A credit card processing bank; merchants receive credit for credit card receipts less a processing fee; SYN. acquirer.
Financial institution that specializes in corporate finance and financial and advisory services for business. Originally developed in the UK in the 19th century, merchant banks now offer many of the services provided by the commercial banks.
Merchant banks developed from merchant houses trading in various parts of the world. As such houses became known, they found that a remunerative way to finance trade was to accept bills of exchange from lesser-known traders.