Scope
Reference
PL25.071
Description
Lincolnshire County Council requires a merchant acquiring facility to work alongside a regulated payment services provider to process card payments on its behalf. The payment services provider will arrange authorisation from the customer's card issuer or bank and then collect those funds and pay them to the Council.
The payment acceptance process will securely receive payments via cards, digital wallets, payment gateways and online platforms. The provider will process transactions through card issuers like Visa or Mastercard, checks fund availability, transfers payments to the Council, and ensure compliance with Payment Card Industry and Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
The requirement also includes the provision of sale (POS) terminals for face-to-face and unattended payment transactions.
Within the Council's structure there are a number of service areas where card payment acceptance processing is required. The Council has identified a number of dependencies with other providers that would need to be taken account of as part of any implementation process.
The Contract is anticipated to run for a period of 4 years, commencing 1st April 2027 and expiring 31st March 2031. There will be an option for the Council to extend the Contract by a period or periods of up to 24 months to ultimately expire 31st March 2033.
Total value (estimated)
- £400,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2031
- Possible extension to 31 March 2033
- 6 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 66133000 - Processing and clearing services
Contract locations
- UKF3 - Lincolnshire
Engagement
Engagement deadline
19 December 2025
Engagement process description
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) is looking to procure Merchant Acquiring and Associated Services, including the acceptance of payments via face to face or point of sale (POS) terminals, over the phone or on line.
We are seeking to bring awareness to the market of an upcoming opportunity and understand the market's preferred approached to a number of key issues to inform the decision-making process.
The attached Questionnaire is in two sections. Section A provides the topics that we would like to discuss, and an overview of the requirement and Section B contains the market engagement questionnaire.
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) welcomes discussion about its requirement for Merchant Acquiring and Associated Services. This Market Engagement will focus on the below points:
Implementation Length, Resources and Costs
Fee Structure: Transactions and non-transactional fees
Contract Management
PCI Compliance / Data Protection
Terms and Conditions
Other Services Offered
Other Information
Suppliers are requested to download and complete the Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire and return the completed form via the Panacea e-sourcing system https://app.panacea-software.com/lcc/Login.aspx
Submission
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
2 June 2026
Contracting authority
Lincolnshire County Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PGRB-3736-CHZN
County Offices, Newland
Lincoln
LN1 1YL
United Kingdom
Contact name: Fiona Fielding
Email: fiona.fielding@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Website: https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/
Region: UKF30 - Lincolnshire
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government