Does each local scheme require a separate integration?

Not when it is reached through acquirers that already support it. Most local schemes run on four-party models, so a PSP can accept their cards through any acquirer that is a scheme member. On NORBr, local schemes come through acquirers in the global payment network and are activated per merchant, without a new integration project for each country.

Four-party schemes and acquirers

Most domestic card schemes, such as Cartes Bancaires in France, Bancontact in Belgium or girocard in Germany, run on a four-party model: issuer, cardholder, acquirer, merchant. An acquirer that is a member of the scheme can accept its cards. A PSP connected to that acquirer accepts them too, without talking to the scheme itself.

What that means for a platform

• Local schemes are reached through acquirers already in the payment network.
• Activation is per merchant, by enabling the scheme on the acquirer connection.
• No new integration project per country, provided the acquirer supports the scheme.

Where it differs

Some schemes require specific certification, data fields or terminal configurations, and some wallets or bank schemes are reached through dedicated providers rather than acquirers. The platform's job is to know, per market, which acquirer supports which scheme and with which constraints, and to expose it as a switch per merchant. Operators expanding into a new country then ask one question: which of our acquirers is a member there, and if none, which one to add.