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Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system

University Of Edinburgh

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

14 Aug 2026 at 10:51

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of Edinburgh procured an alternative payment processing and merchant acquiring service for its sports and exercise leisure system. The service enables online and point-of-sale payments through the OpenPlay leisure management platform, supporting the replacement of the university’s end-of-life XN Leisure system. The requirement covers financial transaction processing and related clearing-house services. Delivery is centred on the University of Edinburgh Sports Centre in Edinburgh. OpenPlay’s existing integration and support arrangements identified Ryft as the payment processor and merchant acquiring provider for the solution. The buyer is the University of Edinburgh, a public university, and the requirement is for services rather than goods or construction works.

This procurement has been awarded following a limited procedure without prior publication of a competition notice, on the stated basis that technical reasons meant the services could be provided only by a particular economic operator. The award is active and was made to Ryft Pay on 14 August 2026. The active contract was signed on 14 August 2026 and has a value of £120,000. The procurement used one lot, although that lot is recorded as cancelled. Evaluation was based entirely on quality, weighted at 100%, with price weighted at 0%. The records show one bid, submitted electronically by an SME and identified as an EU bid. An additional 12-month period was described as potentially necessary while integrating with the existing Lloyds acquiring contract.

This outcome demonstrates demand for a payment provider able to support both online and point-of-sale transactions within a university sports and leisure environment. Suppliers competing for comparable work with the University of Edinburgh would need a production-ready payment processing and merchant acquiring service, with reliable integration into OpenPlay and the ability to operate through the platform’s supported configuration. Credible providers would also need to manage the transition from an existing acquiring arrangement with Lloyds, while maintaining continuity for a business-critical leisure management system replacement. The procurement attracted a single SME bid, suggesting that a specialist payment technology business with the relevant platform relationship and implementation capability can satisfy this type of requirement. Experience integrating payment services into leisure, membership or venue-management systems would be directly relevant.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system

Notice Description

The University requires an alternative payment processing solution to enable online and point-of-sale payment transactions to be processed through the OpenPlay platform from the planned go-live date. Th/rough Openplay, Ryft has been identified as the payment processor and merchant acquiring provider that is currently integrated with and supported by OpenPlay.

Lot Information

Lot 1

the University requires an alternative payment processing solution to enable online and point-of-sale payment transactions to be processed through the OpenPlay platform from the planned go-live date. Through Openplay, Ryft has been identified as the payment processor and merchant acquiring provider that is currently integrated with and supported by OpenPlay.

Options: Additional 12 month period may be required as we integrate to our current Acquiring contract with Lloyds due to currently not being configurable with Openplay system.

Procurement Information

The University recently completed a competitive procurement exercise for a replacement Leisure Management System and awarded a contract to OpenPlay. The implementation of OpenPlay is a business-critical requirement and is necessary to replace the incumbent XN Leisure system, which has reached end-of-life and no longer represents a sustainable long-term solution.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e458
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077566-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

CPV Codes

66170000 - Financial consultancy, financial transaction processing and clearing-house services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£120,000 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
14 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
University Of Edinburgh
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH1 1HT
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM75 City of Edinburgh
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Ryft Pay

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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