---
title: "Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e458"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e458"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e458.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e458.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "University Of Edinburgh"
published: "2026-08-14"
---

# Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system

Buyer: University Of Edinburgh  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e458

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e458.json)

## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077566-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 14 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 14 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £120,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | University Of Edinburgh |
| Locality | EDINBURGH |
| Postcode area | Edinburgh |
| Postcode | EH1 1HT |
| Country | Scotland |
| ITL 1 | TLM Scotland |
| ITL 2 | TLM1 East Central Scotland |
| ITL 3 | TLM13 City of Edinburgh |
| Local authority | City of Edinburgh |
| Electoral ward | City Centre |
| Westminster constituency | Edinburgh East and Musselburgh |
| Delivery location | TLM75 City of Edinburgh |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Ryft Pay |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 66 - Financial and insurance services

### Codes

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

## Release History

- 14 Aug 2026 at 10:51 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077566-2026

## Notice URLs

- http://www.ed.ac.uk
- https://api.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/v1/Notice?id=ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210
- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00107

## 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-06e458. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e458.json.