RS2 to deliver managed acquiring services for PXP across Europe

RS2 has agreed a partnership with payments provider PXP to deliver managed acquiring and card scheme processing services across more than 30 European markets, as PXP looks to consolidate its processing infrastructure across the region.

RS2 partners with PXP across Europe

Under the agreement, RS2 Smart Processing, the group’s payment processing subsidiary, will provide PXP with an end-to-end managed service built on its BankWORKS® platform.

The infrastructure will support both card-present (CP) and card-not-present (CNP) transactions across Visa, Mastercard and Diners Club, giving PXP a common processing environment for acquiring activities spanning multiple countries and payment schemes.

The companies said the arrangement is intended to reduce the operational complexity associated with running acquiring services across different European markets while providing PXP with the capacity to expand its merchant business.

Single infrastructure for European acquiring

PXP operates payment services across more than 30 European markets, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as the Nordic region and countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

The partnership will bring these acquiring operations onto RS2‘s processing infrastructure, providing a consistent underlying service across both physical and digital payment channels.

Integration with the RS2 Online Switch will provide real-time transaction authorisation alongside dynamic interchange prediction and card scheme fee calculation.

The service also extends beyond authorisation to other elements of the acquiring lifecycle, including daily and same-day clearing, merchant settlement, dispute management and automated reconciliation feeds.

For payment service providers operating across multiple jurisdictions, consolidating these functions onto a common infrastructure can help reduce the complexity created by different markets, schemes and transaction channels.

Managed processing takes larger role

The agreement also reflects a wider shift in the payments industry towards managed processing models, as acquirers and payment service providers seek to expand without necessarily building and operating all of the underlying technology themselves.

Radi El Haj, chief executive of RS2 Group, said the partnership demonstrated BankWORKS®’ ability to support complex multi-market acquiring operations while providing PXP with a scalable foundation for further European growth.

PXP chief executive Kamran Hadjiri said the arrangement would strengthen the infrastructure supporting its acquiring business and improve its ability to provide consistent services to merchants across Europe.

Acquirers confront growing complexity

The deal comes as European acquiring becomes increasingly demanding operationally. Providers must manage multiple card schemes, payment channels and national markets while responding to changing interchange structures, scheme fees, regulatory requirements and merchant expectations.

Infrastructure capable of bringing authorisation, clearing, settlement, disputes and reconciliation into a more integrated processing model is consequently becoming an important competitive consideration.

For PXP, the RS2 partnership provides a common technology and managed processing foundation across a sizeable European footprint. For RS2, the agreement represents another deployment of BankWORKS® as infrastructure for payment providers operating beyond traditional bank acquiring.

The partnership therefore illustrates a broader change in acquiring: competitive differentiation is increasingly dependent not only on merchant reach, but on the flexibility and scalability of the processing infrastructure sitting behind it.