10 Best Payment Gateways in UK [2024]

The world is growing rapidly and people have identified that even for the simplest search they use the internet and can easily get what they need in just a few seconds.

Increasing use of the internet has even led businesses to turn online. E-commerce is growing rapidly and hence, payment gateways come into the picture.

A payment gateway facilitates customers to make fast and secure payments, ensuring smooth cash flow. For setting up an online store all it requires is an eCommerce website builder and excellent payment gateway integration.

Choosing the right payment gateway for your business depends upon a number of factors.

I have already posted two guides to help you choose the best payment gateways:

• 10 Best Indian Payment Gateways [2024]
• 10 Best Payment Gateways in USA [2024]
• 5 Best Payment Gateways in Australia [2024]

Now, this guide is all about the best payment gateways in UK. Choose the best option based on the business type, your budget, and your requirements.

It would be quite confusing to find the best payment gateway in UK when there are many options available in the market.

So, we have prepared a list of the best payment gateways for UK that helps to boost the payment experience of the store with a customer base in the United Kingdoms.

Table of Contents:

• What is a Payment Gateway
• Key Players in Online Payments
• Comparing Top 10 Payment Gateways in UK [2024]
• Top 10 UK Payment Gateways [2024]
  1. Worldpay
  2. PayPal
  3. Stripe
  4. Opayo
  5. Amazon Pay
  6. Braintree
  7. 2Checkout (Verifone)
  8. Authorize.Net
  9. Cardstream
  10. Klarna
• Other Popular Payment Gateways in UK
  • Fondy
  • Barclaycard
  • eWay
• How to Choose the Best Payment Gateway for Your Business
  • Security
  • Payment Methods Supported
  • Budget
  • Support Service
  • Integration Process
  • Support for Partial Payments
  • Bank Settlement Time
  • Responsiveness
  • Checkout
  • Recurring Billing
• Conclusion
• FAQs

What is a Payment Gateway?

A payment gateway is a technology that accepts and transfers payment data from the customers.

A payment gateway checks the customer’s card details securely, ensuring that funds are available, and then makes payments to the merchants.

In other words, a payment gateway works as a middleman between the customers and merchants and ensures that transactions are carried out securely and quickly.

It not only offers quick and secure payments but also convenience and success at the time of making payments.

The service can either be provided by a bank or a payment service provider authorized by a bank.

Key Players in Online Payments

The key players involved while making online payments are as follows:

• The Merchant:

This would be the one who products or services to the customers.

• The Customer:

The customer is also referred to as a cardholder, who wants to access the products or services that the merchants are selling.

• The issuing bank:

It can be defined as the customer’s bank that issues credit and debit cards of the cardholder.

• The acquirer:

The acquirer can be defined as the financial institution that is maintaining the merchant’s bank account. It is also known as acquiring bank.

Comparing Top 10 Payment Gateways in UK [2024]

 

10 Best UK Payment Gateways:

1. Worldpay

Worldpay is the UK’s leading online payment provider and processes half of the payments taking place in the UK.

Worldpay was acquired and merged into Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) in June 2019. Now, the company has more than 20,000 customers who use the Worldpay payment gateway.

As per Statista, Worldpay was the leading acquirer in the UK with nearly 7.9 billion transactions processed, as of 2017.

Worldpay has received several recognitions such as:

• The Worldpay from FIS U.S. eCommerce Platform received first place for Best Performing Gateway
• Awards for the highest rate of successful authorizations and highest uptime

Worldpay is a merchant service and payment service provider that offers to carry out online transactions.

Payments can be accepted through either credit/debit cards or eWallets.

Worldpay offers merch   ants with two options, Worldpay Payment Gateway – eCommerce and Worldpay Card Machines – mobile or virtual.

Worldpay provides payment solutions to both small business enterprises as well as large enterprises.

It is equipped with features such as fraud and risk management, recurring payments, currency conversion etc.

This UK payment gateway provides a virtual terminal that allows you to capture payments from the customers either through phone or laptops. It is also possible to keep a track record of all the payments made using real-time reporting.

If you are a Magento 2 owner, you can integrate the Worldpay payment gateway with Magento 2 Worldpay Payment developed by Meetanshi to accept payments securely.  The extension integrates Worldpay Business/Worldpay Online with your Magento 2 store.

