EFL clubs: preferential card rates through a preferred partner programme
The English Football League (EFL) covers 72 professional clubs across three divisions. Each club takes card payments in its own way — tickets, retail, hospitality, memberships. Left alone, most of them were buying acquiring on standard rates, one club at a time.
About the client
The EFL sits below the Premier League and runs the Championship, League One and League Two. Its regulations provide for up to 72 clubs in three divisions. That is a large group of separately run businesses, each with its own finance team, but with a shared need for fair card pricing and a provider that understands seasonal and matchday volume.
The challenge
Before the programme, clubs were each on their own providers at standard rates — the ordinary published or default pricing a club would get buying alone, rather than a negotiated group deal.
Buying alone is fine if your volume is huge and your tender is sharp. For many clubs it means accepting whatever the incumbent quotes, with little leverage and little comparison.
What we did
We helped put in place a third-party preferred partner programme that grouped clubs together for preferential rates. The idea is simple: the league relationship opens the door; clubs still choose to join; those that do get pricing that reflects the collective rather than a single-club deal.
Outline and contracts for the programme structure were completed in days — typically a week or two — so clubs were not waiting a full season for the commercial framework to appear.
The result
- About 70% of clubs took up the programme.
- Participating clubs saw about 40% off standard rates.
Those are take-up and discount figures from the programme. Individual club savings still depend on card mix, channels and starting point — we would never promise a single percentage to a club without seeing a statement.
How long it took
The outline and contracts were done in days — about a week or two for the programme framework. Club-by-club onboarding then follows each club's own approvals and technical set-up.
Next step
If you buy card acquiring alone and suspect the rate is just "the standard one", ask for a free rate review or get in touch. We will tell you plainly what a group or multi-acquirer route could change.