How to Start a Payment Acquiring Business: Complete 2026 Guide
Starting a payment acquiring business in 2026 takes a licence, a sponsor bank, a processing platform, and a risk framework, in that order. This guide covers licensing, compliance, technology choices, cost planning, and operational best practices for new entrants and established firms expanding into merchant acquiring.
January 20, 2026
Launching a payment acquiring company is a lucrative opportunity for fintech startup founders and financial institutions looking to expand their service offerings. This guide walks you through the essential steps to set up a merchant acquiring business, in order, from understanding the fundamentals to launching and scaling your operations.
How Payment Acquiring Works Before You Start
Payment acquiring is the entity that processes card payment transactions for a merchant. To understand the full process, consider the steps that have to happen before someone can ultimately run such a business:
Customer Swipes Card: A customer swipes, taps or inserts a card at a merchant's point of sale (POS) or enters a card number online.
Merchant Sends Transaction: The merchant's POS or payment gateway sends the transaction to the acquirer.
Acquirer Receives Request: The acquirer receives the authorization request from the merchant's POS and sends it to the merchant's card network (Mastercard, Visa, etc.).
Network Sends to Issuer: The card network receives the request and sends it to the issuing bank.
Issuer Approves/Declines: The issuer checks to see if the customer has funds available at their bank and approves or declines the request.
Funding Transaction: If the transaction is funded, then money goes to the acquirer via the issuing bank to send back to the merchant's bank account, less any transaction fees.
Transactions Ends: The merchant receives the money from the acquiring institution (less fees) to pay for the transaction.
This four-party model (customer/merchant/acquirer/issuer) is how payment processors work across most of the globe, with large dependability on the acquirer for proper function. Understanding where you sit in that model matters commercially as well as technically: the acquirer owns the merchant relationship, carries the settlement obligation, and absorbs the financial liability when a merchant fails, which is why every licensing, technology, and underwriting decision below traces back to this diagram.
Launch Your Acquiring Business Faster
DECTA provides certified acquirer processing with authorisation, clearing, settlement, and fraud management on infrastructure that is already scheme-certified.
An acquirer must have multiple revenue sources in order for such a business to be successful and grow.
Interchange Discount
First, acquirers take a small percentage of every transaction from merchants; this percentage goes toward interchange fees paid to the issuing bank. This percentage of gross transaction totals is typically 0.1-0.2% of any transaction, although this varies by type of card, merchant category and volume.
Such interchange fees are set by card networks and go a long way toward how a viable acquirer can earn. Interchange is a pass-through cost, not revenue, so it sets the floor under everything you can charge. The total rate a merchant pays, the merchant discount rate, is interchange plus scheme fees plus your own markup, and how you present that split matters commercially.
Under IC++ pricing, the three components are quoted separately and the merchant sees exactly what your margin is, which is now the default expectation among European merchants and something a new acquirer should plan its pricing around from day one.
Markup Fees
Beyond interchange fees, acquirers charge their own markup fees which are assessed merely to keep the lights on. Markup fees can be charged per transaction as a percentage or as a flat fee, and can be negotiated for higher-volume merchants. Markup is the only line you fully control, so it is where your pricing strategy and your merchant mix decide whether the business is viable.
Monthly Fees
Many merchants pay monthly fees to their acquirers just for having the account, for statement generation, and for providing access to payment processing. These are predictable fees for the acquirer that lend support beyond minute-by-minute fees required for transaction processing. These charges can fluctuate based on service plans in accordance with various features.
Chargeback Fees
When merchants receive chargebacks from customers disputing transactions, acquirers charge merchants chargeback fees. These go toward the merchant's costs to assess chargebacks since chargebacks can be problematic across multiple segments of operations and revenue collection. Chargeback fees exist not only as revenue streams but also as deterrents, charges assessed to encourage merchants to serve customers better and effectively minimize fraud.
Value-Added Services
In recent years, acquirers have collected great revenue from fee-generating activities that implement value-added services beyond the basic payment processor. These include:
Tokenization deserves particular attention because it is not optional for most merchants: replacing card numbers with tokens is what allows acceptance of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other wallets, and it reduces the amount of cardholder data in your PCI DSS scope. Omnichannel payment processing, combining e-commerce and in-store acceptance under a single integration, is similarly a baseline requirement for retail and hospitality merchants rather than a premium add-on.
