Most of us have shopped online at some point in our lives. Probably a similar number of us, particularly from older generations, have seen something they liked in a newspaper or a catalogue and phoned up to order it.
If you want your company to able to take credit and debit card payments online or over the phone, you need a virtual terminal from a merchant services provider.
Merchant services providers are the companies which allow businesses like yours to process card payments from customers. If you want to sell to clients across the rest of Britain or around the world, you’ll need a virtual terminal from your merchant services provider.
A virtual terminal gives you the ability to take payment from clients when they’re not physically in your shop or office.
In this article, we’re comparing 8 of the UK’s largest merchant service providers and their best virtual terminal products.
We’ll not only be considering the costs to you of taking card payments online and over the phone. We’ll also examine what each of these services offers in terms of the ability to issue invoices with embedded online payment buttons to customers – this is great for cash flow as it can really speed up the time customers take to pay.
On this page, we’ll share with you:
- What is a virtual payment terminal?
- Information on iZettle, SumUp, Square, PayPal, Shopify, Worldpay, Sagepay Virtual terminal services.
- How to choose the right virtual terminal service for your business
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| iZettle | YES | 2.5% (2% PayPal) | YES (£29 a month) | 2.5% (2% PayPal) | NO | – |
| SumUp | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES (no subscription) | 2.95% + 20p |
| Square | YES | 2.5% | YES (no subscription) | 2.5% | YES (no subscription) | 2.5% |
| PayPal | YES | 2.9% + 30p | YES (free or £20 subscription) | 2.9% + 30p or 3.4% + 20p | YES (£20 subscription) | 1.9% + 30p to 3.4% + 30p |
| Shopify | NO | – | YES ($29 to $299 a month) | 1.6% + 20p to 2.2% + 20p (depending on subscription level) | YES (with an e-commerce subscription) | 1.6% + 20p to 2.2% + 20p (depending on subscription level) |
| Worldpay | NO | – | YES (bespoke) | ? | YES (£9.95 in addition to another tariff) | ? |
| Sage | YES (£5-15 a month) | ? | YES (£27 upwards a month) | ? | YES (£15 upwards a month) | ? |
What is a virtual payment terminal?
When you’re in a shop buying goods and services using your credit or debit card, these are called “cardholder present” transactions – that’s because you’re there and you personally physically tap your card onto the terminal or enter your PIN code into the terminal to authorise the transaction.
To be able to transact sales when someone is ordering from you online or over the phone, you need the ability to process card-not-present transactions. For that, you’ll need permission from your merchant services provider.
It’s definitely worth getting that permission. If you build a website which showcases your products well, the positive effect it will have on your turnover and profitability will be dramatic once your online store has started to attract attention from your target customers.
There’s an ongoing significant change in the world of business too – companies are using credit and debit cards to pay their invoices more than ever before instead of sending out cheques. A recent report commissioned by online accounting and bookkeeping provider Xero showed that UK businesses take 38 days to pay an invoice if the only payment options offered to them are cheque and bank transfer. If credit or debit card payment is also offered, that waiting time goes down to 19 days.
Being able to take cards in your shop is an important competitive advantage but, as our lives and our spending habits become more and more digital, access to a virtual payment terminal has started to become an increasing priority for companies.
iZettle virtual terminal
iZettle virtual terminal for invoices
iZettle allows you to invoice customers directly from your app. The process is very quick and straight-forward – you can also brand your invoices so that they look the way you want them to look. The app will alert you when payment has been made and it will also send a reminder to your customer if the due date has passed.
There is a 2.5% transaction charge (2% if payment made by PayPal) on invoice payments.
iZettle for ecommerce internet orders
Not only does iZettle allow you to take payments online, it also features Shopify-like functionality allowing you to build your own website to sell your goods and services over the internet – no web design experience needed. They currently offer a 14-day free trial and, if you decide to continue with the service, the fee is £29 a month.
There is a 2.5% transaction charge (2% if payment made by PayPal) on invoice payments.
iZettle mail order and telephone transactions
iZettle does not currently permit clients to take mail order or telephone payments from customers.
iZettle pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| iZettle | YES | 2.5% (2% PayPal) | YES (£29 a month) | 2.5% (2% PayPal) | NO | – |
iZettle offer two of the three standard virtual terminal services to their clients – their rates are slightly on the high side compared to other companies in the market. At time of writing, there is currently no indication from iZettle on whether they will start accepting mail order or telephone payments in the near future.
