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