Many of these value-added services afford acquirers new streams of revenue and market differentiation.
Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Licensing & Compliance
The Essential Licenses: PI vs. EMI
As a payment acquiring company, the first regulatory step is to apply for one of the payment acquiring licences below, based on your business model, your current operating capital, and your potential future services.
Payment Institution (PI) License:
Allows for payment services operations like remittance and card payments, however, does NOT allow for electronic money issuance.
Generally requires a lower amount of required initial capital, usually $125,000-$350,000 depending on the jurisdiction.
Does NOT allow for electronic money issuance or holding/managing customer accounts
Regulated under the Payment Services Directive (i.e. PSD2 in the EU) which has relatively simple regulatory compliance requirements compared to EMI licensing
Best for anyone who only needs the capability to process transactions as opposed to holding customer money
Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License:
Allows for the same payment services and the ability to issue and hold/manage electronic money
Requires higher capital requirements to ensure safety and stabilization, generally $350,000-$1,000,000+ depending on jurisdiction
Allows for electronic money issuance, holding and transfers which is essentially an operation of a digital bank
Regulated under the Electronic Money Directive in the EU with more intricate compliance requirements and stricter safeguarding measures
Best for anyone who will offer digital wallets and stored value accounts in addition to transaction processing
Both licences sit under the same European supervisory regime, so the choice is mainly about whether you will ever hold customer funds. If your model is pure acceptance and settlement to merchant bank accounts, a PI licence is enough; if you plan to add wallets, stored balances, or your own card programme later, applying for an EMI licence up front avoids a second application cycle. Licensing and compliance overlap with regulatory expectations, such as Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, data protection measures, and regulatory reporting to agencies. The review of the licensing application takes 3-6 months. In addition, you must submit a detailed outline of your business intentions, including a risk assessment plan and overview of potential revenue.
Partnering with a Sponsor Bank
Once you have a licence, and if you are not a bank yourself, the next step is a sponsor bank to facilitate the partnership process, as only banks can be direct sponsors of the card networks. The advantages of being sponsored by a bank include:
Card Network Access: Sponsor bank serves as the intermediary between the sponsor and the card networks (Visa/Mastercard), meaning you can operate through these companies without needing to be a bank yourself.
Bank Identification Numbers (BINs): The banks provide the Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) required to process and activate cards in the first place. A BIN is the number range identifying the issuing institution, and without a sponsored BIN range no settlement flow can operate at all, which makes BIN sponsorship one of the hardest dependencies to unblock once a launch is already in motion.
Settlement Services: They also provide settlement services using various entities within the payments space, providing transaction management between merchants, acquirers, and issuers.
Risk Sharing: The banks will share liability for the merchants for whom you partner; however, they are still liable for compliance and any banking-related obligation.
You'll want to choose a bank that suits you, compatible values, trust, as this will be the partnership that makes your acquiring service business. The bank will also want to see your risk management and operational effectiveness as it will need to audit your risk management and underwriting processes. Founder fees for BIN sponsorship generally are an onboarding fee ($25,000-$100,000), monthly fees ($5,000-$20,000), per transaction fees and annualized BIN sponsorship fees ($10,000-$50,000).
Card Network Authorization (Visa/Mastercard)
Obtaining Visa/Mastercard authorization through card networks takes a lot of time and money:
Time to Complete Licensing: Average of 3-6 months depending on the complexity of the application and types of licensing needed.
Requirements/Necessities: Showing financial stability, showing resources for adequate technical work and following network requirements (PCI DSS certification, fraud prevention measures).
Principal Membership/Sponsorship: You can directly apply as a principal membership (this is for banks/financial institutions) or go through a sponsor bank. Principal membership removes your dependency on a sponsor and gives you direct scheme economics, but it demands far higher capital, collateral, and in-house compliance capacity, which is why most new entrants start sponsored and migrate to principal status once volume justifies it.
Fees: Membership fees ($50,000-$200,000 per network); assessment fees (ongoing percentage of transaction volume); setup fees ($10,000-$30,000); annual fees ($10,000-$50,000).
This authorization is necessary to legally process payments on the merchant's behalf and access international payment systems. Each card network has different required minimums and card network fee structures which should be factored into an organizational feasibility study.
