Best Business Payment Services in the UK

If you run a UK business, you’re likely to need to use business payment services at some point.

This is especially the case for B2C businesses which sell products and services to the public. But B2B companies may also need payment solutions, particularly if they specialise in software-as-a-service (SaaS) and subscription models.

So which are the best payment gateway solutions in the UK right now? Read on to find out, as we’ll be comparing all of the most popular providers including Square, Stripe, WorldPay, GoCardless, Braintree and Zettle.

We’ll look at how each performs on price, features and reputation, so that you can choose the right option for your business.

And while you’re looking into cost-effective ways of getting paid, make sure to check out Wise Business. It’s the ideal solution for receiving international payments, without losing out to high fees and currency conversion costs.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

What are business payment services?

If your business wants to accept electronic payments, you’re going to need a service to process them.

This is where payment processors or payment service providers (PSPs) come in. They facilitate card, bank and digital wallet payments between businesses and customers quickly and securely. Essentially, they link together banks, card providers and payment networks, to take the complexity out of accepting payments.

They also help businesses to ensure they’re compliant with PCI DSS rules relating to card payments

Most PSPs offer merchant services, customised checkouts for your website, card terminals and point of sale (PoS) systems for in-person payments. All of these are important components of payment systems for small businesses. Some providers can also process international payments in multiple currencies.

Businesses of all kinds can benefit from payment services, whether you’re an individual trader on a market stall or a larger e-commerce business.

Below, we’ll review what’s on offer for UK businesses from the following providers:

• Square
• Worldpay
• Stripe
• GoCardless
• Zettle
• PayPal Braintree.

Business payment services: overview

Now, let’s take a quick look at some of the UK’s most popular business payment solutions, comparing them on fees, Trustpilot score and what each is best known for. We’ll dive into each provider in more detail next.

Provider	Trustpilot score	Fees	Best known for
Square	4.0 from 2,765 reviews²	- £0 to £29+ a month - 1.75% for in-person payments - 1.4% + 25p for online payments¹	In-person payments and POS
Worldpay	4.4 from 7,801 reviews⁴	- £19.95 a month - 1.5% per card transaction³	Retail and ecommerce payment services
Stripe	2.2 from 14,852 reviews⁶	- No monthly fees - 1.5% + £0.20 per transaction⁵	Comprehensive payment gateway services
GoCardless	2.9 from 2,033 reviews⁸	- No monthly fees - 1% + £0.20 per transaction⁷	Global payments
Zettle	3.0 from 4,800 reviews⁰	- No monthly fees - 1.75% per transaction⁹	In-person payments and POS
PayPal Braintree	1.1 from 270 reviews, unclaimed profile¹²	- No monthly fees - 1.9% + £0.20 per transaction¹¹	PayPal-powered processing services

Comparing business payment solutions: criteria

When comparing payment processing companies, it’s tempting to focus solely on price. But while cost is undoubtedly important, there are some other things you should be looking at.

Below, we’ll compare providers based on these key criteria:

• Essential features and services
• Cost (including monthly subscription costs and transaction fees)
• Integrations with other business tools and solutions
• Customer support.

It’s all to help you find a good fit for your business.

Square

Square is a cloud-based payment processing platform based in the US, but serving businesses in the UK and worldwide.

It offers both online and in-person payment processing, and is particularly popular with smaller retailers thanks to its card readers and PoS terminals.

Key features of Square include:

• End-to-end encrypted payments
• Free Square PoS apps
• Advanced reporting
• Square Appointments - for online booking and automatic appointment reminders
• Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants packages
• Digital invoicing tools
• Online store
• Virtual terminal
• Payment links
• Customer directory
• Loans (on application, if eligible).

The platform integrates with other business tools through its App Marketplace. You can connect it to accounting software like Xero and Sage, and other apps like WooCommerce, Wix and GoDaddy Websites + Marketing.

Square has a Free plan, which has no monthly fees and many of the above features and services included as standard.

You’ll just need to pay processing fees, which start at 1.75% for in-person payments. Online payments are 1.4% + 25p for UK cards, and manually entered payments are 2.5%.¹

You can also upgrade to a Plus plan from £29 a month (plus processing fees), or contact Square for custom pricing.¹

Customer support channels at Square include email, phone and direct message.

