In March 2020, the month the coronavirus lockdown began, there were 1.6bn transactions on debit cards in the UK, an increase of 4.9% on the same month in the previous year. In that same month, there were 272 million credit card transactions. Contactless transactions totalled an enormous £6.5bn in those four weeks. As the market for card payment continues to grow, so does the competition between merchant services providers.
What is a merchant services provider? They’re the companies which allow your business to take credit and debit cards from your customers whether they want to pay in store, over the phone, or online. And, in the last few years, the market has grown substantially with the arrival of a number of new cut-price competitors forcing down rates.
Fees vary though from an ultra-low of 1.25% of transaction value offered by Barclaycard Merchant Services right up to 3.4% of transaction value plus 30p from PayPal. Some companies charge no monthly fee and they tie you in to no contract while others expect you to stay with them for up to 3 years and to rent machinery from them.
Which is the best option for your business? Our researchers have examined the current offers available from 16 of the UK’s big card processing firms to see which firms offers the best deal for companies wanting to taking orders face-to-face, on the phone, and over the internet.
In this article, we share with you:
- the 16 cheapest merchant service providers in the UK according to our research – ranked!
- the most frequently used terms in merchant services and what they mean
- a breakdown of the top 10 cheapest services offered by card processing companies
- things to think about before you choose a UK merchant services account provider
The cheapest merchant services in the UK
There are three important considerations you should take into account when choosing a merchant services provider. They are:
- payment options – can customers pay you how, where, and when they please?
- cards accepted – the more cards your merchant service provider allows you to process, the less chance there is of a customer presenting a credit or debt card you can’t accept
- overall cost of the service
For this article, we’re looking at cost – we’re specifically looking at the overall percentage of turnover a merchant service provider would charge a company taking £100,000 on cards in fees. This is important because, the lower the transaction and other costs you pay, the more money your company keeps.
As you can see from the table below, there is more than a £2,000 difference in annual fees and charges between our cheapest provider and our most expensive provider.
| UK merchant account provider | Set-up fees | Annual fees | Total annual fees | Percentage of turnover |
| PaymentSense | FREE | £99.60 | £1,497.10 | 1.50% |
| Barclaycard | £150.00 | £180.00 | £1,580.00 | 1.58% |
| TakePayments | FREE | £240.00 | £1,745.50 | 1.75% |
| Shopify | FREE | £274.80 | £1,844.80 | 1.84% |
| Quickbooks | FREE | £228.00 | £1,873.00 | 1.87% |
| PayZone | FREE | £240.00 | £1,887.50 | 1.89% |
| myPOS | FREE | FREE | £2,000.00 | 2.00% |
| SumUp | FREE | FREE | £2,095.00 | 2.10% |
| Square | FREE | FREE | £2,125.00 | 2.13% |
| WorldPay | FREE | £239.40 | £2,239.40 | 2.24% |
| Payline | FREE | £334.68 | £2,471.58 | 2.47% |
| izettle | FREE | £348.00 | £2,473.00 | 2.47% |
| HSBC | £250.00 | £240.00 | £2,652.50 | 2.65% |
| Retail Merchant Services | FREE | £120.00 | £2,893.50 | 2.89% |
| Elavon | £25.00 | £240.00 | £3,362.50 | 3.36% |
| Paypal | FREE | FREE | £3,595.00 | 3.60% |
Decoding the table
How did we arrive at those figures? We assume a turnover on the cards of £100,000 a year – 2,000 separate transactions of £50 each. Half of those transactions are on credit card – 50% face to face and 50% online. The other half are on debit cards – again 50% face to face and 50% online.
Standalone equipment costs are not factored into the above table however, where equipment is provided, it is often reflected in the annual fees. Providers with no or very low annual fees will likely require you to buy any card processing hardware separately.
In the main body of the article, we go into much greater detail on each company, what they offer, and the advantages and disadvantages.
What’s on the tables:
- minimum monthly fee – some providers charge a monthly fee to use their services. With most providers, the monthly fee includes the ability to take payments over the phone and online. Some merchant account services companies however charge separate monthly fees per method of payment.
- additional monthly e-commerce fee – where the ability to take payments online attracts a separate charge, that charge is listed.
- hospitality app monthly price – a few providers offer a specialist app for hospitality businesses, for example restaurants and hotels. If a provider does offer this type of app and they make a charge for it, that charge is listed.
- set-up fee – charges associated with setting up an account with a merchant services provider.
- minimum term – many providers require you to keep an account open with them for a minimum length of time. If you attempt to close your account before the end date of the contract, you may be charged an early settlement fee.