Core Regulatory Obligations
There are many regulatory requirements to ensure licensed processors exist and a safe payment marketplace is maintained:
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Know Your Customer (KYC) Compliance: Anti-Money Laundering/Know Your Customer processes require having systems in place to prevent financial crimes and control expectations from consumers. For instance, a payment acquirer needs to vet merchant identity to ensure no scams operate and they should be obliged to report any fraudulent behaviour to protect unsuspecting business people.
Payment Services Directive (PSD2)/Strong Customer Authentication (SCA): Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and Strong Customer Authentication regulation require further security of the payment processing experience within the EU. In practice SCA is delivered through 3D Secure 2, so your platform must support the protocol before a single e-commerce merchant can go live in Europe. 3D Secure 2 also carries the exemption logic that lets low-risk transactions skip a challenge, which is what protects conversion rates for your merchants rather than just satisfying the regulator.
Data Security (PCI DSS Level 1): PCI DSS certification signifies the highest level of security for cardholder data. Requirements include input for network security, vulnerability resolutions, access control solutions, employee training, and subsequent testing. PCI DSS compliance at Level 1 is the single strongest argument for buying rather than building your platform, since a certified provider absorbs most of the scope on your behalf.
Consumer Protection Laws: Compliance with any region's consumer protection laws is necessary for fair treatment of all cardholders and merchants alike. Consumer protection laws differ by country but generally involve dispute resolution, chargebacks and refunds, and transparent fee disclosure.
Audits and Reporting: Continuous audits and reporting are required. For PCI, quarterly network scans and annual compliance assessments are required for compliance.
Failure to comply will result in fines, bad press, and possibly revocation of license to operate. A compliance team must be put into place to constantly monitor these efforts.
Building Your Tech Foundation: Infrastructure Options for Fintech Startup Founders
The Build vs. Buy Decision: Critical Analysis
As you create your technology infrastructure, you will need to make necessary assessments that will impact your time-to-market, cost structure, and long-term flexibility.
From Scratch:
Advantages: You own the solution; customization potential is completely possible; proprietary technology; development to fulfil your particular marketplace
Disadvantages: Expensive to create, $500,000-$2,000,000+; time-consuming to create, 6-12+ months; requires extensive technical experience/assets; requires ongoing maintenance; responsible for all security compliance
Recommended for: Larger businesses with extensive technical resources who have a different business model that requires specific functionalities or compliance that micro/unicorns would not be able to fulfil
Advantages: Speed-to-market (weeks vs. years); low initial setup investment, $50,000-$250,000 one-time setup and then monthly fees; technology already established and secured; lower compliance obligation because PCI DSS compliance is covered by others; provider takes care of ongoing security updates
Disadvantages: Little customization potential; recurring licensing fees paid every year; feature development limitations may not be able to come to fruition due to provider limitations; what is given is what is offered
Recommended for: Low-tech start-ups/new businesses; those who want quicker speed-to-market or those with limited capital expenditures.
A third route sits between the two: sourcing acquirer processing from a certified third-party processor while keeping your own merchant-facing brand and commercial layer. The processor runs authorisation switching, clearing, settlement, and fee management on certified infrastructure, so you inherit scheme certifications instead of earning them, and launch timelines compress from years to months.
For most new entrants into the marketplace, a White Label Payment Gateway is the best option, as this gives you capital to spend elsewhere in your business, rather than dumping it all here. In addition, it allows for less PCI DSS compliance exposure, since a white-label provider will help reduce most of this compliance burden.
Core Technical Capabilities Required
Whether you build or buy, the process of running an acquiring business requires the following components:
Transaction Processing Engine. The technology that handles authorization, clearing, and settlement to perform the necessary transactions that are the lifeblood of your acquiring business.
Merchant Management Portal. The all-in-one solution that processes merchant onboarding and underwriting, account management, and payout processing.
Risk & Fraud Management Tools. The real-time monitoring engines with dynamic rules engines mitigate fraudulent activity. A fraud and risk management engine sits at the centre of this.
Reconciliation Systems & Settlement Systems. The accurate fund flow management systems ensure proper reporting between all parties involved in the payment process.
Reporting & Analytics Dashboard. The business intelligence tools that explain volumes processed, revenue generated, merchants successes/failures.
