Payments

Payment Acceptance

Every merchant or platform that accepts card payments is party to four-party scheme relationships carrying specific contractual and compliance obligations. Getting acceptance right means more than integrating an API — it means understanding interchange economics, liability shifts under 3DS, chargeback dispute mechanics, and the specific requirements of each market you enter.

Subite has built and assessed acquiring platforms. The work covers the commercial, operational, and technical dimensions — not just the integration layer.

• Acquirer selection and commercial structuring
• Checkout optimisation and conversion analysis
• 3DS2 implementation and SCA exemption strategy
• Cross-border acceptance setup — SEPA, multi-currency acquiring
• Chargeback management process design
• Alternative payment method integration strategy (BNPL, A2A, wallets)
• Payment routing and optimisation frameworks

Payment Instrument Issuing

Card issuing — whether debit, prepaid, or credit — requires navigating BIN sponsorship arrangements, scheme programme management requirements, and the operational infrastructure behind card lifecycle management. For fintechs building card products, the gap between the developer documentation and scheme compliance reality is significant.

Subite's issuing advisory covers the commercial and operational structure of a card programme, not just the technology integration.

• Card programme design and BIN sponsorship structuring
• Scheme programme management onboarding (Visa, Mastercard)
• Card management system selection and integration advisory
• Tokenisation and digital wallet programme setup (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
• Cardholder communications design
• Dispute resolution framework design
• Card product commercial modelling — interchange, fees, limits

Payment Processing

Payment processing at scale requires architectural thinking beyond the first transaction. Authorisation logic, transaction routing, retry strategies, decline analysis, and settlement reconciliation are all surfaces where design choices made early have long-lasting operational consequences.

• Payment processing architecture assessment and design
• Transaction routing and failover design
• Decline analysis programme — issuer decline codes, recovery logic
• Retry strategy design — smart retries, network tokenisation
• Settlement flow design — gross vs net, deferred settlement models
• Payment processing vendor selection and contract advisory
• Fraud strategy and risk scoring integration

Scheme Compliance

Visa and Mastercard scheme compliance is an ongoing operational discipline, not a one-time certification exercise. Operating rules change, violation thresholds shift, and new programme requirements arrive regularly. Staying compliant requires systematic monitoring, internal expertise, and — when scheme audits occur — experienced navigation of the process.

Subite has direct experience of scheme-level programme management and audit processes from both sides of the relationship.

• Scheme compliance programme design and governance
• Operating rules impact assessment for new products and markets
• Compliance violation identification and remediation
• Scheme audit preparation and support
• New market and product compliance review
• Interchange qualification optimisation
• Scheme fee modelling and optimisation

Cross-border & SEPA

SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant, and SEPA Direct Debit each carry their own scheme rules, reachability requirements, and operational obligations. Cross-border payment corridors add complexity around correspondent banking, FX management, and regulatory compliance in destination markets.

• SEPA scheme participation assessment (SCT, SCT Inst, SDD)
• SEPA Instant implementation advisory and reachability strategy
• Cross-border corridor strategy and compliance review
• FX risk framework and treasury design
• Correspondent banking relationship management advisory
• ISO 20022 migration planning and implementation support