regulated acquiring partner

In the regulated-partner model, four parties touch a payment. The platform's customer takes it inside the platform's product. The platform sets its price and owns the customer relationship. Synapto sets up the platform's payments on top of the partner's rails, designs the onboarding and payment products with the platform and moves its existing customers across. And the regulated acquiring partner does everything that needs a licence: it is the acquirer registered with the card schemes, it is the authorised institution that holds the funds and safeguards them under the Payment Services Regulations, it sponsors the Direct Debit arrangement, it verifies each customer, and it executes every payout.

Why it matters: it answers the question every procurement team asks, "who is regulated to hold our money?", with a name that can be checked on the FCA register, and it keeps the platform out of the licence. Because funds never pass through an account the platform or Synapto controls, neither is acting for both payer and payee in the way the FCA's commercial agent guidance describes.

To be plain: Synapto is not a payment facilitator, is not the regulated party and does not hold, safeguard or move customer funds. What to watch when comparing providers: ask for the name of the regulated party and its permissions, and ask whether your money ever sits with anyone else on the way.