API Integration Layer. The systems that connect bank connections, card network integration, merchant system integration and payment gateways allow data flow. A merchant management API is the piece that matters most commercially here: registering merchant IDs, creating terminal IDs and legal entities, and managing rate plans through an API is what makes merchant management and automated onboarding possible instead of a manual queue that caps how fast you can grow.
POS Terminal Estate. If you intend to serve card-present merchants, terminals have to be sourced, certified, and supported, either directly or through a hardware partner, and this is usually the component new acquirers underestimate.
The Implementation Roadmap: How to Start an Acquiring Business Step by Step
Phase 1: Research & Planning
The first step is in-depth market research and assessment.
Market Research & Target Audience Segmentation: Determine niche and clientele by navigating various markets (SMBs (Small and Medium Businesses), high-risk merchants, and industries) and their vertical-specific payment needs.
Business Plan & Financial Model: Develop detailed projections around capital requirements, revenues, and investment needs.
Legal Entity Formation & Jurisdiction Registration: Establish a legal business structure that meets all registration requirements and properly filings with entities in the desired jurisdiction.
This will take approximately 2-3 months as this is a pivotal assessment to determine how to pragmatically proceed with operations in establishing an acquiring company.
Phase 2: Securing Foundations
Once you have the planning groundwork in place, the next step is to secure regulatory requirements and banking foundations.
Relevant Licenses: File to be a PI license (Payment Institution) or EMI license (Electronic Money Institution) depending on your chosen model and jurisdiction.
Sponsor Bank Partnership: Reach out to necessary sponsor banks to establish agreements for card network access and settlement services.
Banking Partner Relationships: Open operational accounts for business needs separate from settlement accounts. Segregating merchant funds from your own operating money is both a regulatory safeguarding requirement and the thing auditors check first, so the account structure needs to be right before any volume flows.
This part of the process requires a significant time to wait since licensing and regulatory reviews can take anywhere from upwards of 6-12 months.
Phase 3: Building & Integrating Technology
Then it is time to build the technological framework.
Core Technology Selection: Choose to develop a custom-built platform or use a white-label solution based on previous research.
Card Network Integration: Integrate with relevant card networks (Visa/Mastercard connectivity, etc.) either directly or through sponsor banks.
Payment Gateway Integration: Integrate all necessary gateways/banks for fund flow setup.
Development of Merchant Portal & API Configuration: Develop configurations for portals and merchant access and transaction payments.
Depending on how complex this all is, it can take anywhere from 3-6 months for white-label solutions to 12+ months for in-house development.
Phase 4: Establishing Operations
Once the technology is established, operations need to be established.
Establishment of Underwriting Framework & Risk Management Tools: Creation of policies and staffing solutions to enact tools for risk communication.
Merchant Onboarding Processes & Support: Establishment of onboarding and support tools.
Settlement and Reconciliation Workflows: Establish processes for settlements and accurate reconciliations of transactions. Reconciliation means matching authorisations, clearing files, and settlement daily; when it drifts, fee and payout errors compound quietly across the whole merchant portfolio and are expensive to unwind.
Core Team Assembly: Start hiring for sales, operations, and compliance staffing.
This usually takes a solid 2-4 months for implementation.
Phase 5: Testing, Launch & Beyond
The final step is testing and commercial launch, once you have prepared everything necessary for ongoing growth.
Testing: Compliance testing and security testing (PCI DSS audits).
Pilot Program: Engaging selected merchants to ensure proper operation.
Commercial Launch: Marcomms mixed with sales efforts for expanded exposure.
Ongoing Monitoring & Infrastructure Scaling: Work on all improvements for security optimization and scaled merchant solutions.
Technical testing/Pilot program should take 1-2 months with full commercial readiness duration of another 1-2 months.
Managing Risk & Ensuring Compliance: The Acquirer's Core Duty
Merchant Underwriting Models
The second reaction to risk management is merchant underwriting, which occurs in one of two fashions based on one's risk tolerance and ability to maintain:
Traditional Underwriting (Full KYC (Know Your Customer)/Due diligence (DD)):
Full due diligence on the applicable merchant prior to onboarding including business verification, financial analysis, processing history
Direct contractual relationship between acquirer and merchant via contract per defined terms and conditions
Greater control but resource-consuming due to the need for trained personnel and comprehensive review processes
More advantageous for high-risk merchants/high-volume merchants that would expose the acquirer to more financial liability in relation to time and effort spent during due diligence
Generally requires industry analysis, geo, processing history, financial statements and business model evaluation.