Cards accepted by iZettle
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club, Union Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Discover
SumUp virtual terminal
SumUp for mail order and telephone transactions
SumUp first announced that its clients would be able to take virtual terminal payments in 2017. The service is live but it’s not currently advertised on its website – the website focuses much more on selling of their impressive handheld terminals for in-person payments to visitors.
However, some users have reported that, once your first few transactions have gone through, you can email customer support who will give you access to a virtual terminal once you have passed a few security checks.
Once activated, users can simply key in the customers’ payment details during the phone call and complete the transaction.
SumUp for ecommerce internet orders and for invoices
SumUp do not currently offer the ability to send invoices with an embedded payment link from their app. They also do not provide a service allowing you to take ecommerce payments from clients ordering from you on your website.
SumUp pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| SumUp | NO | NO | NO | NO | YES (no subscription) | 2.95% + 20p |
SumUp’s transaction charges for mail order and telephone payments are steep in comparison to their competitors however their lack of a monthly charge means that this option may suit clients with lower transaction volumes during a 4-week period.
Cards accepted by SumUp
Visa, Vpay, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Contactless
Square virtual terminal
Square virtual terminal for invoices
You can send custom invoices and detailed estimates to clients using Square’s user-friendly and intuitive app.
It takes seconds to create and invoices and you can accept any type of payment against the invoice including cheques and cash. You can set up the app to prepopulate the invoices of repeat customers and to take recurring charges from customers (like subscription fees).
You can send out estimates to clients too which they can approve and pay for in one click. Transactions are charged at 2.5%.
Square for ecommerce internet orders
Square have also recently moved into providing ecommerce payment solutions for clients piggybacked on their payment system. If you have a real-world store, you can integrate its operation with the operation of your online store to take advantage of the deep functionality of the Square app.
They offer three types of website builder product – the “nice and easy”, the “some skills required”, and the “developer skills” tariffs. Choose the one which best reflects you and your company’s technical skill and confidence.
Transactions are charged at 2.5% with a choice of three monthly subscriptions ranging from £9 to £54 a month (billed annually).
Square mail order and telephone transactions
With the Square virtual terminal for mail order and telephone sales, just log onto the company’s secure webpage – then you then fill in all of the relevant fields with your customer’s payment details. When complete, press the “Charge” button and the transaction is processed straight away.
There is a 2.5% charge per transaction.
Square pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| Square | YES | 2.5% | YES (£9 to £54 a month) | 2.5% | YES (no subscription) | 2.5% |
Square’s charges are among the most expensive offered by the companies listed on this page. Their e-commerce packages seem particularly feature-packed and flexible and they are certainly worthy of further investigation for companies interested in established an online sales channel.
Cards accepted by Square
Visa, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay.
PayPal virtual terminal
PayPal virtual terminal for invoices
PayPal’s on-app invoicing system, fully integrated into its payment processing facility, was among the first service of its kind in the world and it’s still one of their most popular products today.
You can customise the appearance of the invoices to exactly how you want them to look. Once you’re happy with your own template, you can create then a new invoice in minutes and send as many out as you like during a month. Each invoice features an embedded link which recipients can click to visit a secure online portal on which they can make payment.
Each transaction costs 2.9% + 30p.
PayPal for ecommerce internet orders
PayPal was set up 20 years ago to provide a seamless online card-based payment service to both buyers and sellers. Today, it offers three different ecommerce packages for companies wishing to take payments online – “Web Payments Standard”, “Web Payments Pro”, and “PayPal Checkout”.
You can add PayPal buttons to your existing online checkout or to your website for no monthly fee and a cost of 2.9% + 30p per transaction.
Next to the PayPal button, you can add a “pay by debit or credit card” button. PayPal will handle these transactions for you at a cost of between 1.9% + 30p to 3.4% + 20p per transaction (volume dependent). There is a £20 monthly fee for this service.
PayPal mail order and telephone transactions
You can take payment over the phone and via mail order by using the Virtual Terminal feature within the app and on the website. You pay a monthly fee of £20 to access this service and a transaction charge of between 1.9-3.4% + 20p
Summary of https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/phone
PayPal pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| PayPal | YES | 2.9% + 30p | YES (free or £20 subscription) | 2.9% + 30p or 3.4% + 20p | YES (£20 subscription) | 1.9% + 30p to 3.4% + 30p |
PayPal provide each of the three main card-not-present services as well as other types of payment options including microtransactions and donation acceptance. However, no matter how reliable their service is (and it is very reliable), it is by far from the cheapest option available.
Cards accepted by PayPal
MasterCard, Maestro, Visa, American Express, Apple Pay, Android Pay
Shopify virtual terminal
Shopify for ecommerce internet orders and mail order and telephone transactions
Shopify works with over 1 million business owners in 175 countries who have, between them, transacted over $135bn in sales between them. Shopify is arguably the international brand leader in the creation of ecommerce payment solutions.
