Best payment processors for UK small businesses - 11 of the best

UPDATED: Now that your business is ready to take payments, it’s time to think about how you’ll be processing payments. Alternatively, you might just want to change your current payment system. But how do you know which are the best payment processors for UK small businesses right now?

You’ll find that most payment processors have very similar features, so your final decision is likely to come down to differences in, for example, how the provider’s transaction costs align with your business model.

That’s why it helps to have a good understanding of what’s available on the market. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the most widely recognised systems. But first, a quick definition:

What is a payment processor?

A payment processor is a third-party payments system, sending between your customer’s bank account and your business bank account. Payment processors can also authorise transactions and work on merchants being paid within a certain time period.

The term is often used interchangeably with payment gateway, a means of approving a payment. Many firms combine payment processors and payment gateways in one product, so you’ll more commonly see it referred to as a payment gateway.

Why getting up to speed on card payments is essential for SMEs – In this piece, in association with Boost Capital, we look at why card payment technology is crucial for small businesses to stay ahead of the curve

Setting up card payments for retail and online selling – Find out how to set up and get the most out of a POS system for your retail or hospitality business

What payment processor should I go for?

Let’s compare some of the best payment processors for small businesses in the UK, focusing on cost, pros, cons and what kind of payments the system is best suited to.

Or, if you feel like you’re ready to decide, why not get quotes today? All you need to do is provide us with some basic info about your business in the form at the top of the page and we’ll match you with the best providers for your needs.

Square

What is it? Square is an easy-to-use payment gateway with quick launch and a free magnetic stripe reader which accepts international cards. Invoicing and virtual terminal are also included.

With Square, you set up an account and buy a reader online or in-store. You’ve got the option to take payments in person, over the phone, by invoice or online. The basic version comes with free real-time analytics, as well as inventory and location management, fraud prevention and dispute management.

How much does it cost?

Chip and PIN, mobile and contactless payments in person: 1.75 per cent
Manually entered transactions: 2.5 per cent
Online payments with UK cards: 1.4 per cent + 25p
Online payments with non-UK cards: 2.5 per cent + 25p

Pros: It’s possible to have your funds settled the next business day.

Cons: Transaction fees more expensive for offline merchants

Best for: Small businesses with less consistent sales who want to start up quickly.

Get started with Square

Takepayments

What is it? Takepayments provides a comprehensive range of payment processing services, including countertop, portable, and mobile card readers, online payment gateways, and POS systems designed for both hospitality and retail. Its quote-based pricing model ensures packages are tailored to each business, and transaction fees are generally competitive. Takepayments also offers UK-based customer support, integration with popular eCommerce platforms, and simple next-day settlement as standard.

How much does it cost?

Takepayments does not list standard prices — you’ll need to request a personalised quote based on your business type and sales volume. On the plus side, there are no setup fees, and you only pay for what you use.

Pros:

No setup fees and personalised, competitive pricing
Highly rated on Trustpilot (4.9 out of 5 from over 59,500 reviews)
Next-business-day payment settlement
UK-based support team and dedicated account managers
Integrates with leading eCommerce and POS software

Cons:

Only offers card machine rental — you cannot buy the hardware outright
Contracts tend to be longer-term compared to some rivals
Pricing transparency is limited without requesting a quote

Best for: Small businesses seeking custom pricing to fit their unique situation.

Get started with Takepayments

WorldPay

What is it? WorldPay offers specialist payment packages for small and medium-sized businesses, with solutions you can tailor to your needs. You can choose from countertop, portable, and mobile card machines, as well as full Epos terminals.

Worldpay supports a wide range of global payment methods, including Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Diners Club International, Discover, China UnionPay, JCB, and American Express (via separate agreement). Its plans come with UK-based customer support, next-business-day settlement, and a single merchant ID for multiple payment channels.

How much does it cost?

