---
title: "Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system"
ocid: "ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210.json"
source: "Public Contracts Scotland"
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-r6ebe6-0000840210

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## Summary

The University of Edinburgh procured payment processing and merchant acquiring services for its Sports and Exercise Leisure system. The service enables online and point-of-sale transactions through the OpenPlay leisure management platform, which replaced the university’s end-of-life XN Leisure system. The requirement covers payment processing integrated with and supported by OpenPlay, including operation at the University of Edinburgh Sports Centre in Edinburgh. This is a specialist payment services requirement rather than a general leisure management or software implementation contract. The buyer is the University of Edinburgh, and the selected provider is Ryft Pay, an SME based in Manchester. The procurement is classified under CPV 66170000, covering payment and financial services.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to Ryft Pay under a single lot. The contract is active and was signed on 14 August 2026 for £120,000. The University used a limited procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, relying on technical reasons for the absence of competition. One electronic bid was received, from an SME. Evaluation placed 100% of the weighting on quality and 0% on price. Ryft was selected because it was identified as the only provider with an established OpenPlay integration capable of delivering the required payment processing and merchant acquiring functionality. An additional 12-month period may be used while integration with the university’s existing Lloyds acquiring arrangement is addressed.

This opportunity shows demand for payment service providers that can combine merchant acquiring with reliable online and point-of-sale transaction processing for university leisure operations. The decisive capability was an established, supported integration with OpenPlay, giving implementation certainty and continuity for customers using the new leisure system. Suppliers seeking comparable work with this buyer would need strong technical interoperability, the ability to support both digital and physical payments, and experience integrating payment infrastructure with specialist leisure management platforms. They would also need to demonstrate that their service can operate at the scale of a university sports centre and support a business-critical system transition. A credible alternative would benefit from configurable acquiring arrangements and evidence that it can meet tight implementation requirements without disrupting service.

## 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. To support the operation of OpenPlay, an integrated payment processing and merchant acquiring solution is required. Following assessment of the technical requirements, it was established that the University's existing merchant acquiring provider, Lloyds Cardnet, does not currently have a compatible integration with OpenPlay and is therefore unable to support the required payment functionality for the planned go-live date. Ryft is the only provider currently capable of delivering the full payment processing and merchant acquiring functionality required by the University through an established integration with OpenPlay. The use of an alternative provider would not deliver the required level of technical interoperability, functionality or implementation certainty necessary to support the deployment of the new system within the required timescales. The requirement for Ryft arises directly from the technical characteristics of the OpenPlay platform and the need to ensure continuity of service for customers from the commencement of the new contract. OpenPlay must be implemented by 1 August (now 17th August) in order to mitigate the operational risks associated with the continued use of the end-of-life XN Leisure system. The absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing of the procurement parameters. The requirement has arisen as a consequence of a separate competitive procurement exercise that resulted in the appointment of OpenPlay. The proposed award to Ryft is necessary to satisfy the immediate technical interoperability requirements of the solution and to ensure successful implementation within the required timeframe. The University will continue to engage with OpenPlay and Lloyds Cardnet regarding the potential development of a future integration and reserves the right to review its payment processing arrangements should a compatible alternative become available.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Public Contracts Scotland |
| Latest notice | https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG562345 |
| Notice type | OJEU - F3 - Contract 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 | Complete |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| 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 01:00 - Award - OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG562345

## Documents

- https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=AUG562345
  Payment processing & Merchant Acquiring for Sports & Exercise Leisure system - 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.

## Notice URLs

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

## 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-r6ebe6-0000840210. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-r6ebe6-0000840210.json.