# Merchant Acquisition (licensed activity)

https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/merchant-acquisition/

*Last updated: 2026-08-03*

The activity, named in a Payment Services Act licence, of accepting card and wallet payments on a merchant’s behalf. It is the specific permission a merchant should look for when checking a provider in the MAS register — a company licensed for money transfer or e-money issuance is licensed, and not for this. Licensed scope describes what an institution may do, not what it sells.

> **For Uniweb Pay specifically** — Uniweb Pte Ltd’s licence names Merchant Acquisition in its scope, alongside Domestic Money Transfer and Cross-border Money Transfer. What this site publishes as a merchant service is acquiring, settled in SGD; do not read the other two as published products.

## Why it matters to a merchant

This is the phrase to look for on the register, because it is the activity — not the company size, not the brand — that determines whether a provider may hold a merchant's account and settle to them. A licensed institution whose permissions cover something else entirely is still a licensed institution, and still not authorised to do this.

## Related terms

*Licensing and regulation in Singapore*

- [MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mas/)
- [Payment Services Act 2019](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/psa-2019/)
- [MPI (Major Payment Institution)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/mpi/)
- [SPI (Standard Payment Institution)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/spi/)
- [MAS Financial Institutions Directory](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/fid/)
- [KYC / KYB](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/kyc-kyb/)
- [Beneficial owner](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/beneficial-owner/)
- [PCI DSS](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/pci-dss/)
- [UEN (Unique Entity Number)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/uen/)
- [ACRA](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/acra/)
- [PDPA (Personal Data Protection Act)](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/pdpa/)
- [AML / CFT](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/aml-cft/)

- [All 74 terms](https://www.uniwebpay.com/glossary/)

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