Features:

• Secure payments
• Price plans are flexible enough
• All cards are accepted
• Real-time reporting is possible

Pros:

• Offers virtual terminal
• Provides payment solutions to both small and large enterprises
• ACH Payment processing
• Recurring Billing

Cons:

• A bit expensive

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact: 

Send your queries here.

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2. PayPal

PayPal is considered to be the world’s most familiar, trusted, and a preferred brand among payment gateways. It was founded in December 1998 and develops various security software.

PayPal has its presence in over more than 200 markets across the globe. It also has 360 million active customers and can easily accept payments in 100 different currencies.

It supports almost every international credit and debit card. There are many large companies such as Amazon, Goldsmiths, and Littlewoods that use PayPal as a payment gateway.

PayPal has world-class security for carrying out any transactions online. It also continuously monitors the transactions that prevent the customers from fraud.

PayPal has received huge recognition and gained more than 20 awards for excellence from the internet industry and business community.

They have won the Webby Award and Webby People’s Voice Award in 2006 for Best Financial Services site.

It is best known for fast transfers and is user-friendly for businesses.

Features:

• Easy set-up
• Prevents fraud
• Offers buy now, pay later solution

Pros:

• It is possible to pay with your PayPal account directly
• Accept international payments
• Recurring payments supported

Cons:

• High fees for low volume merchants
• Customization is possible only on expensive version

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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3. Stripe

Stripe is an Irish-American financial services and software company dual-headquartered in San Francisco, and Dublin.

Stripe payment systems in UK have gained popularity because of their transparent pricing. It is also possible to set up recurring billing and direct debit services using Stripe.

Stripe is designed for all business sizes and it also provides the option of hosted payments page or full website integration.

This payment gateway is a uniquely designed payment gateway in the UK and it offers payment gateways with several ranges of APIs.

You can customize the look of the payment gateway based on your store’s design that helps to have a good shopping experience.

It accepts almost all international debit and credit cards, and can even accept payments in more than 100 currencies.

Stripe payment gateway in UK is trusted by popular brands all over the world like Google, Shopify, Amazon, Wayfair, Unicef, etc.

Features:

• PCI compliant
• Live sales reporting
• Flexible invoicing

Pros:

• Simple and transparent pricing
• The payment gateway can be customized easily
• Designed for all business sizes

Cons:

• Should have technical knowledge
• Not suitable for the ones having a physical store

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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4. Opayo

The Sage Pay group is also commonly referred to as Sage and is the UK’s second-largest technology company.

Sage Pay, now Opayo, is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is a secure and reliable payment solution for merchants.

Sage Pay is trusted by businesses such as Krispy Kreme, Lola’s Cupcakes, Europcar, Cass Art London, and much more. For Magento 2 store owners, join these brands in leveraging the Sage Pay features by installing Magento 2 Opayo Payments extension in your store! It integrates Opayo payment gateway API with Magento 2 store.

Opayo is an all-in-one merchant account and a payment service provider. It also offers a full range of processing solutions for both online and offline businesses. It is considered to be one of the best international payment gateways in the world. It allows payments from debit and credit cards of all the companies and can even process payments in 25 various currencies!

Features:

• POS Integration
• Fraud protection tools
• Split payments is supported

Pros:

• Highest level of security
• Transparent pricing plans
• Recurring billing supported

Cons:

• There is a requirement of some technical knowledge
• The support calls cost 2p per minute

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact: 

Send your queries here.

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5. Amazon Pay

Amazon Pay is an online payment processing service. It was launched in 2007 and is owned by Amazon.

Amazon Pay’s features include integration with Amazon.com, which allows users to purchase items on the site and pay for them through their Amazon account. This provides a more seamless payment process and streamlines the checkout process on the site.

The process is straightforward and simple, as all one has to do is provide their name, email address, and password along with the appropriate shipping and billing information when prompted by the page.

Amazon Pay is an online payment system that lets buyers purchase goods and services from Amazon.com with a credit card or Amazon Pay balance.

Amazon Pay was launched in 2007 and was developed to be a trustworthy alternative to customer’s credit cards, prepaid debit cards, and other forms of payment.

Features:

• Customers can use their existing payment information stored on amazon.com account to checkout securely without having to enter their card number or shipping address

• Customers have the flexibility of paying with either a credit card or an Amazon Pay balance

• The transaction is integrated into the Amazon experience, so customers can check out in just one click

Pros:

• A single checkout experience for the user, which makes it easier to shop from different sellers on Amazon.
• Payments are very easy and secure for both buyers and sellers on Amazon.
• It is available in many countries.

