Four-party model Definition.
The standard structure of a card transaction: the cardholder and the issuer on one side, the merchant and the acquirer on the other, and the scheme in the middle, setting the rules and routing the flows. It contrasts with the three-party model (historically American Express), in which a single company both issues cards and signs up merchants. Nearly all Visa, Mastercard, and CB volume runs on the four-party model.
See also
Where this term appears
GuideThe four-party modelGuidePayment schemesGuidePayment regulationGuideA global history of paymentsGuidePayment cardsGuideInterchange and feesGuideMerchant agreements and onboardingCoursePayment fundamentalsCourseThe history of money and paymentsCoursePayments vocabulary in one hourCourseRequest-to-Pay and new payment rails