region are looking for scalable ways to modernise acquiring and improve payment experiences for merchants, adding that Symphopay joins a growing network of acquirers and processors on the Visa Acceptance Platform. Furthermore, Daniel Nicolescu, CEO and Cofounder of Symphopay, said the aim is to give banks the infrastructure to connect processing, operations, data, and merchant services, turning acquiring from a processing function into a basis for differentiation and growth.
What it means for the market
For Visa, the agreement adds another partner through which banks can reach Visa Acceptance Platform services. As for CEE banks, the model separates ownership of the licence and merchant relationship from the underlying technology. Prospective acquirers can enter the market using an assembled platform, and incumbents can modernise in stages rather than through a full system replacement.