- online payments accepted? – indicates whether a merchant service provider offers the ability to allow your customers to pay over the internet.
- card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? – indicates whether a merchant service provider offers the ability to key in card payment dictated over the phone by a customer. Separate hardware may be needed to process these transactions.
- hardware to take payment at tills? – indicates whether a merchant services provider offers the equipment needed to take payment from a customer face to face whether in a retail premises, in hospitality premises, or anywhere if the device is mobile-signal enabled.
- typical credit card fee (face to face) – the typical amount charged for a CHIP and PIN or contactless payment made using a credit card. Higher charges may be applicable for keyed-in transactions.
- typical debit card fee (face to face) – the typical amount charged for a CHIP and PIN or contactless payment made using a debit card. Higher charges may be applicable for keyed-in transactions.
- typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) – the typical amount charged for an online or mail order payment made using a credit card. Higher charges may be applicable for keyed-in transactions.
- typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) – the typical amount charged for an online or mail order payment made using a debit card. Higher charges may be applicable for keyed-in transactions.
- invoice payments fee – some merchant service providers allow you to invoice a customer from an app. The invoice is sent by email and it contains a link to a secure site where customers can make payment by credit or debit card.
- inventory management – some merchant services providers’ apps allow you to classify the stock sold by your business as well as the ability to keep track of how many of a particular item you have left in stock.
- website templates included for online sales – with some accounts, a merchant service provider will provide you with a number of customisable website templates so that you can launch an online shop.
- cost range of physical terminals – the minimum and maximum cost of physical terminals offered by a card processing payment company on which payments from customers can be taken. Lower priced units tend to be handheld units which link to a mobile phone and higher priced units tend to be EPOS systems. Where standard terminals are provided to customers as part of a monthly service contract, no price is displayed.
- cash advance available? – some merchant services providers allow customers to borrow money based on their average monthly turnover processed on credit and debit cards. Repayments are taken from you from future settlement transfers made to you by your provider.
How the table was compiled
We have used each provider’s cheapest known tariffs to make the comparison. Many providers will drop their rates if the amount of turnover you process by card is higher than a given amount – with some providers, it’s £50,000 and with others £250,000. We have assumed that you will want to take payments online and monthly charges for online payment accounts are included in the “annual fees” column.
Not all of the companies on the above table publicise their rates. To determine what rates they are likely to charge, we have extensively researched both positive and negative feedback about each merchant service provider online. Where multiple rates were reported by different users, we decided to use figures which were the median – in other words, equidistant from the cheapest and the most expensive. Information on PaymentSense, TakePayments, and Elavon was particularly difficult to find for this article and therefore may be more prone to inaccuracy.
Although all of the figures quoted on this page have been thoroughly analysed and, to the greatest possible extent, verified, we strongly advice that you contact each firm to try to try to secure the best possible rate for yourself. Almost all of the online reviews we surveyed indicated that the companies listed in this article are willing to negotiate on the rates they charge although the ones with zero monthly charge are less likely to be flexible.
Alternatively, please leave your details with us using the form at the top of the page. Let us search for the most competitive provider offering the lowest transaction charges and the most favourable contract terms. Our service is free of charge and you’re under no obligation to accept any of the quotes our partner merchant services account providers present you with.
Top 10 card payment processing companies in the UK
In this part of the article, we examine the top 10 best value merchant accounts in the UK as uncovered by our research.
1. Payment Sense
| Merchant service provider | Payment Sense |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £8.30 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | £0.00 |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | 18 months |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.30% + £0.15 |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.30% + £0.15 |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.30% + £0.15 |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.30% + £0.15 |
| Invoice payments fee | 1.30% + £0.15 |
| Inventory management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | Yes |
| Cost range of physical terminals | FREE |
| Cash advance available? | Yes |
| Cards accepted | Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, Union Pay, Contactless, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Discover |
Unlike many of the newer entrants into the market (Payment Sense formed in 2010), this competitor’s business model is very much that of the longer-established companies in the sector – they target retail and face-to-face commerce just as hard as they do online commerce.
The credit and debit card fees quoted above are median figures based upon customer reviews of the company. The company’s website does not really quote prices leading us to believe that they offer bespoke deals to each new customer on rates.
Their three published monthly payment tariffs are:
- £9.95 per month (£8.30 if paid annually) for card turnover of £50,000 per year or less,
- £14.95 per month (£12.45 if paid annually) for card turnover of between £50,000 and £250,000 per year, and
- £19.95 per month (£16.60 if paid annually) for card turnover of between £250,000 and £1.2 million per year.