PayFac-Lite Model (Sub-merchant aggregation):
Streamlined onboarding capability via a master merchant account which allows for quicker approvals and processing patterns
Sub-merchants operate under the payment facilitator/merchant via simplified contracts/universal terms.
Streamlined onboarding but higher risk exposure management which means payment facilitators require excellent ongoing monitoring
Best for mom-and-pop shops with lower transaction volumes as the risk of exposure is less likely and less severe.
Generally utilizes automated risk scoring which is easier to vet for streamlined onboarding.
The payment facilitator model is what lets platforms onboard thousands of small sellers in minutes, but the trade-off is that the facilitator carries the aggregate risk of every sub-merchant under one master account, so monitoring capacity has to scale with the portfolio.
Your decision should match up with required risk management while still allowing for a positive merchant experience with operational efficiency. Note that frequently, the acquirers take a hybrid underwriting approach with the PayFac-Lite model for lower-risk situations and the traditional underwriting approach when high-risk situations are thoroughly substantiated.
Building a Robust Risk Management Framework
A risk management framework includes the following sources of coverage to protect your business and your merchants:
Fraud Prevention: Appropriately applied tools exist that, through machine learning fraud detection and rules-based systems, can determine and control fraud prevention. The best fraud systems can recognize when something is wrong in real-time, and assess transaction pattern analysis, customer behaviour analytics, and merchant activity monitoring to create a positive or negative response.
Chargeback Management: Tools exist to avoid dispute prevention over a transaction with the least amount of financial impact in the world. The risk management framework fosters root cause analysis of why these occurrences take place so that they are not repeated.
Credit Risk Assessment: Assess your merchants to see if there are issues before they escalate. Merchant financial monitoring with gradually failing financial indicators should be universally assessed on a regular basis.
Portfolio Monitoring: Continually reviewing Merchants for activity inconsistencies within ported accounts. This begins with assessing credit health and accounting practices and ends with assessing merchants' transaction anomaly detection flagged by risk management professionals.
Real-time Transaction Monitoring: Use specific rules-based systems to suspicious transactions flagging while processing and send them to manual risk reviews for review. This allows the transaction not to be blocked while disputable transactions are being assessed.
This risk management framework must be adjusted over time since, without incremental testing support systems, increased threats and a growing merchant portfolio will only harm.
Ensuring Ongoing Regulatory Compliance
Compliance isn't a one-time step. Resources must continuously be gathered, and processes must always be implemented:
AML/KYC Refreshes: Annually or quarterly updates for your anti-money laundering compliance and Know Your Customer processes. Any ownership change reviews require a periodic refresher. Review suspicious changes in transaction patterns, and determine which programs will require risk assessment updates.
PCI DSS Maintenance: Maintain quarterly network scans performed in-house as well as annual assessments of PCI DSS recertification. Maintenance of ongoing compliance includes hourly security updates, continual vulnerability management implementations, and vulnerability elimination.
Regulatory Reporting: All mandated reports for state and federal regulators must be submitted in a timely, accurate, and complete fashion. This includes suspicious activity reports, transaction volume reports, etc.
Compliance Audits: Internal/external audits must occur regularly to ensure compliance has been adhered to. This includes how you onboard merchants through educated expected regulatory compliance.
Staff Compliance Training: Employees receive role-specific regulatory training relevant to job function at least annually. Testing for mastery and up-to-date knowledge should be required as regulations evolve.
This relates to the compliance team, or at least one regulatory liaison, to facilitate this process correctly. This person/entity will keep track of what's needed, and maintain a definitive relationship with compliance officials, and compliance activity coordination efforts across disciplines for responsibility.
Go-to-Market & Growth: Standing Out as an Acquirer
Defining Your Value Proposition
Every acquirer should have a value proposition. Think about:
Competitive Pricing: Transparent fee structures yet still profitable to your company.
Niche Expertise: Industry specialization in only limited industries/merchant types you could serve better.
