A system and method is provided to accept and settle transaction payments for a consumer. The consumer initiates a transaction with a merchant, and the merchant transmits transaction information to a central processing unit using an initiating processing unit. The central processing unit generates a unique transaction identifier. The system may provide the merchant and consumer the nearest payment processing unit. At the payment processing unit, the consumer presents the unique transaction identifier, which is transmitted to the central processing unit for validation. The consumer makes payment at the payment processing unit, and the payment information is transmitted to the central processing unit. The system remits the payment to the merchant.