The company scores well on online review sites and it has won many industry awards for its innovations in the sector. Payment Sense should be considered as a very strong contender for businesses wanting a merchant service account but, as with all of the the top three companies in this poll, negotiate with them hard and don’t accept their first offer.
2. Barclaycard Merchant Services
| Merchant service provider | Barclaycard |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £15.00 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | £150.00 |
| Minimum term | 18 months |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.25% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.25% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.25% |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.25% |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost of physical terminal | £29.00 (for Anywhere option) |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | Accept all major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club International, Discover and American Express. |
The Barclaycard Merchant Services website is attractive and informative however it is elusive on its card transaction rates. However, our team found multiple reviews online stating that the rate for standard debit and credit cards was 1.25% which makes it very competitive.
There is a set-up fee of £150 and monthly fees of between £15 and £25 (mainly dependent on the physical equipment you choose to take) but, even then, you make those fees back and save money even on a relatively modest monthly card turnover by saving money on transaction fees.
There is a no minimum contract term with the Barclaycard Anywhere tariff. Card rates are 2.6% per transaction, substantially more than their contract options. Barclaycard Anywhere is a face-to-face and mail-order-telephone-order service with no online capabilities – the Anywhere card reader links to an app on your phone and costs £29 + VAT.
3. Take Payments
| Merchant service provider | TakePayments |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £20.00 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | 12 months |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.50% + £0.01 |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.50% + £0.01 |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.50% + £0.01 |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.50% + £0.01 |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost range of physical terminals | FREE |
| Terminal to | FREE |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | You’ll be able to accept all major credit and debit cards, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Maestro. |
In third place, again with the transaction rates quoted as the median of rates given by customers on online reviews, Take Payments. This has a minimum contractual term of 12 months with a monthly minimum fee of £20 and no set-up charges.
This is a great offer – 1.5% plus a very small per transaction charge of 1p makes the service very competitive. However, that extra quarter of one percent means that, compared with Barclaycard, you’d be paying around £165 a year more for Take Payment’s service. You may be able to persuade the company to lower its prices further in negotiation so that it can compete with Payment Sense and Barclaycard though.
Unlike many merchant account providers which only offer virtual customer services, TakePayments has 100 reps out on the road visiting clients as well as the telephone- and email-based support you’d expect.
4. Shopify
| Merchant service provider | Shopify |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £22.90 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | No minimum term |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.50% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.50% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.60% + £0.20 |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.60% + £0.20 |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory Management | Yes |
| Website templates included for online sales | Yes |
| Cost range of physical terminals | £59.00 – £379.00 |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Android Pay |
Shopify, originally focused on helping businesses build e-commerce websites on which they could take online payments, has aggressively marketed its physical equipment in recent years to the retail and hospitality trades.
Their tariff levels range from $29 a month to $299 a month. The more expensive the tariff, the more features you benefit from and as well as cheaper card rates.
They have a wide selection of equipment for use in retail stores and equipment prices range from £59 to £379. Customers benefit from no minimum contract term and a handy inventory management system included within the subscription fee.
5. Quickbooks – with caveats
| Merchant service provider | Quickbooks |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £5.00 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | £14.00 |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | N/A |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | No |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | No |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.45% + £0.30 |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.45% + £0.30 |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.45% + £0.30 |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.45% + £0.30 |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost range of physical terminals | FREE |
| Terminal to | FREE |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | All major debit and credit cards are accepted including Visa, Mastercard, China Union Pay, Diners Club International and Discover. American Express can be added on request. |
This is a very attractive two-in-one options from Quickbooks. Quickbooks is an online accounting and bookkeeping service and it’s teamed up with PayPal to offer credit and debit card processing services at really attractive rates.
If you only intend to take payments for invoices issued to clients and nothing more, this would possibly be the best option for you. That’s because you’re not only getting the ability to take credit and debit card payments at very low rates, it’s also because of masses of functionality you benefit from with the Quickbooks system.
You shouldn’t consider this option for face-to-face or ecommerce though.
6. Payzone
| Merchant service provider | PayZone |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £20.00 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | 12 months |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.55% + £0.15 |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.55% + £0.15 |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.55% + £0.15 |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.55% + £0.15 |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost range of physical terminals | FREE |
| Terminal to | FREE |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | Our countertop card machine allows you to accept all major credit and debit cards such as Mastercard, Visa and American Express. Contactless and Apple pay enabled, you’ll also be able to offer your customers faster payments on any sales under £30. |
Although now owned by Take Payments, Payzone’s offering is still distinct from its parent company and it finished in sixth place in our survey.
Their minimum term is 12 months with no set-up or exit fees and the company promises to offer you a “tailor-made pricing package” from one of its local consultants. That means that you might actually be offered a deal more competitive that the one we list above.
