Product aims
What is acquiring and how does Cashflows acquiring benefit you?
Acquiring is a service which allows merchants to accept credit and debit card payments. This includes the processing of transactions, reconciliation, and settlement of funds.
Acquiring is a licensed activity and approval is necessary from both the card schemes and the financial regulator in the region.
The acquirer (Cashflows) is a member of the card schemes, Visa and Mastercard, and can provide you with a merchant account to allow you to accept credit and debit card cards in the UK and EEA for Visa, Mastercard, and American Express in a secure and compliant manner.
Your commitment
We will provide you with documentation and support to ensure that you understand the features, benefits, and risks of our acquiring services.
You will agree to be bound by our customer terms and conditions and pay the fees for using our acquiring services.
Risks
Cashflows must observe the card scheme rules to maintain membership. All major card schemes have programs that measure and monitor acquirer performance in key areas such as fraud, Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation (BRAM) violation, and disputed transactions (chargebacks). In the unlikely event that these are breached, the acquirer can be fined under card scheme rules and these fines may be passed on to you.
We will work with you to make sure that any fines are minimal.
Questions and answers
What payment types do we offer?
Visa and Mastercard are accepted as standard and currently available in 14 and 13 currencies respectively.
Additionally, we offer credit card scheme American Express and alternative payment methods such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.
What settlement options do we offer?
Subject to underwriting checks, you will be able to choose how quickly you want to receive funds from customer payments. We offer several settlement options including but not limited to:
- Three-day settlement: receive funds three days after the transaction day; or
- Next-day settlement: receive funds the day after the transaction day; or
- Same-day settlement: receive funds on the day of the transaction, up to eight times per day during business hours.
Do we offer international payments processing?
Yes. As well as our UK acquiring platform, we have a European acquiring platform based in the Netherlands for businesses operating in the EEA. With our Cashflows FX service, we can settle transactions in a currency and bank account of your choice.
How can you keep track of transactions?
We provide online reporting as standard so you can see all your payments data in one place for a complete view of your online, phone, app, and in-store payments. You can monitor your transactions in real-time and download the data to use offline.
To view your transactions, go to https://www.cashflows.com/ and click the Log In button to access your account. If you need assistance to access your account, please contact support@cashflows.com.
Are there are fees for this service?
In return for us providing acquiring services you agree to pay the fees set out in your pricing plan or as stated on our platform. Fees include pass through fees charged to Cashflows by both card issuers and the card schemes for utilising their network.
We may charge you late payment, admin, and other fees according to our terms and conditions.
Miscellaneous
How is your money protected?
Cashflows Europe Limited (Cashflows) is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is authorised to act as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) for the issuing of electronic money and the provision of payment services (register reference 900006).
Funds from cardholder transactions acquired by Cashflows are safeguarded and segregated as client funds. These are treated in accordance with the safeguarding requirements set out in Section 23 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017. This includes placing amounts due to you into specially designated safeguarded funds accounts provided by FCA-authorised Tier 1 banking institutions prior to settlement into your nominated bank account.
Are there any compensation arrangements?
Money held in an e-money account is not protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Instead, EMIs are required to safeguard relevant funds using either segregation or insurance/guarantee. See above – How is your money protected?
How do I cancel my agreement with you, and are there any charges?
You may cancel your agreement with us by giving us one month’s written notice. There are no charges for cancellation but if your account is overdrawn, you will have to clear the balance before we can close the account.
In the event of cancellation and in line with our terms and conditions, we may be required to hold back any future settlement owed to you for a period of time during which there is a risk of chargebacks. This is to ensure there are funds available to cover this.
What do you do if believe you are a vulnerable customer?
If you believe that you fall into any category of vulnerability as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority (see below), please contact our Customer Support team on +44 (0)330 128 9855 (option 3) and they will be able to assist you further:
- Health (health conditions or illnesses that affect the ability to carry out day to day tasks).
- Life events (major life events such as bereavement or relationship breakdown).
- Resilience (emotional resilience such as low ability to withstand emotional shocks or financial resilience such as low ability to withstand money pressures).
- Capability (for example low knowledge or confidence in managing finances, poor English language skills, learning difficulties).
What if you have a complaint?
Customer satisfaction is very important to us and if you do have any cause to complain about the acquiring services provided, there are clear procedures provided by the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure your complaint is dealt with fairly.
Please contact us in the first instance at support@cashflows.com and we will try to resolve your complaint. You can also call us on 0330 128 9855 (option 3) or write to us at:
11-12 Hanover Square
2nd Floor
London
W1S 1JJ
United Kingdom
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge at:
The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
Tel: 0800 023 4567
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
You can find our full Complaints Policy on our website here.
Financial support
For financial support, please contact an FCA authorised company offering debt advice, such as Money Advice Network - Money Helper, who are sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions.
IMPORTANT
The information provided in this product information document is based on our understanding of current law and practice which may be subject to change.
Full details of the legally binding contract between you and Cashflows are included in our customer terms and conditions which can be found here.