Cons:

• Doesn’t accept PayPal
• It takes 3-5 days settlement time
• High fees for low volumes

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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6. Braintree

Braintree offers an online payment gateway that is designed to integrate with all kinds of eCommerce platforms. For example, you may configure the Braintree payment method in Magento 2.

Braintree is a payment gateway that enables small and medium businesses to accept payments through their website or mobile app. The company was acquired by PayPal in 2013 and now operates as an independent subsidiary.

Braintree is one of the most used payment gateways worldwide with over $30 billion in transactions. It can be used for credit cards, debit cards, and ACH payments. It provides a very easy payment process for customers. They are able to complete their purchase without having to leave the website or download any new app.

Braintree has free fraud protection for all its merchants and additional security features like payer authentication and recurring billing.

Braintree is easy to set up and customize according to customer needs.

Features:

• Accepting any type of card, including credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards
• Allows the customer to pay with a simple phone number
• Accepts transfers from 26 different currencies and can also support bitcoin transactions

Pros:

• Braintree has an affordable pricing plan
• It also offers a higher level of fraud and chargeback protection

Cons:

• Braintree does not offer software development kits which may be inconvenient for some developers

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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7. 2Checkout (Verifone)

2Checkout is a payment gateway that provides a secure checkout experience for online merchants. It offers numerous features to the merchants to make their business growth easier.

2Checkout is an online payment gateway that aims at simplifying the transaction process for both buyers and sellers.

2Checkout is a payment gateway that provides merchants the opportunity to accept payments on their website with credit cards, bank transfers, and different cryptocurrency payment options.

2Checkout has been around for 20 years and has been providing its services to more than 170 countries. It offers features such as recurring billing and tokenized transactions.

When a customer decides to purchase the product or service they are redirected over to 2Checkout’s site and they can choose from different card types, bank transfers, cryptocurrencies, or other methods of payment.

Features:

• A single checkout page for shopping cart management
• Ability to customize a shopping cart based on your store’s theme and layout
• Accepting all types of online payments

Pros:

• Processing credit card transactions globally
• Offering a range of payment methods, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover as well as PayPal and Apple Pay.

Cons:

• Comparatively, fees are high
• Poor customer service

​Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact: 

Send your queries here.

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8. Authorize.Net

Authorize.Net is a payment gateway for online transactions which provides all of the features that an eCommerce company needs to process credit card payments.

Authorize.Net was founded in 1996 by Jeffery Gentry and Andrew Viterbi and has grown into a global payment provider with an average of $100 billion in annual transaction volume.

This UK payment gateway supports many types of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and e-checks.

Authorize.Net is a third-party payment gateway that provides debit and credit card processing services to merchants.

Their services include Card present transactions – Credit card authorization and settlement – Authorization, capture, and settlement of all major debit cards, including PIN Debit – Automated clearing house (ACH) originator service for checking, savings, and other deposit accounts.

Features:

• It is easy to set up and integrate with most shopping carts and other ecommerce systems, including Magento’s shopping cart application;
• It accepts all major credit cards (such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover)

Pros:

• It provides the ability to process recurring transactions with just a few clicks
• Customer Information Manager
• Digital Invoicing

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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9. Cardstream

Cardstream is a payment gateway that offers merchants an affordable, user-friendly, and efficient means of accepting online payments.

Cardstream is a payment gateway that supports all major credit cards and debit cards. The Cardstream network covers over 27 countries and more than 96% of the global population.

The company also offers a customizable checkout process to make the purchase process more customer-friendly for shoppers from all over the world.

Cardstream is an online payment gateway that offers a wide range of features to users and provides merchants with a variety of solutions for accepting payments from their customers.

Cardstream is a payment gateway that provides instant, secure and reliable payments. It is an extension of Stripe which has helped millions of businesses to accept payments online.

Features:

• Accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover Card transactions in your native currency

• Offer discounts to repeat customers

• Offer coupons on products or services based on customer preferences while shopping

Pros:

• Offers convenient recurring billing

• Provides different types of transaction options
• Accepts payments in multiple currencies

Cons:

• There is a contract of 12 months
• Hidden charges

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact: 

Send your queries here.

