Official UK procurement notice
Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement
Authority: Transport for Greater Manchester (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTransport for Greater Manchester ("TfGM") now wish to procure a Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement ("Agreement") which will enable the Implementation, Operation and Maintenance of a Merchant Acquiring Service, Payment Gateway Service (Option), Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option), and Open Banking Service (Option) that will support delivery of TfGM's Ticketing Schemes and Revenue Collection.
Given that over the term of the Agreement , TfGM's Ticketing Schemes will be subject to frequent revision and development, re-configuration and extension of the Merchant Acquiring Service, Payment Gateway Service (Option), Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option), and Open Banking Service (Option) may be required to a number of additional transport and associated modes (in addition to the modes that are currently within the scope of the of existing TfGM Ticketing Schemes). Consequently, the Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement ("Agreement") may be deployed to support Ticketing Schemes on (but not limited to) Tram, Light Rail, Bus, Heavy Rail, Taxi, Car-Club, Car-Hire, Parking and Park and Ride, Micro mobility, Active Travel and other travel modes.
The Supplier shall provide a Merchant Acquiring Service that shall include the:
- set up and configuration of the Merchant Acquiring Service;
- processing, settlement and accounting of payments (one off and recurring payments) made with payment networks (such as Visa and Mastercard) enabling the Authority to accept debit or credit cards for payment of goods or services, as well as alternative payment methods (such as Direct Debit);
- support for the Authority's e-Commerce, Retail, Transit and Merchant Initiated payment channels, and Card Present and Card Not Present payment methods;
- integration with the Authority's Payment Gateway Services (Supplier provided and other third party) and other issuing banks facilitating Authorisation, Payment and Settlement processes;
- integration with the Transit Back Office (CBMBO Service) via a secure network;
- integration of Equipment with Payment Gateway Services (Supplier and third party provision) and Merchant Acquirer to facilitate Card Present and Card Not Present payment methods;
- handling of Refunds, Reversals and Chargebacks; and
- provision of other Merchant Acquiring core services.
The Supplier shall provide a Payment Gateway Service (Option) that shall include the:
- provision of interfaces to accept one-off Payments from debit or credit cards, and alternative payment methods, and recurring card payments;
- support for the transmission of Transaction Data from the Payer to the relevant Merchant Acquirer and the transmission of the response and related data from the Merchant Acquirer to the Authority, ensuring that a secure connection is used between the Authority's website, the Payer, the Payment Gateway Services and the Merchant Acquiring Services at all times;
- integration with the Authority's Merchant Acquiring Service (Supplier provided or third party), Merchant Acquiring Equipment, Card Schemes and Issuing Banks; and
- interfaces and integration tools to support e-Commerce and Retail payment channels, and both Card Present and Card Not Present payment methods.
The Supplier shall provide Merchant Acquiring Equipment that shall include the:
- provision of Payment Terminals (e.g. POIs) for face-to-face and unattended payment transactions, facilitating processing, settlement and accounting of payments for the Authority's Retail channels and both POS and MPOS equipment;
- provision of data and reports related to payment transactions; and
- provision of other Merchant Acquiring Equipment core services.
The Supplier shall provide an Open Banking Service that shall include the enablement of:
- payments including Transit payments and recurring payments such as account top ups (extending similar capabilities offered for EMV and Direct Debit); and
- account information services such as to obtain details of account balances and transactions, and other account / customer-based checks and verifications.
Additionally, the Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement will require Implementation Services to implement, test and deploy both the Merchant Acquiring Service, Payment Gateway Service (Option), Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option), and Open Banking Service (Option), following which an Operational Service will be provided.
Potential Supplier Solutions will work in conjunction with TfGM (and where necessary Third-Party) Portals, Ticket Vending Machines (TVM's), Contactless Bankcard Middle and Back Office (CBMBO) Service, Electronic Ticket Machine (ETM's) Service, Platform Validator and Field Equipment Service, Drivesafe Back Office and other TfGM front-end devices and back-office systems as may be required.
The Services that are provided under the Agreement will in each case need to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industries Data Security Standards).
Since TfGM already operates a number of highly successful Ticketing Schemes and Revenue Collection, supplier consideration of the arrangements to successfully transition from existing to new services, will be a critical consideration.
- No preliminary market engagement: A Prior Information Notice (Reference 2024/S 000-039476) in relation to a "Merchant Acquirer Agreement" was published on 6 December 2024.
CPV: Banking and investment services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£19,200,000
- Economic & financial standing
Information, formalities and necessary requirements to be met will be set out in an Invitation to Tender Document which can be obtained together with any instructions from Procontract which may be accessed via procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
Contract to be governed by English Law.
