Payments Processing Companies
The payment industry can be confusing. There is limited transparency about fees, the terminology isn’t consistent, and any relationship between companies tends to be hidden in the small print. We aim to provide more transparency in this guide and list the top payment service providers for UK and international businesses.
Before we start comparing payment processing companies, it is worth clarifying three elements are required to process debit or credit card payments:
1. A merchant account from an acquiring bank
2. A payment processor
3. A payment gateway (online gateway or physical POS card terminal)
Full-service payment processors will provide all three elements in-house and are the most popular choice for UK merchants. 84% of SMEs buy all the products and services they need to accept card payments from or via a single provider.
Which is best for your businesses? Let’s start with an overview of full-stack merchant acquirers, which take care of the entire payment processing lifecycle, from the initial transaction to settlement, including payment gateway functionality, processing and risk management.
Many of these merchant service providers work with resellers and Independent Sales Organisations (ISOs) to attract SMEs, so many businesses may use them indirectly as their merchant acquirer (e.g., Takepayments uses Elavon, Evo Payments, and Cashflows as their acquiring partners).
Worldpay
From FIS
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Worldpay is the largest payment processor in the UK and part of the FIS (Fidelity National Information Services). In 2025, Global Payments agreed to buy rival Worldpay from FIS and private equity firm GTCR for $24.25 billion.
Suitable Industry: Restaurants, financial services, gaming, travel, crypto, and omnichannel retailers.
Card Readers: Ingenico Terminals (DX4000, DX800), PAX A920.
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement, EPOS Systems
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement, EPOS Systems
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Authorisation Fee: 4.5p
● Card reader: £25
● PCI: £5
● Minimum monthly service charge: £15
● Card not present fees (CNP): 0.3%
Rates: Blended Visa and Mastercard rates for personal debit, personal credit, commercial and international cards. Extra fees for
● card-not-present and intra and inter transactions.
● Debit: 0.3% – 0.6%
● Credit: 0.7% – 1.5%
● Commercial: 1.8% – 2.6%
Worldpay e-commerce fees:
● No monthly fee, no minimum charge, no set-up fees
● 1.3% +20p for personal debit and credit cards
● 2.9% + 20p for commercial debit and credit cards, and Amex
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Barclaycard is the second-largest payment processor in the UK, behind Worldpay. In recent years, they have lost market share to more innovative payment providers.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, public sector and professional services.
Card Readers: Pax A920, Ingenico Move 5000, Smartpay
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement.
Contract: 18 months
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Authorisation Fee: 4.5p
● Card reader: £25
● PCI: £5
● Minimum monthly service charge: £15
● Card not present fees (CNP): 0.3%
Rates: Blended Visa and Mastercard rates for personal debit, personal credit, commercial and international cards. Extra fees for ● ● ● card-not-present and intra and inter transactions.
● Debit: 0.6% – 1.75%
● Credit: 0.95% – 2.45%
● Commercial: 2% – 2.50%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Ayden is a Dutch fintech company offering payment processing. They offer great options for integrating online payment gateways and support over 70 currencies globally for settlements and payouts.
Suitable Industry: E-commerce, platforms, marketplaces, subscription, mobile and app, travel businesses.
Card Readers: Verifone V400m, Castles S1F2, Tap to Pay (Android and iPhone)
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, Tap to Pay, next day settlement.
Contract: 18 months
Rates: They will add a fixed processing fee of 11p plus a fee determined by the payment method used. You can view their main card scheme fees here https://www.adyen.com/en_GB/pricing .
● Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro: 11p + 0.6% + Interchange+
● Amex: 3.95%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Global Payments has domestic acquiring in over 50 countries and has recently purchased WorldPay from FIS (2025), and the ISO TakePayment (2024), which further boosted their market share in the UK.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, public sector and professional services.
Card Readers: Ingenico (Move 5000, Desk 5000, Lane 3000), Miura (M10, Android Smart POS)
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-partIntegration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.y POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement.
Contract: 18 months
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Authorisation Fee: 4p
● Card reader: £25
● PCI DSS service fee: £25
● Payment Gateway £19
● Minimum monthly service charge: £30
● Card not present fees (CNP): 0.3%
Rates: Blended Visa and Mastercard rates for personal debit, personal credit, commercial and international cards. Extra fees for card-not-present and intra and inter transactions.
● Debit: 0.6% – 1.7%
● Credit: 1% – 1.7%
● Commercial: 1.7% – 2.8%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Elavon is a global payments processor that provides payment solutions for businesses of all sizes. Elavon is a subsidiary of US Bancorp and has a strong presence in the US and Europe. They grew their market share in the UK with their acquisition of SagePay, which later rebranded as Opayo.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, public sector and professional services.