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10. Klarna

Klarna is a Swedish company that offers a payment gateway that provides an alternative to traditional online payments and credit card transactions.

It provides 100 days of purchase protection and this means that if customers do not receive their item in time, they can get a full refund. 

Additionally, Klarna does not charge any hidden fees or have any setup costs, which is much more appealing than other payment gateways which cost as much as $30 to set up.

 This payment gateway also offers a free shipping label for all purchases made on the site that makes it easy for customers to return items they don’t want or need.

It is one of the leading providers of installment and e-commerce solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Klarna payment gateway enables shoppers to buy now and pay later, with no need for entering personal information on the merchant site or sharing details with third parties, such as financial institutions or credit card issuers. 

Features:

• Offers shoppers the ability to pay for their orders over time in fixed monthly installments
• Simplifies the return process by letting customers get refunds on their purchases through Klarna’s “Return” tab rather than dealing with the retailer themselves
• Accepts orders from anywhere in the world, even if they are not based in Europe

Pros:

• Accepts credit and debit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay
• Offers instant delivery of products without any upfront cost

Cons:

• Charges late payment fees

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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Other Popular Payment Gateways in UK

Fondy

Fondy’s leading one-stop payment solution for cross-border commerce, marketplaces, and platforms enables the means to move money without friction. From credit cards and e-wallets to direct payouts, this platform can simplify payment processing without compromising security. It supports an extensive selection of currencies and can handle both one-time and recurring payments. It also allows you to automate refunds and perform online invoicing to further streamline transactions. Fondy’s platform makes accepting payments at the checkout page on their website or MobileApp seamless with friction-free payouts to 3rd parties.

This platform can support email and SMS payments and not only simplifies payments for clients but also allows you to collect payments faster. Fondy is built to integrate across various devices, making cross-platform transactions easy.

Pros:

• No hidden and additional fees
• Cross-border payments
• Payouts solution
• Custom Checkout and Payment link
• Integrations with popular CMS
• and Web-builders

Cons:

• No 24/7 customer support

Pricing:

• Enquire about our pricing and get a quote today here.

Contact: 

• Send your queries here.

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Barclaycard

Barclaycard was founded by Barclays in June 1966 and is one of the best UK payment gateways.

This payment gateway makes it easy for you to carry out business. Barclaycard offers to capture payments faster, secure, and with convenience.

Barclaycard is the most prestigious and trusted brand in the United Kingdom. It is a multinational banking and financial services company that has a presence in over more than 50 countries.

The company has a huge customer base of around 48 million customers around the globe.

The total income generated by Barclays group in the year 2020 is amounted to 13.67 billion British pounds, as per Statista.

If you are a Magento 2 owner and want a payment system that ensures safe payments with Barclaycard, you may opt for Magento 2 Barclaycard Payments that integrates Barclaycard payment API with Magento 2 store.

Features:

• Fast and secure payments
• Fraud Protection
• Smartpay Checkout

Pros:

• Contactless payments
• Flex card reader

Cons:

• No major drawback

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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eWay

The eWay payment gateway is an online payment gateway that is designed for merchants who sell goods and services online.

eWay payment gateway provides a secure and efficient way of accepting payments online.

An eWay payment gateway enables businesses to process payments online through the eWay system.

This system offers secure transactions with both local and international buyers and sellers. It is available in more than 180 countries.

eWay is a powerful payment gateway that provides its users with different tools and features to help them grow their business. As an eCommerce merchant, you will be able to use this platform for all your payments through your website or mobile app – you can set it up in less than 60 seconds and start accepting payments instantly.

Features:

• Instant account setup
• Free card reader
• No monthly fees
• Worldwide coverage

Pros:

• 24/7 customer service
• Reliable and reputable
• Protected by SSL encryption
• Flexible transaction types

Cons:

•  It does not have mobile integration or global reach
•  eWay’s fees are higher than other gateways providers in the market

Pricing:

Send your queries here.

Contact:

Send your queries here.

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How to Choose the Best Payment Gateway for Your Business

The choice of payment gateway is crucial. Businesses need to keep in mind various factors before choosing a payment processor as it either makes or breaks your business.

Here are some of the factors that need to be considered while choosing the best payment gateway for your business:

Security

When you are receiving payments online, the security of your payment gateway should be the highest priority as it stores the sensitive information in it. Different security standards are defined for different payment gateways.