Worldpay’s pricing is split into two main tariffs, usually tied to an 18-month terminal hire agreement:

Simplicity Tariff – best for lower transaction volumes

Visa & Mastercard: 1.5% per transaction
Monthly terminal hire: from £10
No authorisation or premium transaction fees
Next-business-day terminal replacement

Custom Tariff – for businesses processing over £75k annually

Visa & Mastercard debit: variable (often lower than Simplicity rates)
Monthly terminal hire: from £15–£17.50
Authorisation fee: 3p per transaction
Premium transaction fees may apply

Online Payments
eCommerce Gateway / Simplicity Payment Gateway

1.3% + 20p per Mastercard/Visa transaction
£19.95 monthly gateway fee
No setup, joining, or authorisation fees
Virtual terminal for phone payments included
Next-business-day settlement included

Pros:

Flexible choice of equipment and tariffs
Supports a wide range of international cards and payment methods
No setup or joining fees on most plans
Positive Trustpilot ratings and dedicated UK support
Single merchant ID for in-store, online, and phone payments

Cons:

Contracts lock you into 18-month hire agreements
Auto-renewal requires written notice 30 days before contract end
Full pricing for all card types only available via bespoke quote
Some customer reports of pushy sales tactics

Best for: Medium-sized businesses with steady transaction volumes year-round, or established businesses with higher turnover and more complex payment needs.

Compare payment processor quotes

Zettle

What is it? Zettle by PayPal (formerly iZettle) offers up a point of sale, card reader, invoicing and an ecommerce platform. Manage your inventory, send abandoned cart emails and get a better grasp of your performance with real-time sales analytics. It has the ability to generate sales reports, do inventory management and track staff performance. It integrates with Xero and Shopify. It’s also compatible with iOS and Android, accepting Samsung, Google and Apple Pay.

How much does it cost?

Zettle Payment Terminal

£149 + VAT

All-in-one reader and POS service
No monthly fee or hardware rental costs
1.75 per cent transaction fee

It has:

Preloaded SIM card in case WiFi is unavailable. Mobile usage covered in original policy
Terminal with built-in barcode scanner for speed and ease of transaction
POS app which helps to manage inventory and print receipts
Get bank deposits to your PayPal business account in minutes
Accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay

PayPal Reader 2

From £29 + VAT

Card reader only
No monthly fee or hardware rental costs
1.75 per cent transaction fee

It has:

Payment data encryption
Is tamper-proof
Capabilities to work with a range of POS apps
Integrates with platforms you may already use including Lightspeed, Quickbooks and BigCommerce
12-month warranty

Zettle also has custom rates available for businesses that take over £10,000 every month.

Pros: No contract or hardware rental costs.

Cons: The only phone support is available 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. You must also have a PayPal business account.

Best for: Food and drink, retail, health and beauty and service-based businesses that run on multiple platforms.

Compare payment processor quotes

Stripe

What is it? Stripe is a payment solution for online payments which is customisable with applications and over 450 third-party integrations.

It offers simplicity, with customised billing plans for membership and subscriptions, rolling bank transfers which can be made weekly or monthly depending on when you want to get paid. Stripe also offers integration with the mobile app and customers don’t need a Stripe account in order to pay, so the process is seamless. There are no setup fees, monthly fees or hidden fees to worry about either.

Stripe has excellent support for international businesses. It’s available in 195 countries, and accepts 135 currencies and 100 payments methods.

How much does it cost? Depending on the size and sales volume of your business, you’ve got two options.

Standard

UK cards: 1.5 per cent + 20p
EU cards: 2.5 per cent + 20p
Link cards: 1.2 per cent + 20p
International cards: 3.25 per cent + 20p

Customised

You can design a custom package for your business if you have large payments volume or unique business needs. Base it on volume discounts, interchange pricing, multi-product discounts and country-specific rates.

Pros:

No setup fees, monthly fees, hidden fees
Built in fraud prevention protects your business
24/7 support
Great for international businesses

Cons:

The chargeback policy can be frustrating
You’ll be charged £20 for any disputed transactions

Best for: Online businesses with access to a developer.

