Business

B2B Payment Solutions UK

Remay Villaester (May)
Remay Villaester (May)
27.07.21 (updated more than 1 year ago)
Read time 5 minutes

If your business deals with other companies, whether it’s suppliers, wholesalers or customers, you’ll need a B2B payment solution. This means an efficient, fast, secure and ideally low cost way to send and receive payments. Without it, your business could grind to a halt.

In this guide, we’ll give you a rundown of some B2B payment solutions in the UK that you can consider to help you find the best option for your business.

What is a B2B payment?

In a nutshell, a B2B payment is a transaction between two businesses. For example, the payment of an invoice for goods or services provided from one business to another.

Domestic and international payments

When looking for a B2B payment provider, it’s important to base your search on the services you need - and your customers. A crucial thing to look out for is whether you can send and receive international payments, and whether there are any additional fees for multi-currency payments. There may also be a currency conversion fee, along with a mark-up on the exchange rate.

Types of business payments

There are many types of payments businesses can make to each other, such as:

  • Direct debits
  • Debit/credit card payments
  • Online bank transfers
  • Wire transfers
  • Cheques
  • Cash

B2B payment solutions

Wise

Formerly known as Wise, Wise is an international money transfer specialist. It offers a multi-currency account for businesses, and is ideal for international B2B transactions - thanks to low fees and fair exchange rates.

It also offers mass payments for multiple recipients, invoice payments and a powerful open API. Wise is FCA regulated and uses sophisticated security technology.

Fees:

Service Fee¹
International transfer 0.65% on average (varies by currency)
Receive money Free for some currencies
Hold 50+ currencies Free
Pros Cons
  • No monthly fees
  • Mid-market exchange rate
  • Transparent fees
  • Enhanced security features
  • Powerful open API
  • Hold 50+ currencies
  • Best for international payments rather than domestic

PayPal

PayPal offers everything from online invoicing to mass payments and ‘bill me later’ options, along with all kinds of extra features for business users.

Fees²:

Service International fee Domestic fee
PayPal Payouts - mass/bulk payments 2% 2%
Receiving commercial transactions 2.90% + fixed fee 2.90% + fixed fee + 0.5-2% (depending on the sender’s region)
Pros Cons³
  • No setup or monthly fees
  • Accepted worldwide
  • Integrates with ecommerce platforms
  • Fast and convenient
  • Complicated fee structure
  • Can be expensive especially on international transactions

WorldPay

One of the largest payment providers in the UK, WorldPay offers both a merchant account and an online payment gateway. It has a choice of monthly plans, plus a ‘pay as you go’ option for small businesses wanting a simple payment solution without being tied to a plan.

Fees:

Service Fee
Fixed monthly fee From £19 - Standard plan⁴, From £45 - Advanced plan
Pay as you go 2.75% + 20p for each transaction (credit or debit card)⁵
Pros Cons
  • No setup fees
  • Flexible pricing
  • Accepts all major credit and debit cards and PayPal - including international payments at no extra cost
  • Secure payments with dedicated fraud monitoring of each transaction
  • Not the most cost effective solution
  • Transaction fees apply but are not displayed upfront as they differ based on business type. (Quotes can be requested)

Opayo

Formerly known as Sage Pay, Opayo is a trusted and popular provider of UK B2B payment services. It offers a range of solutions, from online payments to POS and card terminals, and works with partner services such as Shopify and Salesforce.

Fees:

Service Fee⁶
Fixed monthly fee Flex plan - £25Plus plan - £45Corporate - bespoke
Transaction fees Depends on plan - each comes with between 350-3000+ free transactions a month
Pros⁷ Cons
  • Secure and reliable
  • No hidden charges
  • Fast payments24/7 phone support
  • Can be costly - especially for small businesses

Stripe

The US-based Stripe is a hugely popular online payments platform, especially in relation to ecommerce. It has a pay-as-you-go pricing model, making it ideal for small businesses wanting to avoid monthly fees and being tied into a contract.