You must ensure that the payment gateway you use is level-1 PCI DSS compliant. Some of the devices are even equipped with fraud detection tools that prevent such activities.

Payments Method Supported

At times, payments were accepted either through debit or credit cards. Presently, there are a number of ways through which payments can be made such as net banking or internet wallets.

Customers are more likely to make a purchase when they are offered convenient payment options. On selecting a payment gateway for your eCommerce business, you need to find a partner service that supports various payment methods.

Budget

While selecting a payment gateway, the cost is the most important factor that you need to consider. The cost associated with using payment gateways comes in three types: setup fee, monthly fee, and transaction fee.

Both volume and value of the transactions need to be considered, for finding the cost-effective choice for your business. If your eCommerce business is dealing with high-value transactions, you need to opt for payment gateways that set monthly fees and low transaction fees.

Support Service

Be it a payment gateway or any other products you use, it is necessary to check their support service. You may go through their support policy, mode of support service, and hours of support provided.

If there is an issue that needs to be solved urgently related to the payment gateway but they offer support services in different time zone, it is of no use to you.

The payment gateway should provide support service if any problem is being faced at the time of capturing payments.

Integration Process

Integrating a payment gateway with your E-commerce store CMS is the first step towards accepting payments online. However, if the integration process is complex. you may need to opt for professional service.

Meetanshi offers Magento Payment Gateway Integration service for seamless integration of any payment gateways with Magento 1 or Magento 2 store to capture secure online payments from your customers.

Support for Partial Payments

The market share of Buy Now Pay Later in E-commerce payments in the UK increased from 1% in 2016 to 5% in 2020 as per Statista. This shows an increasing trend of partial payment method in the UK.

So, if you are a business in the UK that offers valuable items or products that costs too high, you may opt for a payment gateway that supports partial payments.

For Magento 2 store owners, Magento 2 Partial Payment extension can be installed to facilitates customers to pay in installments via supported payment gateways.

Bank Settlement Time

Usually, the payments are approved immediately but it takes a few days to settle the money in your account. It is allowed for handling refunds and chargebacks.

Bank settlement time varies from 1-7days depending on the type of service provider. Thus, depending on your cashflow you may choose to pay or wait for it.

Responsiveness

The increasing use of smartphones and the trend of M-commerce has made it essential to offer a mobile responsive payment page. Select a payment gateway that offers a responsive checkout page.

You may skip this feature if your potential audience mainly uses a desktop, but it mainly depends on your niche of business and type of customers.

Ease of Checkout

The checkout process of a payment gateway needs to be simple and fast. It should not be complex enough, which makes it tough for the customers to carry out the process.

The customers should be able to complete a purchase without any complexity or may abandon their cart.

Recurring Billing

For running a subscription-based business, you need to choose the payment gateway that opts to provide recurring billing. Based on the type of your business, you should be able to process and capture recurring bills if required.

The choice of payment gateway that supports subscriptions and recurring payments is a must if your products are magazines, newspapers, groceries that can be automatically re-ordered, etc. For Magento 2 stores in the UK that want to capture recurring payments, the best option is to opt for Magento 2 eWay Recurring & Subscriptions extension that allows to sell subscriptions and automatically capture secure payments on a regular interval via eWay payment gateway.

Conclusion:

Now, as you have the detailed guide to select the payment gateways in the UK, it would be easy for you to select the best payment processor in UK. After determining the cost and the requirement of the payment gateway features in your business, choose the payment gateway that offers a secure payment gateway for your customers.

FAQs:

What is a payment gateway?

A payment gateway is a technology that accepts and transfers payment data from the customers. A payment gateway is software that allows the customer to pay for goods or services online. It not only offers quick and secure payments but also convenience and success at the time of making payments.

How does a payment gateway work?

Payment gateways are responsible for the transmission of financial data when people make purchases online or in person. The process is simple and involves the following steps: first, it accepts the credit card numbers and other personal data from a shopper. Second, it verifies the customer’s data and sends a request to the card issuer (the bank) to authorize payment. Third, once approved, the payment gateway will transmit this information back to the retailer or merchant so they can complete their purchase transaction.

Are there free payment gateways?

There are no such free payment gateways. As almost every card costs the charge. These in turn would cost the facilitator and so they would charge you to recover their costs. So, they would charge transaction fees.