Compare payment processor quotes

GoCardless

What is it? Collect one-off or recurring payments with GoCardless, with a package specifically geared at small businesses. The payment processor integrates with over 350 other systems, including Xero, QuickBooks, Sage and Salesforce. You can collect payments from over 30 countries at the real exchange rate on every plan.

GoCardless claims to have a success rate of 99 per cent for one-off payments, while 97.3 per cent of recurring direct debit payments are collected first time

How much does it cost?

Standard

1% + £/€0.20 per transaction
2% + £/€0.20 per transaction for international transactions

Advanced

1.25% + £/€0.20 per transaction
2.25% + £/€0.20 per transaction for international transactions

Pro

1.4% + £/€0.20 per transaction
2.4% + £/€0.20 per transaction for international transactions

Custom

Pros:

A very high success rate for taking payments
Over 350 integrations
Collect payments from 30+ countries a the real exchange rate

Cons: Takes a while for payments to clear, limits to how many currencies it can accept, can be difficult to track payments.

Best for: Small businesses looking for ease.

Compare payment processor quotes

Amazon Pay

What is it? I’m sure this payment system needs little explanation. Customers on Amazon Pay can make purchases using their Amazon account on eligible websites and apps and do their shopping by voice with Amazon Pay for Alexa Skills.

Amazon Pay gets a huge boost from its name recognition – lots of people have an Amazon account. Shopping is quick and easy if the user is already logged in, but you can embed a “buy now” button on your site to make purchasing even easier. It’s also high security, offers merchant protection, and integrates with Shopify and BigCommerce

How much does it cost? If your monthly payment volume is under £50,000, your payment processing fee will be 2.7 per cent and the authorisation fee will be 30p per transaction.

If it’s over £50,000, then you can apply to Amazon for a payment volume discount.

Cross-border fees

Amazon Pay also charges cross-border fees for sales outside the UK of up to 1.5 per cent.

Amazon Pay cross-border fee

Aland Islands, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden	0.4%
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, France (including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Montenegro, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Vatican City State	0.5%
Andorra, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine	1.0%
Rest of the world	1.5%

Source: Amazon

Currency conversion

Amazon charges a currency conversion set at 0.5 per cent above its bank’s wholesale exchange rate.

Chargeback dispute fee

If you dispute a chargeback claim not covered under Amazon’s payment protection policy, Amazon Pay charges a fixed fee of £14 + VAT to your merchant account.

Pros: Widespread use of, and familiarity with, Amazon makes it easy to collect payments from customers.

Cons: Amazon Pay can be quite a target for fraudsters. You may find your account being shut down without warning for security reasons, there’s no PayPal support and the transaction fee is pretty high.

Best for: Online retail businesses

Compare payment processor quotes

Shopify Payments

What is it? Shopify Payments allows you to accept both in-person and online card payments. You must have a Shopify account to use it. You can manage POS roles and permissions across 1,000 locations, and enhance your set-up with over 8,000 apps.

You can set up Shopify Payments instantly on your website and try it out free for three days. Shopify also has its own dedicated countertop POS systems that you can use if you have a physical retail location. Your customers can still pay through another payment system if they prefer. However, using Shopify Payments means you don’t have to pay additional transaction fees.

As well as online payments solutions and ecommerce, Shopify offers a point of sale system.

How much does it cost?

The standard prices are listed below. However, using Shopify Payments removes the commission Shopify takes on top of payment gateway fees. That’s 2 per cent on Basic, 1 per cent on Shopify and 0.5 per cent on Advanced.