TfGM expressly reserves the right (subject to complying with its duties to comply with the principles of equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination):
- not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by the publication of this notice;
- to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition;
- to amend (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the services covered by this notice; and
- to award contract(s) in stages and in no circumstances will TfGM be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
Variant bids may be permissible within the parameters to be set out in the tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
Information, formalities and necessary requirements to be met will be set out in an Invitation to Tender Document which can be obtained together with any instructions from Procontract which may be accessed via procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (8)
- Implementation Services: 12.5%
- Merchant Acquiring Services: 20%
- Payment Gateway Service (Option): 9%
- Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option): 2.5%
- Open Banking Service (Option): 2.5%
- Operational Services: 7.5%
- Price: 40%
- Social Value: 6%
Published award criteria (8)
- Implementation Services: Qualitative evaluation of the Implementation Services with respect to the Merchant Acquirer Service; Payment Gateway Service (Option); Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option); Open Banking Service (Option) as evidenced by Testing.
- Merchant Acquiring Services: Qualitative evaluation of the Merchant Acquiring Services that will enable TfGM to accept payments via bank debit and credit cards, ensuring that customer payments are transferred securely from the customer's bank to TfGM's merchant account.
- Payment Gateway Service (Option): Qualitative evaluation of the Payment Gateway Service (Option) that will enable TfGM to accept online payments (through the web or other application) via bank debit and credit cards, ensuring that customer payments are transferred securely from the customer's bank to TfGM's merchant account.
- Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option): Qualitative evaluation of the Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option) that will enable TfGM to deploy Merchant Acquiring Equipment to sites and locations as may be required to process cardholder present payments via bank debit and credit cards, ensuring that customer payments are transferred securely from the customer's bank to TfGM's merchant account.
- Open Banking Service (Option): Qualitative evaluation of the Open Banking Service (Option) that will enable TfGM to integrate to third-party providers through secure Application Programming Interfaces (API's), enabling (with the consent of the bank credit or debit card customers) sharing of the customers financial data.
- Operational Services: Qualitative evaluation of the Operational Services with respect to the Merchant Acquirer Service; Payment Gateway Service (Option); Merchant Acquiring Equipment (Option); Open Banking Service (Option) as evidenced by Testing.
- Social Value: Evaluation of Social Value that will be delivered through the Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement
- Price: Extracted information from the ITT on the composition of Cost-Model 1
- Economic & financial standing
Information, formalities and necessary requirements to be met will be set out in an Invitation to Tender Document which can be obtained together with any instructions from Procontract which may be accessed via procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
Contract to be governed by English Law.
TfGM expressly reserves the right (subject to complying with its duties to comply with the principles of equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination):
- not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by the publication of this notice;
- to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering competition;
- to amend (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the services covered by this notice; and
- to award contract(s) in stages and in no circumstances will TfGM be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
Variant bids may be permissible within the parameters to be set out in the tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
Information, formalities and necessary requirements to be met will be set out in an Invitation to Tender Document which can be obtained together with any instructions from Procontract which may be accessed via procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 May 2026, 16:55 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 2 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
DN746584- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-055590- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a238Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 25 Aug 2026, 10:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 14 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
Tenderers are requested to open the ProContract link for the Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement to access the procurement documents.
Interested suppliers must obtain an Invitation to Tender by registering an expression of interest for the opportunity entitled 'Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement' on the eTendering application ProContract via procontract.due-north.com/Login ↗
Any submissions that are not submitted by the ProContract eTendering tool will be disqualified.
A series of discrete online 'Bidders Event's' will be hosted on Microsoft Teams and will include a short presentation on the scope of the opportunity, timeframe and procurement process. TfGM expects that these will be scheduled to take place between the 30th June 2026 and the 2nd July 2026. Please contact procurement.MA@tfgm.com in order to register an intention to attend.
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address.
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via the above mentioned address.
Timeline
22 May 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 7 dates- Planning notice published159 days ago22 May 2026, 16:55 BST
- Tender notice published138 days ago12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BST
- Next notice expected118 days ago1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification questions by105 days ago14 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline64 days ago25 Aug 2026, 10:00 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 35 days2 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 245 days1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
7 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 May 2026- Pipeline notice published22 May 2026, 16:55 BSTUK1
- Pipeline notice published22 May 2026, 17:01 BSTUK1
- Tender notice published12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £19,200,00012 Jun 2026, 11:19 BSTwas £2,000,000
- Status changed to active12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BST
- Procurement method changed12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BST
- Deadline published: 25 Aug 2026, 10:00 BST12 Jun 2026, 11:19 BST
Published amendments (1)
amended CPV code
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Interested suppliers must obtain an Invitation to Tender by registering an expression of interest for the opportunity entitled 'Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement' on the eTendering application ProContract via https://procontract.due-…
- Technical specifications Interested suppliers must obtain an Invitation to Tender by registering an expression of interest for the opportunity entitled 'Merchant Acquirer, Payment Gateway, Equipment and Open Banking Service Agreement' on the eTendering application ProContract via https://procontract.due-…
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender