---
title: "Merchant Acquirer Services"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER"
published: "2021-08-12"
---

# Merchant Acquirer Services

Buyer: TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee

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## Summary

The procurement process is conducted by Transport For Greater Manchester, focusing on the provision of Merchant Acquirer Services, which fall under the financial transaction processing and clearing-house services category. Located in Manchester, this procurement has reached the award stage, with the contract signed on 22 July 2021. The procurement was initiated as a limited method without prior publication, in accordance with legal frameworks that facilitate such actions when necessary to ensure continuity and integration with existing systems. The total value of bids ranged from £550,000 to £1,000,000, placing this opportunity within the financial services sector.

This tender presents significant growth potential for businesses specialising in financial transaction processing and integrated payment solutions. Companies with experience in managing complex payment systems, particularly those equipped to handle transit payments, would be particularly well-suited to compete. The critical nature of TfGM's ongoing projects, such as the 'PAYGO' contactless payment system for public transport, underscores the necessity for reliable service provision, thus offering a chance for established firms to strengthen their position in a dynamically evolving market.

## Notice

TfGM has a range of strategic priorities that impact on the need for merchant acquirer services, including 'PAYGO' contactless payments on Metrolink trams, cycle hire and bus reform. Given the criticality of these projects, their associated programmes and project timeframes, and due to the very close interaction of the payment processing / merchant acquirer services with other systems operated by TfGM, a change in supplier at this point in the programmes mentioned above (amongst others) would add significant risk to the continued provision of payment solutions and services across TfGM, taking into account the complexity of the requirements and the integration required. Most significantly, the contactless payments solution would require significant rework and regression testing for the processing of transit payments. Payment processing for transit is far more inherently complex than for other payment channels, and suppliers of the other systems that need to interact with the payment processing /merchant acquirer services have their own specifications to meet the card schemes requirements for transit. It is highly likely that any new supplier of payment processing / merchant acquirer services would be required to re-accredit the contactless scheme. This end-to-end process would take a period of time and require significant interaction with other suppliers in the payments process, and adds significant risk of disruption to existing customer facing services on TfGM's Metrolink and Drivesafe services. Appointing a new supplier would also provide challenges with respect to 'waivers' that have previously been agreed between the card schemes and the current supplier. Again, this would require significant time to ensure the same waivers would remain in place, and would add risk to the timescales associated with the franchised bus network, as well as maintaining provision on the existing Metrolink payment schemes. It is therefore the intention of TfGM to progress these programmes to move to an operational environment, gather data on customer card payments, and engage with the market once the schemes are in operation.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Merchant Acquirer Services associated with card payments.

Options: Contract extension is based on a 3+1+1 basis.

### Procurement Information

TfGM is making an award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition on Find a Tender Service as a change of contractor- (i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, software, services or installations procured under the initial procurement; and (ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the utility. Explanation: TfGM has a range of strategic priorities that impact on the need for merchant acquirer services, including 'PAYGO' contactless payments on Metrolink trams, cycle hire and bus reform. Given the criticality of these projects, their associated programmes and project timeframes, and due to the very close interaction of the payment processing / merchant acquirer services with other systems operated by TfGM, a change in supplier at this point in the programmes mentioned above (amongst others) would add significant risk to the continued provision of payment solutions and services across TfGM, taking into account the complexity of the requirements and the integration required. Most significantly, the contactless payments solution would require significant rework and regression testing for the processing of transit payments. Payment processing for transit is far more inherently complex than for other payment channels, and suppliers of the other systems that need to interact with the payment processing /merchant acquirer services have their own specifications to meet the card schemes requirements for transit. It is highly likely that any new supplier of payment processing / merchant acquirer services would be required to re-accredit the contactless scheme. This end-to-end process would take a period of time and require significant interaction with other suppliers in the payments process, and adds significant risk of disruption to existing customer facing services on TfGM's Metrolink and Drivesafe services. Appointing a new supplier would also provide challenges with respect to 'waivers' that have previously been agreed between the card schemes and the current supplier. Again, this would require significant time to ensure the same waivers would remain in place, and would add risk to the timescales associated with the franchised bus network, as well as maintaining provision on the existing Metrolink payment schemes. It is therefore the intention of TfGM to progress these programmes to move to an operational environment, gather data on customer card payments, and engage with the market once the schemes are in operation.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019583-2021 |
| 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 | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Aug 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 Jul 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | TRANSPORT FOR GREATER MANCHESTER |
| Locality | MANCHESTER |
| Post town | Manchester |
| Postcode | M1 3BG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD3 Greater Manchester |
| ITL 3 | TLD33 Manchester |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| Electoral ward | Piccadilly |
| Westminster constituency | Manchester Central |
| Delivery location | TLD3 Greater Manchester |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | BARCLAYS BANK |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services

### Codes

- 66172000 - Financial transaction processing and clearing-house services

## Release History

- 12 Aug 2021 at 11:35 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019583-2021

## Notice URLs

- http://www.tfgm.com

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02d3ee.json.