Lincoln City has received a helping hand from Acquired(.com), which set the English League One side up with a new card acquirer that could be integrated with the existing ticketing platform used on the point-of-sale devices in the club’s ticket office.
The move comes after payment solutions provider Elavon cut ties with Lincoln City at short notice last month, meaning there was no way to take ticketing and gold membership payments in person via debit or credit card.
Elavon’s six-week warning also came just before Lincoln City’s season ticket renewals launch day.
Acquired also set the club up with a second unsecured merchant account from an additional card acquirer, for Lincoln City to use on Acquired’s bespoke virtual terminal and payment link platform. A multi-acquirer strategy mitigates the risk of downtime, and provides more options for transaction approval and cost control.
Lincoln City is now also utilising payment link technology to send embedded payment links to fans for renewals and ad hoc purchases.
Peter Mellows, director of finance at Lincoln City, said: “Acquired(.com) have hit the ground running and solved several of our payment challenges in a very time sensitive situation. Without their efficiency and knowledge, we would not have been able to make such a smooth transition to new acquiring partners and payment methods.
“I have been really impressed by the Acquired(.com) team and look forward to working with them in the future as we look to further optimise our payment systems and deliver streamlined purchasing processes for our fans.”
Grant Evans, Acquired’s head of partnerships, added: “We are delighted to have helped Lincoln City through this challenging situation with their previous supplier. Unfortunately, these situations are becoming far more common place in the ticketing industry, as suppliers continue to worry about the lasting effect of the global pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
“Utilising an acquirer agnostic payments and open banking platform such as Acquired(.com) allows live event businesses to have multiple providers in place, ensuring failover contingency in the event that a specific payments supplier no longer has the risk appetite to support payments for live events. I expect to see numerous live events businesses following the example of Lincoln City Football Club and adopting a multi-acquirer strategy moving forwards. We look forward to working with the club over the coming years to continue helping them to redefine their payments strategy.”