Card Readers: Ingenico (Axium DX8000), Tetra (Desk and Move), Talech POS
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement, pay-by-link.
Contract: 18 months
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Authorisation Fee: 4p
● Card reader: £25
● PCI DSS service fee: £6
● Payment Gateway £25
● Minimum monthly service charge: £30
● Card not present fees (CNP): 0.3%
Rates: Blended Visa and Mastercard rates for personal debit, personal credit, commercial and international cards. Extra fees for card-not-present and intra and inter transactions.
● Debit: 0.45% – 0.9%
● Credit: 0.55% – 1.05%
● Commercial: 0.95% – 1.4%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Stripe offers a set of API tool to allow developers to integrate Stripe payment processing into their own application and platforms. It has now moved into in person payments offering card machines to their digital customer base.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, public sector and professional services.
Card Readers: Ingenico (Axium DX8000), Tetra (Desk and Move), Talech POS
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement, pay-by-link.
Contract: 18 months
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Authorisation Fee: 4p
● Card reader: £25
● PCI DSS service fee: £6
● Payment Gateway £25
● Minimum monthly service charge: £30
● Card not present fees (CNP): 0.3%
Rates: Blended Visa and Mastercard rates for personal debit, personal credit, commercial and international cards. Extra fees for card-not-present and intra and inter transactions.
● Debit: 0.45% – 0.9%
● Credit: 0.55% – 1.05%
● Commercial: 0.95% – 1.4%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Dojo was launched by Paymentsense back in 2020 and is focused on SME’s. It has rebranded the Pax A920 card reader with its processing platform.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, and beauty businesses.
Card Readers: Pax A920, Dojo pocket
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Online Payment Gateway, pay by phone, next day settlement, pay-by-link, Tap-to-pay.
Contract: 18 months
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Card reader: £15 (over £100k turnover) or £179 upfront
● 1 – 3p secure transaction fees for bespoke rates
● 0.05% European card fees and 0.95% with 0.13p International card fees.
Rates:
● 1% transaction fees for small businesses (transacting less than £100k annually) with a monthly fee of £39. No transaction fees to pay for the first £3,999 and then 1% after that.
● Bespoke rate ranges from:
● Debit: 0.6% – 1.4%
● Credit: 0.8% – 1.6%
● Commercial: 1.7% – 2.8%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Over 4 million businesses rely on SumUp to get paid. SumUp primarily targets customers, SME’s with relatively low turnover, offering simple pricing, no contracts and payment processing that is easy to use.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, and beauty businesses.
Card Readers: Terminal, Solo and Air
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Next day settlement, pay-by-link, Tap-to-pay, Bank accounts.
Contract: No Contract
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Card reader: (all one-off costs) Terminal £169, Solo £79 and Air £25
Rates:
● 1.69% blended transaction fee
● SumUp One (Monthly Subscription) Monthly fee: £19 Visa personal debit and Credit: 0.99% Commercial, International, and Amex: 1.99%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Zettle, known as Zettle by PayPal, offers payment processing mainly for small businesses. It was founded in Stockholm in 2010 and then later acquired by PayPal in 2018. It is similar to SumUp in its simplicity.
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, and beauty businesses.
Card Readers: PayPal Reader and PayPal Terminal
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Next day settlement, pay-by-link, Tap-to-pay.
Contract: No Contract
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Card reader: (all one-off costs) PayPal Reader: £29 PayPal Terminal: £149
Rates:
● 1.75% blended transaction fee.
● Invoice and payment links: 2.5%
We’ll get you preferential quotes from suitable providers
Teya, who was previously known as Salt Pay, was established in 2019. Teya focuses on payment processing services for SME’s primarily in hospitality and retail. They offer a range of products and services, including card terminals, debit cards with cashback, and access to cash advances
Suitable Industry: Retail, hospitality, and beauty businesses.
Card Readers: Teya Go (Pax A77), Teya Essential (Pax A920), Teya Pro (Sunmi P2 Pro)
Integration: Can integrate with over 1000 third-party POS systems.
Features: Next day settlement, pay-by-link, Tap-to-pay, Bank accounts, cash advances.
Contract: No Contract
Fees: Monthly and other fees include:
● Card reader: Teya Go: £69, Teya Essential: £89, Teya Pro: 179
Rates:
● Blended rate depending on transaction volume. Rates ranging from 0.5% to 1.49%
● Amex: 1.9%
Company
Frequently Asked
Contact Us
Luminating Payments, is here to help you find the perfect payment provider for your business.
Let’s make your search easy and enjoyable!
Follow Us:
Luminating Payments is a trading name of Luminating Consultancy Ltd Reg in England No. 16248953.
Registered office: 41 Dark Lane, Cheltenham, GL51 9RN. All information is held
securely and we never give your details to 3rd parties.