Shopify gives user the ability to design their own online store and populate it with their own products and services. There are three tariffs to choose from ranging from $29 to $299 with a fee charged for every transaction processed.
Shopify virtual terminal for mail order and telephone transactions
Shopify allow vendors to take customers’ details over the phone as long as they have subscribed to one of its three ecommerce tariffs.
Shopify virtual terminal for invoices and for mail order and telephone transactions
Shopify currently do not offer vendors the ability to issue invoices with an embedded payment link from their app. At time of writing, the company has not revealed any plans to do so.
Shopify pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| Shopify | NO | – | YES ($29 to $299 a month) | 1.6% + 20p to 2.2% + 20p (depending on subscription level) | YES (with an e-commerce subscription) | 1.6% + 20p to 2.2% + 20p (depending on subscription level) |
Shopify’s transaction charges are low and they offer you the opportunity to take payments both online and over the phone. The Shopify ecosystem is very well developed with over 3,200 third-party apps available so that entrepreneurs and company owners can better and more efficiently do business.
Cards accepted by Shopify
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, Android Pay
Worldpay virtual terminal
Unlike most of the other companies on this page, WorldPay is a legacy business founded in the last century by one of the UK’s largest banks.
They offer you a pay-as-you-go model for in-person transactions which unfortunately does not allow you to take over-the-phone payments from customers. If you do want to be able to do that, you have to pay £9.95 a month in addition to the fees they charge for their Custom, Fixed Monthly, and Simplicity tariffs.
The Custom, Fixed Monthly, and Simplicity tariffs cost between £15 a month and £49.99 a month and they are all subject to a minimum 18 month agreement. The company does bespoke deals with each of its customers so we regret that we’re unable to let you know how much they charge for each type of transaction.
They do not offer an invoicing-by-app service to customers.
Worldpay pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| Worldpay | NO | – | YES (bespoke) | ? | YES (£9.95 in addition to another tariff) | ? |
Cards accepted by WorldPay
All major debit and credit cards accepted including Visa, MasterCard, China Union Pay, Diners Club International and Discover. American Express can be added on request.
SagePay virtual terminal
SagePay virtual terminal for invoices and for mail order and telephone transactions
SagePay offers a standalone invoice creation service at either £5 a month or £15 a month. The company recommends that you go on the higher package if you expect to accept payments by invoice of more than £1,000 per month.
SagePay’s “Pay Now” button is added to your invoice allowing customers to pay you via a secure link. Both tariffs also allow you to accept card payments over the phone.
A standalone version of a pay-by-phone service is available at £15 per month but we can’t see the advantage of taking that subscription out in addition to the invoicing service which already includes it.
SagePay for ecommerce internet orders
Sage offers three tariffs for companies wishing to accept ecommerce orders – the Flex at £27pm includes 350 transactions and the Plus includes 500 token purchases per month. There is a corporate tariff for companies expecting to do more than 3,000 transactions per month – it’s between you and SagePay’s sales rep to bargain over the actual price you’ll pay.
Summary of https://www.Sagepay.co.uk/our-payment-solutions/online-payments
SagePay pricing matrix
| Provider | Invoice payments | Invoice fee | E-commerce payments? | E-commerce fee | Mail order payments? | Mail order fee |
| Sage | YES (£5-15 a month) | ? | YES (£27 upwards a month) | ? | YES (£15 upwards a month) | ? |
SagePay’s service will certainly be very reliable and dependable however the company’s hefty monthly subscription fees may be a factor if you want to take all three types of payment. Can you get a better deal elsewhere? At first glance, yes.
Cards accepted by SagePay
Visa, Visa Debit, Visa Electron, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, PayPal, and JCB.
In conclusion
Virtual terminal – no monthly fee? There’s just one and that’s Square – they make no monthly charge for invoicing by app, taking e-commerce payments, or processing telephone orders.
Their transaction fees are higher than many of their competitors but lower-volume merchants are likely to save money because of the absence of a monthly charge. If you’re putting through multiple payments every day, a tariff with a monthly fee but with lower transaction charges might end up being more cost-effective.
If you want help finding the best merchant services provider virtual terminal deal, please leave your details at the top of the page. We’ll get in touch with you to find out more about your business and how much you currently turn over. We’ll then email you with 3-4 quotes from our panel of suppliers so that you can compare the deals for yourself.
Our service is free and there’s no obligation to accept any quote we provide you.