The 7 Best Payment Gateway Providers in the UK

According to our research, takepayments is the best payment gateway provider to process your online payments.

Online shopping continues to grow rapidly in 2023, with statistics showing that 80% of UK buyers now shop online. This huge market represents an immense opportunity for online businesses. To capitalise on this growing customer base, it's essential for online sellers to have a way to securely accept payments. Enter, the payment gateway – which allows you to seamlessly process online payments made by your customers, transferring sensitive shopper data to payment networks in a secure, compliant manner.

We have 15 years of experience reviewing the payment gateway market so we are well placed to analyse what's on offer. We recommend selecting a payment gateway that offers low transaction fees, seamless integration with your existing software, a high rate of acceptance of card types, a proven track record of uptime and of course, industry-standard security features. If your existing system doesn't tick all of these boxes, it may be time to consider switching to a better-suited provider.

If you're seeking a payment solution for in-person payments, you may need the help of the best card machines for your small business.

The fastest way to find out which payment gateway provider is best for you is to use our free comparison tool below. It'll allow us to match you with trusted providers who'll then contact you with bespoke quotes for you to compare. Answer the first question to get started:

The best payment gateways for small businesses

The table below summarises our top seven picks of payment gateway providers for small UK businesses, along with their basic pricing information and the scores our expert researchers gave them.

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is a piece of digital infrastructure that allows you to accept card payments. It’s the software that processes the customer’s card data and enables a quick, secure transaction to take place.

Payment gateways aren’t just for selling online, either. Whether you’re taking a card payment through your website (using an internet merchant account, for instance), or face-to-face with a PDQ machine or mobile card reader, it’ll be passing through a payment gateway.

Need more information? Read on for more thorough reviews and comparisons of our top seven payment gateway services that will help you make a decision with confidence.

1. takepayments – Best for features

How our researchers rated takepayments

• Price: 4.1/5
• Features: 5/5
• Customer support: 4.6/5
• Brand reputation: 4.4/5

takepayments scored full marks for features because it has a high number of reporting options and accepts over 170 currencies. However, competitor Square has hundreds more integrations than takepayments, plus a free EPOS app. So Square could be a better fit for your business if you need a comprehensive EPOS system.

While takepayments accepts the highest number of currencies of the providers we looked at, these are available via APIs and are not built-in. This isn’t a huge issue, but it does mean you’ll need some technical knowledge to set it up. If you want less fuss, you could go with Stripe, a mobile reader offering over 135 currencies.

takepayments doesn’t have an email option for customers, which can be frustrating if you prefer to communicate with a written record. Yet with a respectable 4.6/5 for customer support options, we've definitely seen worse.

takepayments pricing: fair or foul?

Scoring a 4.1/5 for price, takepayments’ monthly hardware costs are middle-of-the-road at around £25 per month + VAT, although the minimum monthly account fee is £20. You get quite a lot for your money, though, including terminal hire, software functionality and SIM card.

Also, takepayments very conveniently allows you to negotiate your transaction fees — one of the biggest ongoing costs you have when taking payments. This is one of the reasons our researchers found it one of the cheapest way to take card payments in the UK.

If costs are a concern and you don't need so many features, Worldpay's terminal fee is just £17.50 per month. Square’s mobile reader starts from £19, although its in-person transaction fees are 1.75% per transaction, which could cost your business more in the long-run. takepayments' transaction fees operate on a sliding scale bespoke to your business needs, making it a good choice for businesses that need competitive pricing on this front.

2. Zettle – Best for convenience

How our researchers rated Zettle

• Price: 4.1/5
• Features: 4.95/5
• Customer support: 5/5
• Brand reputation: 4.5/5

Although Zettle scored the same overall as takepayments (4.8/5), it's best suited to a different kind of business owner. While Worldpay is more of a traditional payment gateway, Zettle is better suited to mobile users, startups and very small vendors – we voted it as our best card machine for small businesses. A main draw card is that Zettle has no long-term contracts or monthly fees while takepayments has a minimum contract of 12 months with variable fees.

Scoring 4.95/5 for its features, Zettle impressed us with its range of 35 integrations: far more than SumUp, Stripe, Revolut or Tyl. These make it convenient for entrepreneurs to plug in payment processing to accounting, banking and ecommerce software. That's great for running a flexible, nimble business such as a pop-up bar, sample sale or trade stand.

Zettle pricing: fair or foul?