Fees⁸:

Service International fee Domestic fee (inc. Europe)
Receiving online card payments 2.9% + 20p 1.4% + 20p
In-person card processing 2.9% + 10p 1.4% + 10p
Instant Payouts 1%
Invoicing 0.4% (first 25 invoices free)
Pros Cons
  • No setup or monthly fees
    • Wide range of supported payment methods
  • Flexible pricing - so you only pay for what you use
  • Open API
  • Lots of extra fees - for certain payment methods and additional services
  • Need a developer to use the open API

Skrill

The digital wallet and money transfer specialist offers an extensive range of services for payment processing, including accepting multiple currencies. With Skrill, business owners can send, receive and manage transactions on the move. You’ll also get services such as Quick Checkout, Rapid Transfer and integration with leading shopping carts.

Fees:⁹

Service International fee Domestic fee
Deposit funds 1% 1%
Withdraw funds £4.69 2-7% (depending on payment method)
Skrill-to-Skrill transfers - 2.99%
Send money Free (debit card/bank transfer), 2.99% (credit card) + 4.99% exchange rate markup Up to 2%
Receive money Free, 4.99% exchange rate mark-up for payments in different currencies Free
Pros Cons
  • Simple integration
  • Free account - no monthly fees
  • Competitive fees
  • Enhanced fraud management
  • PCI compliant
  • Multilingual customer support
  • Minimum monthly fee
  • High exchange rate mark-up for international transfers
  • Must regularly use account or monthly fee will be charged

Braintree

A division of PayPal but operating independently, Braintree is a specialist online and mobile payments provider. It accepts a wide range of currencies, credit/debit cards and digital wallets, and offers robust fraud protection for the peace of mind of your business.

Fees¹⁰:

Service International fee Domestic fee
Card and digital payments (including mobile wallets) 2.9% + 20p (plus extra fees for certain currencies) 1.9% + 20p
PayPal PayPal fees apply PayPal fees apply
Pros Cons
  • Low, transparent and simple pricing
  • Customisable
  • Enhanced fraud protection
  • Wide range of currencies accepted
  • Can be complex to set up
  • Additional fees for some multi-currency transactions

Cardstream

Cardstream is a fully independent ‘white label’ payment gateway, one of the only companies in the UK of its kind. This means that it is independent from banks and payment processors, so provides its own system for you to accept card payments - on your website or in real-time over the phone or by mail.

Fees:¹¹

Service Fee*
Monthly fee From £18
Transactions 9.9p per transaction (after first 350 transactions)
Pros Cons
  • Customisable
  • No setup fees
  • Extensive range of payment gateway features
  • No limits on transactions
  • Fees and exact pricing can be hard to find
  • 12-month minimum contracts
  • Can be complicated to set up - although the Cardstream team are on hand to help

Adyen

Adyen is a trusted global payment platform, which counts big names such as ebay, Uber, Spotify and Virgin Hotels¹² amongst its customers. With Adyen, you can accept payments across all sales channels, with fully optimised in-person and online checkouts.

Fees:¹³

Service Fee
Payment processing Processing fee (approx 10p) plus payment method fee (up to 3.95%)
Pros¹³ Cons
  • No setup or monthly fees 24/7 customer support
  • Supports multi-currency transactions
  • Minimum invoice of £100 a month
  • Not the best option for lower volume businesses
  • Mixed customer reviews¹⁴

GoCardless

GoCardless is designed to help make managing recurring payments easier for businesses, which makes it ideal for B2B use. Services include automating invoice collection and payments admin, along with tools to improve payment and cash management visibility.

Fees:¹⁵

Service Fee
Fixed monthly fee Standard plan - freePlus plan - £50Pro plan - £200
Receiving online payments - domestic 1% +20p
Receiving online payments - international 2% + 20p
Pros Cons
  • No setup costs
  • No hidden fees
  • Uses the real exchange rate - powered by Wise
  • No free trial on paid plans

Summary
And there you have it - your handy, at-a-glance list of B2B payment solutions in the UK, including an idea of prices, benefits and possible drawbacks. You should be all set to start shopping around and choose the right solution for your business.

Sources used for this article:

  1. Wise business account pricing
  2. PayPal merchant fees
  3. HP blog post
  4. worldpay pricing
  5. worldpay landing page
  6. Opayo landing page
  7. card machine blog post
  8. Stripe Pricing
  9. Skrill fees
  10. Braintree pricing
  11. merchant savvy comparison
  12. Adyen website
  13. Adyen pricing
  14. Merchant Maverick Adyen review
  15. gocardless pricing

Sources checked on 27-Jul-2021.

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.

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