What is a merchant payment and how does it differ from send money?

A merchant payment pays a business’s registered account against a purchase. In Bangladesh Bank’s published statistics it is a separate transaction category, counted apart from P2P — so the system itself treats the two as different things.

The difference is more than the name. A merchant payment is recorded as a business transaction and is tied to an identified establishment. Money sent to a personal number is simply a transfer between two individuals — nothing in the record says it was payment for a purchase.

Which is why choosing a merchant payment is the safer course when paying for goods or a service. If the goods do not arrive or a dispute follows, you hold a record showing who was paid and for what. Money sent to a personal number gives you no such advantage.

It matters more still when buying online. If an unfamiliar seller insists on a personal number and refuses a merchant payment, treat that insistence as a warning sign in itself.

Sources:

• Bangladesh Bank — MFS statistics