Overall, Zettle's fees and costs hover around the pricier end of the scale. With prices starting at £29 + VAT, Zettle's hardware is not the cheapest nor the most expensive out there. You can pay a bit less for equipment from WorldPay or Square. That said, the technology you're getting is decent and effective, with good security features such as a tamper-proof card machine.

Another bonus is being protected up to £250 per month from eligible chargebacks – a feature we've not come across with other providers. As far as transaction fees are concerned, Zettle's 2.5% for online transactions is on par with the general market rate, as both Square and SumUp charge the same. However, Revolut's way cheaper on that front, charging 1% + 20p for online transactions.

3. Revolut – Best for cheap transaction fees

How our researchers rated Revolut

• Price: 4.6/5
• Features: 4.5/5
• Customer support: 4.7/5
• Brand reputation: 4.1/5

With pre-built API integrations for just about any ecommerce apps you work with (Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce all come to mind), Stripe should slot seamlessly into your online business’ current setup.

Stripe offers live chat, email, and phone support. That's why it scored an easy 5/5 for customer support. Conveniently, Stripe works as a merchant account with no credit check, which is good news for customers who might have a poor credit score but still want to take payments.

Revolut pricing: run-of-the-mill or revolutionary?

Scoring 4.6/5 for price, Revolut has one of the best performances in this category in our research and it holds up well against competitors in our merchant account comparison.

Its online transaction fees of 1% + 20p are the cheapest among the mobile providers we analysed. For comparison, the others on this list (SumUp, Square, and Zettle) all charge 2.5%per online transaction. However, at least as far as the starting transaction fee is concerned, Revolut's is beaten by Worldpay's and takepayments'.

Revolut’s sole piece of hardware (its reader) retails at £49, which puts it on par with Stripe's entry-level model (which costs the same) but is more expensive than Square's (£19) and SumUp's (£39) entry-level ones. While reader prices matter less to online businesses, having a cheap option is a good idea if you plan into moving into the brick-and-mortar market later down the line.

4. Worldpay – Best for integrations

How our researchers rated Worldpay

• Price: 3.8/5
• Features: 4.5/5
• Customer support: 5/5
• Brand reputation: 3.8/5

We recommend Worldpay to small businesses looking to branch out and grow. With over 100 integrations, Worldpay fits in around existing apps, making it easy to scale your payments and accounting procedures. You won’t need to change providers as your business grows, instead, you can opt for the integration you need as your business' needs change and develop.

Worldpay recently launched a new gateway called Worldpay eCommerce. Charging no monthly fees, it's a great low-cost option for growing businesses. Its transaction fee currently sits at 1.3% + 20p for Visa and Mastercard consumer cards, while AMEX and other commercial cards are charged at a separate rate.

Worldpay’s 30-minute fund transfer time blows all other transfer times out of the water; it's even faster than Square's next day window. This super speedy timeframe makes Worldpay a good fit for businesses accounts that need predictable cash flow.

We were impressed by Worldpay's customer support options. Small wonder it scored 5/5 – it’s the only provider that offers 24/7 phone support.

Worldpay pricing: should you invest?

Worldpay scores a 3.8/5 for price, lower than takepayments' score of 4.1/5. Since October 2023, Worldpay’s ‘Dashboard Lite' reporting platform is no longer hidden behind a paywall of £4.99 per month, which is a valuable addition to any business payment system.

5. Square – Best for faster payouts

How our researchers rated Square

• Price: 3.3/5
• Features: 4.7/5
• Customer support: 5/5
• Brand reputation: 4.5/5

Square’s customer support is 5/5 as it offers email, phone and, live chat support. That means fixing any problems will be quick and efficient. But it's exactly on par with Worldpay, so how should you choose between the two?

If your business is in need of a free and comprehensive EPOS systems to use alongside your reader, then Square is a good fit. In fact, its EPOS integration, which allows you to build your own webstore, makes it one of the best ecommerce platforms for small businesses we found in our research. However, if you’re after a traditional card reader, then Worldpay is a good choice – especially if you’d rather receive funds within 30 minutes.

Square pricing: worth it?

Our expert team gives Square's pricing an average 3.3/5 score in this category of our research. This is partly because its online transaction fees can be up to 2.5% for non-UK cards, which is fairly steep when compared with Worldpay's, which starts from 1.3%.

However, this competitor's pricing is on a sliding scale, whereas Square offers a flat fee. The simplicity of which is suited to market traders, seasonal enterprises, and micro-merchants. Also, if you plan on expanding into a physical location in the future, Square's economical card machines can help you save on EPOS systems costs down the line.

