Acquirer Readiness — Guide

Before approaching a payment acquirer (Worldpay, Adyen, Barclaycard, etc.), you need to demonstrate that your business meets their underwriting requirements. A failed or delayed application wastes weeks and can delay your go-live date by months.

This tool walks you through the six sections that acquirers assess — from PCI compliance and chargeback history to technical infrastructure and regulatory status — and produces a readiness score with a prioritised gap list and a pre-application brief you can use in your acquirer conversations.

1. Work through each section in order. All fields are required for an accurate readiness score.
2. Use the most accurate answer available — the tool gives you credit for partial progress (e.g. "in remediation" for PCI status) rather than penalising you for being honest.
3. Your progress is saved in the browser — you can return and update answers as your compliance programme progresses.

1. After completing all sections, the tool shows your overall readiness score and a per-section breakdown.
2. Red sections are blocking gaps — areas where an acquirer is likely to request remediation before proceeding.
3. Amber sections indicate areas to improve but not necessarily blocking.

1. Click Export Brief to download the assessment summary.
2. Share it with your compliance team to prioritise remediation, or use it as a conversation document when approaching an acquirer to demonstrate pre-screening diligence.