Basic

Monthly cost: £19 (£1 for the first month)
Online credit card transaction fees: 2 per cent +25p
In-person credit card fees: 1.7 per cent + 0p in person
Third-party payment providers: 2 per cent

Shopify

Monthly cost: £49 (£1 for the first month)
Online credit card transaction fees: 1.7 per cent + 25p
In-person credit card fees: 1.6 per cent + 0p in person
Third-party payment providers: 1 per cent

Advanced

Monthly cost: £259 (£1 for the first month)
Online credit card transaction fees: 1.5 per cent + 25p
In-person credit card fees: 1.5 per cent + 0p in person
Third-party payment providers: 0.6 per cent

Pros:

A very scalable solution, which is great for growing businesses
Enhance your system with over 8,000 apps
In-depth analytics
Sell across Instagram, TikTok, Google and other channels

Cons:

Shopify also has chargeback fees of £10 per chargeback and, like Stripe, if the decision doesn’t go your way, you lose the fee

Best for: Online retail businesses

Compare payment processor quotes

SumUp

What is it? SumUp offers card readers that can be used on-site or on the go. Prices range from £25 for the Air to £139 for the Terminal.

SumUp’s offering has a fixed transaction rate which is lower than some of its competitors, with no monthly fee. It also has paperless onboarding and no contractual obligations. The Air can process over 500 transactions on a single charge

How much does it cost?

Pay-as-you-go

Transaction fees of between 0.99 per cent and 2.5 per cent when you take a payment using a SumUp card reader but no monthly charges or contract. However, if you have a SumUp Business Account, the transaction fee falls to 1.49 per cent.

£0 monthly cost
Card reader: 1.69 per cent
Online payment: 2.5 per cent

Payment Plus

Lower fees if you take out a cancel-anytime subscription plan.

£19 monthly cost
Card reader: 0.99 per cent
Online payment: 0.99 per cent

Pros:

Some of the lowest transaction fees on the market
A choice of accepting payments on your mobile or 3 different card reader terminals

Cons: There’s no phone support on weekends or late evenings and their social media feeds have several complaints about poor customer service.

Best for: Remote businesses, such as freelance beauticians or food vans.

Compare payment processor quotes

Cybersource

What is it? Owned by Visa, Cybersource allows you to accept payments online, in-person and via mobile throughout the world. Automated screening helps you prevent fraud and Click to Pay allows customers to pay faster without account details or passwords, meaning more satisfied customers and a lower likelihood of abandoned carts.

How much does it cost?

Contact Cybersource directly to find out pricing.

Pros: Cybersource has payment acceptance in over 160 countries around the world in more than 50 currencies.

Cons: Larger sales volumes incur larger fees and it’s available on a long contract. On top of that, you can’t access transactions that are more than six months old. There’s also no free trial.

Best for: More established small business who have developers.

Compare payment processor quotes

Opayo

What is it? Opayo (formerly Sage Pay) offers solutions for online payments, card terminals, phone and point of sale.

It functions in over 36 countries and supports more than 100 currencies.

How much does it cost?

Pricing plans are split as follows:

Face-to-face payments

Start Simple: No monthly fee and from 1.75 per cent transaction fee, £19 one-off device fee
Business Booster – Desktop: £15 per month with card machine and a transaction fee starting at 0.99 per cent.
Business Booster – Wireless: £18 monthly fee for a wireless portable terminal with a transaction fee from 0.99 per cent.
Operate Smarter: £40 per month for tablet-sized terminal with a one per cent transaction fee. Transaction fee from one per cent.
Business Control: £62 per month with a 15.6″ talech Register touchscreen with a 1.2 per cent transaction fee. Transaction fee from 1.2 per cent.

Payments online

Also covers payments over the phone and by mail.

Always Open – fixed: £25 per month, from 0.99 per cent transaction fee, no joining fee, 350 free transactions

Pros:

No hidden fees
Quick to set up
Strong customer service reviews on Trustpilot.

Cons:

Opayo is more expensive than Sage Pay was.

Best for: Small businesses who want to go with a trusted name.

Compare payment processor quotes

Anna Jordan

Anna is Senior Reporter, covering topics affecting SMEs such as grant funding, managing employees and the day-to-day running of a business. More by Anna Jordan

Best payment processors for UK small businesses – 11 of the best