6. SumUp – Best for 3G connectivity

How our researchers rated SumUp

• Price: 3.6/5
• Features: 3.8/5
• Customer support: 3.5/5
• Brand reputation: 4.9/5

SumUp's mobile POS hardware is one of the few on the market to come with a built-in SIM and free unlimited data. It's only 3G (this isn't Japan, where 5G is already available), though competitor Tyl offers 4G plans. But it's still better than Square or Stripe, whose hardware relies on Wifi or (shudder) ethernet.

Customer support options are not perfect: SumUp lacks a live chat option which is frustrating if you don’t have the time to make phone calls or wait around for an email response.

SumUp pricing: how does it stack up?

With a score of 3.6/5 for price, SumUp’s pricing is fairly average for a mobile reader, although its transaction fees are lower than Square’s. SumUp’s coveted 3G reader is priced at £139, much pricier than Square’s hardware that starts at £19. However, this is only a one-off fee, so SumUp’s reader is worth it for businesses that need standalone data.

7. Stripe – Best for reporting

How our researchers rated Stripe

• Price: 3.2/5
• Features: 3.4/5
• Customer support: 5/5
• Brand reputation: 4.6/5

With pre-built API integrations for just about any ecommerce apps you work with (Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce all come to mind), Stripe should slot seamlessly into your online business’ current setup.

Stripe offers live chat, email, and phone support. That's why it scored an easy 5/5 for customer support. Like Revolut, Stripe doesn't perform a credit check, allowing customers who might have a poor credit score to use its taking payment solution.

Stripe pricing: good value for money?

Scoring 3.2/5 for pricing, Square offers bespoke fees for online transactions and 1.5% – 2.5% +20p for card transactions. This is similar to SumUp's transaction fees of 1.69% – 2.5% — but higher than Worldpay's fees, which start from 1.3%. With lower transaction fees and zero monthly fees, Worldpay's eCommerce payment gateway may be more suited to smaller businesses.

Stripe’s hardware is a tad more expensive than Square and SumUp, offering two readers at £49 and £179 each. While these fees are one-off, they can add up, especially if you want to purchase more than one reader. However, your recurring fee is the transaction fee which, for a mobile reader, is fairly low.

How does a payment gateway work?

A useful way to think of this technology is that it’s like… a gateway! It’s a place one thing (the customer’s card details) needs to go through to get somewhere else (authorisation of the card by the bank involved).

Let’s take a look at where a payment gateway sits in a typical card transaction:

There is one more detail to note: you’ll need a merchant account before you can start taking payments. A payment gateway makes the transaction happen, but you still need somewhere for the money to go.

Payment gateways commonly come as part of a package when you set up a merchant account, like with takepayments or Retail Merchant Services. Some providers may charge an additional fee for this service. Other payment services, such as a virtual terminal, pay-by-link feature, and invoicing tool, are also often included as standard with this type of package.

However, other payment gateway services offer a service that can work alongside a merchant account from a different provider, such as Braintree, CyberSource, and Adyen. This does offer more flexibility and customisability, but it typically comes at a greater cost – and with more hassle.

How about Shopify payments?

You may already be familiar with Shopify's POS system or Shopify's ecommerce platform – either of which you can use as a stand-alone. Although it's primarily an online selling system, Shopify also has inventory management software and a website builder. For more detail on these features, you can check out our full guide to what Shopify is.

Despite Shopify's financial struggles in 2022, its payment gateway remains a popular choice – used by more than 90,000 British web shops. The benefit of Shopify Payments is it saves you from having to set up a merchant account. This works in a similar way to PayPal, which you can also use as a holding pen for your business revenue.

If you use Shopify Payments, you won't pay third-party transaction fees. You'll only pay Shopify card rates for online sales: 2% + 25p on the Basic plan, 1.7% + 25p on the Shopify plan, and 1.5% + 25p on the Advanced plan. Plan fees range from £19 to £344 per month, depending on your billing cycle.

Another convenience is chargebacks are deducted from your Shopify payouts, rather than directly from your bank account. That keeps business funds a bit neater. However, Shopify Payments doesn't include the same £250 monthly chargeback protection of Zettle, so it's not overly convenient when all's said and done.

Nevertheless, Shopify is expanding its remit for international business faster than Zettle. For example, early access merchants can use Shopify Markets Pro to accept international payments in local currencies and automatically pay local taxes.