Technological Advantages: If your technology will process payments with faster processing, and integration capabilities, or have enhanced security features, frame them as the ability to acquire/retain customers.
Value-Added Services (VAS): Serving merchant pain points outside of what payment processing entails.
Your value proposition should position you toward what specific merchants need that larger, more generalized acquirers cannot specifically focus on.
Sales Channels
Acquiring merchant customers is all about distribution. Once you have a value proposition, consider the following sales channels:
Direct Sales: A direct sales in-house sales team attuned to specific merchant segments.
Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs)/Sales Agents: Independent Sales Organizations and sales agents who can sell on your behalf. ISOs let you buy distribution instead of building a sales force, which is how most new acquirers reach volume in their first two years, at the cost of paying away part of the margin on every merchant they bring.
Technology Partnerships: When other software platform integrations use or need payment, collaborate with technology platforms, e-commerce solutions, etc., servicing your core merchants.
Digital Marketing: Consider a targeted online campaign approach focused on acquisitions and lead generations.
The best working channel is usually a hybrid; however, it all depends upon your target market and value proposition.
Essential Value-Added Services (VAS)
Become differentiated as an acquirer with:
Gateway Services: Offer more than just payment processing via a payment gateway with possible tokenization or recurring billing.
Fraud Prevention Tools: Merchants worry about fraudulent merchants; let them know they won't have to with advanced fraud detection preventing it.
Analytics Platforms: Help access business growth with analytics platforms and reporting dashboards.
Multi-Currency Processing: Charge competitive exchange rates to companies wanting to accept payments in other currencies.
Alternative Payment Methods: Merchants should instead feel free to have them pay either through Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), digital wallets, or local payment methods.
POS Solutions: Physical merchants may need assistance with integrated hardware and software at POS.
Value-added services help create additional streams of revenue and enable retention of merchants who would rather have an integrated solution than pay for services separately.
Scaling Your Acquiring Business
Once you've established yourself, consider scaling strategies to grow:
Geographic Expansion: Ensure you're properly registered to do business in other areas down the line; regulatory approvals are key.
Vertical Specialization: Vertical specialization brings things to another layer; and gives more industry leadership insights/tools via acquisition.
Payment Method Expansion: The need for emerging payments comes from the forward-thinking merchant looking for nontraditional payment.
VAS Portfolio Development: Merchants will wonder what else you can do for them beyond acquiring; listen and create services based on merchant feedback integration.
Strategic Partnerships: Other complementary service providers always accompany acquiring in the merchant world; strategic partnerships create comprehensive merchant solutions opportunities.
When thinking about expansion, be cognizant of growth vs risk management and understand your operational scalability can only handle so much growth at once before compromising client experience.
What It Costs a Fintech Startup Founder to Start a Payment Acquiring Business
What It Costs to Launch a Payment Acquiring Company
Starting a payment acquiring business costs $50,000-$150,000 for small-scale regional operations, $100,000 to $300,000 for niche-focused operations, $250,000-$1,000,000 for mid-sized national platforms, and $2,000,000-$5,000,000 for international platforms.
This includes custom software developed in-house or by a third party and integration processes with banking partnerships and regulatory compliance as well as the need to have corporate overhead. Small companies looking for a niche market with open-source development and cloud services can start at $100,000-$300,000. Investors recommend budgeting for the project with up to a contingency fund (10-15%) in miscellaneous costs that will inevitably pop up.
Major Cost Components
Platform development is the most significant cost ranging from $100,000-$300,000 for custom software, API development, and cloud services. Banking partnerships and merchant partnerships integration or account setup fees will require an investment of $50,000 to $150,000, which includes legal fees and time spent on integration processes.
Regulatory compliance and regulatory filings are $40,000-$100,000; IT infrastructure costs $60,000-$180,000; branding and marketing costs $10,000-$50,000; customer support infrastructure $20,000-$80,000 (including CRM systems and staff training); research and development (R&D) is $50,000-$120,000 for required product enhancements and market analysis; strategic partnerships/third-party service integrations/fintech collaborations is $25,000-$75,000; analytics and reporting systems requiring AI tools/dashboards is $35,000-$90,000.
Planning Your Acquiring Launch
Talk to DECTA about licensing sequence, sponsor bank requirements, and what your processing stack actually needs before go-live.