7. myPOS
| Merchant service provider | myPOS |
| Minimum monthly fee from | FREE |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | No minimum term |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.75% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.75% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.25% |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.25% |
| Invoice payments fee | 2.25% |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost range of physical terminals | £29.00 – £1,249.00 |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | Accept payments with major debit and credit cards, contactless cards and mobile wallets. |
For the business turning over £100,000 we based our league table on, myPOS takes 7th place – using them would cost £2,000 a year or 2% of turnover. That’s over £500 more expensive than top-placed Payment Sense.
That said, there’s a lot to like about myPOS. If you were never going to be any business online, its face to face rates are competitive and its range of physical terminals are attractive and competitively-priced.
It’s a pity about the minimum monthly transaction fee charge of £10 though.
8. SumUp
| Merchant service provider | SumUp |
| Minimum monthly fee from | FREE |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | No minimum term |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.69% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.69% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.50% |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.50% |
| Invoice payments fee | 2.50% |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | Yes |
| Cost range of physical terminals | £39.00 |
| Terminal to | £139.00 |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | Visa, Vpay, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Contactless |
SumUp are one of the new wave of merchant services accounts providers with an attractive and well-priced range of physical terminals.
With no monthly fee, no set-up fee, and face to face fees of 1.69%, this is a competitive offering otherwise let down by its high ecommerce fees. We do like the fact though that they help their clients to get online with a range of easy-to-customise website templates.
9. Square
| Merchant service provider | Square |
| Minimum monthly fee from | FREE |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | FREE |
| Hospitality notes | £69 per month per location for enhanced service |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | No minimum term |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 1.75% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 1.75% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.50% |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.50% |
| Invoice payments fee | 2.50% |
| Inventory Management | Yes |
| Website templates included for online sales | Yes |
| Cost range of physical terminals | £19.00 |
| Terminal to | £199.00 |
| Cash advance available? | Yes (on equipment purchases only) |
| Cards accepted | Visa, American Express, Visa, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Contactless |
Square’s offering is virtually identical to SumUp’s in every way except for slightly higher transaction fees which would cost our example business around £30 a year to use them than SumUp.
Just like SumUp, Square offers customisable online templates but what might be worth the extra £30 is the inventory management system included on the company’s app.
SumUp will also lend customers money (subject to status) to purchase its hardware – handy if you have multiple real world locations and you’re wanting to protect cash flow.
10. Worldpay
| Merchant service provider | WorldPay |
| Minimum monthly fee from | £19.95 |
| Additional monthly e-commerce fee | FREE |
| Hospitality app monthly price | N/A |
| Set-up fee | FREE |
| Minimum term | 18 months |
| Online payments accepted? | Yes |
| Card machines for over-the-phone/mail-order? | Yes |
| Hardware to take payment at tills? | Yes |
| Typical credit card fee (face to face) | 2.75% |
| Typical debit card fee (face to face) | 0.75% |
| Typical credit card fee (cardholder not present) | 2.75% |
| Typical debit card fee (cardholder not present) | 1.75% |
| Invoice payments fee | As other rates |
| Inventory Management | No |
| Website templates included for online sales | No |
| Cost range of physical terminals | FREE |
| Terminal to | FREE |
| Cash advance available? | No |
| Cards accepted | All major debit and credit cards are accepted including Visa, Mastercard, China Union Pay, Diners Club International and Discover. American Express can be added on request. |
Worldpay is one of the world’s largest card processing payment firms however it does not use it scale or size to compete on price. If you chose Worldpay over the estimated rates we have for top finisher Payment Sense, you’d pay over £700 more and we struggle to see why.
Worldpay is a straight, no-frills payment processor for small business and it doesn’t offer many of the features and functionalities of newer competitors in the market whose services help their clients to trade online.
Things to think about before choosing a UK merchant account
Choosing a merchant services account is just like choosing a mobile phone – it’s easy to be attracted to a seemingly very low tariff headline rate only to find out later that there are lots of unexpected charges and obligations you have to meet.
Compared with 20 years ago, customers now expect to be able to pay by card. To be certain that you’ve chosen the right merchant services account provider for your company, you have to examine their tariffs carefully to make sure that you’re not gaining advantage in one area while losing advantage in another.
For help in choosing the right provider and tariff for your business, please fill in the form at the top of the page. We’ll ask you a few questions about your business and how you sell to customers. Using that information, we’ll then present your proposal to the merchant services account providers on our panel most likely to offer you the best deal.
Our service is free of charge and there’s no obligation on you to accept any offer made by one of our partners.