How to switch to a new payment gateway provider

If you're unsatisfied with your current payment gateway, it may be time to consider switching to a new provider. Here's a rough guide to doing so:

• First, check your current contract to find out whether it's possible to switch without paying a fee – or, if there is a fee, how much you'll need to budget for it.
• Research and select a new provider that meets your needs, integrates well with your existing structure, and offers fair fees and terms that suit your needs. Once you're happy with your selection, notify your current provider that you're switching as per the conditions of your contract.
• Follow your new provider's onboarding process to set up and thoroughly test account integration, and perform test transactions. It can be helpful to plan a transition date and time in advance to ensure it goes smoothly.
• Now it's time to execute the transition to your new provider – update your website, cart, and customer payment profiles to your new system. Monitor the new system closely when it is live, and run reports to validate the success of the switch.

The main things to focus on are choosing a suitable new provider that fulfils the criteria that your current gateway does not, testing the integration completely before going live, planning the timing of the switchover, updating all payment links and profiles, and verifying transactions post-switch. With the correct preparation, it can be a smooth transition.

We recommend considering all of the available options on the market when switching to a new provider. Since there are a lot of providers to choose from, you can make life simpler by using our free comparison tool, which will match you with providers that best suit your needs. They'll then be in touch directly with tailored quotes, so you can compare the best, most accurate prices for you.

Top 6 things to consider when choosing a payment gateway provider

Whether you're just starting out or switching providers, when shopping for your payment gateway provider, be sure to bear the following factors in mind.

1. International support

In today’s world, you can’t afford to lose business from abroad – or because a buyer didn’t have the right credit card. Make sure your payment gateway supports different card types and currencies. This will help keep your business blossoming beyond borders.

2. Transaction volume

Payment gateway fees are fickle things; transaction rates often go up and down depending on your turnover. Review how much you're selling using your current gateway — or, if you haven't started yet, how much you expect to sell. It’s important when it comes to selecting the cheapest supplier for your business.

3. Customer support

Time is money. If there’s an issue with your payment gateway, you’ll need it sorted as quickly as possible. That, or risk missing out on sales.

What kind of customer support does your provider offer? Is it just a web-based service like a chat bot, or can you call up and speak to a real person? Is it available 24/7, or just during business hours?

4. Hosted or API?

At some stage, you’ll also need to think about how you want to add a payment gateway to your website.

The easiest option is to host it on the payment provider’s site. This is also ideal because it means you don’t have to worry about tricky PCI compliance. However, your customers get redirected away from your site to pay – not great for brand-building, or the customer journey at large.

The other option is to use an API integration to slot your payment gateway straight into your website. It makes for a smoother payment experience for the customer, although you’ll need some technical knowledge to implement this.

5. PCI DSS compliance

This is the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). It’s designed to help protect cardholder data and reduce fraud. No matter how big your business is, you’ll need to stay compliant – if you’re taking card payments, that is.

Make sure your payment gateway provider is PCI DSS compliant before you go anywhere near a contract!

6. Cart compatibility

A payment gateway processes the transaction, but your website still needs a shopping cart system in place. That’s where your customers browse your products, add stuff to their carts, and eventually hit ‘checkout’.

Your payment gateway and your shopping cart system need to talk to each other, to ensure your buyer’s journey is a smooth one. This is why you need to make sure your payment gateway provider offers integration with whatever current shopping cart you’re using, or are planning to adopt.

Our methodology

Our independent research team compared 11 different research providers to find the best on the market. The 11 were separated into two categories: traditional and mobile and whittled down to the top five. The providers in this list were scored against the following criteria:

• Price – fees, including transaction fee, minimum monthly account fee, hardware costs, and any other additional charges.
• Features – whether or not they offered the following features: invoicing, integrations, reporting, and multi-currency support.
• Customer support – the range of support avenues a customer could access
• Brand reputation –  online reviews and ratings balanced against the popularity of their brand online.

Our verdict and next steps

takepayments’ overall score of 4.8/5 grants it the number one spot on this list. Its pros include comprehensive reporting, over 16 integrations, and low monthly hardware costs. However, it does lack email support.

While takepayments has the highest score in our research, it might not be the best provider for you. You might prefer one that offers a super speedy fund transfer time, such as Worldpay, or you want the free EPOS system that Square offers. When switching to a new payment gateway provider, ensure you are selecting one that is specific to your business processes.

If your current payment gateway does not fulfil your needs, we’re confident that one of the above providers can do a better job. For even more personalised recommendations, you can also use our free quote comparison tool to be matched up with trusted suppliers. Just give us a few details about your business, and you’ll be matched with the best providers for you, who'll contact you directly with tailored, obligation-free quotes so you can quickly compare the best deals.