Over on Trustpilot, Square has a ‘Great’ score of 4.0 based on 2,675 reviews.²

See how Square compares with Stripe, one of its main rivals.

Worldpay

Worldpay is a US-based payments platform, offering comprehensive payment gateway services to businesses and merchants worldwide.

Its core and add-on features include:

• POS and EPOS for real-world payments
• eCommerce and Payment Gateway solutions, including direct website integration
• WorldPay Dashboard for real-time insights and payment management
• Safer Payments, helping small businesses to comply with PCI-DSS.

Worldpay integrates with a number of third-party apps, tools and platforms, including accounting software like Oracle NetSuite.

For its payment gateway services, Worldpay charges £19.95 a month and then 1.5% per card transaction.³

It also has custom pricing plans, with variable pricing options tailored to the needs of larger businesses.

The company primarily offers customer support by phone.

Over on Trustpilot, the company has an ‘Excellent’ rating of 4.4 based on over 7,801 reviews.⁴
See how Worldpay compares to Stripe, the next provider on our list.

Stripe

Stripe is a comprehensive payments processing platform aimed at businesses of all sizes. The Irish-American company’s customers are primarily e-commerce businesses, but anyone who sells online will find its services useful.

Features of the Stripe platform include:

• Local and global card payments
• Physical card terminals
• Online and digital payment methods
• Invoicing and recurring billing solutions
• Payment links
• Low and no code solutions as well as more complex, tailored options
• Support with tax, user identification, business management and more.

You’ll sign up to per-transaction pricing when you join Stripe. This means no subscription fees, where instead Stripe charges fees for each payment and individual service you use. These fees start from 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards.⁵

Stripe’s secure platform is able to integrate with a wide range of tools, apps and services. This includes Xero, Salesforce, Constant Contact, Oracle Hospitality, HubSpot, WooCommerce and Wix.

As for what its existing customers think about Stripe, it’s not overwhelmingly positive unfortunately. The company gets a ‘Poor’ rating of 2.2 on Trustpilot from 14,852 reviews.⁶

Live customer support is available 24/7 from Stripe once you sign into your account.

New to Stripe? Read our guide to using Stripe for payments.

GoCardless

UK-based fintech GoCardless offers both managed and integrated payment gateway solutions. It’s particularly popular with globally trading businesses, as it lets you accept payments from customers in multiple countries including the UK, Europe and the US.

GoCardless core features include:

• International payments
• Automated recurring payments via Direct Debit
• Direct bank payments via Open Banking, avoiding expensive card payment fees
• Collect and reconcile invoice payments automatically
• User-friendly interface.

The platform integrates with a large number of partners, including Salesforce, WooCommerce and Chargebee. You can also connect it to accounting tools like Xero, Sage and QuickBooks for automatic reconciliation.

GoCardless is similar to Stripe and some other providers on our list, in that it uses per-transaction pricing with no monthly fees.

Its cheapest option is Standard, which charges 1% + £0.20 per transaction, and 2% + £0.20 for international payments. There are limits on this though, so you may want to upgrade your plan if it suits your needs better. It also offers custom pricing on request.⁷

GoCardless provides 24/7 support through an online ticket system.

Over on Trustpilot, GoCardless has an ‘Average’ rating of 2.9 based on 2,033 reviews.⁸

Zettle

Formerly known as iZettle, PayPal service Zettle is primarily a point of sale (POS) system, offering card readers, terminals and an app for taking in-person payments. But it also offers invoicing solutions and an ecommerce platform.

Key features include:

• Accept a wide range of payment methods, including contactless payments
• Inventory management tools
• Reporting
• Digital customer receipts
• Payment links
• Sell and accept gift cards
• Online invoicing
• Barcode scanner.

You can link Zettle with business tools and apps such as Adobe Commerce, QuickBooks Online, Shopify, WooCommerce, Xero and many more.

As for pricing, Zettle doesn’t have monthly fees. It only charges per transaction, with most payments costing 1.75%. Transactions made via Zettle invoice or payment links are charged at 2.5%. You can also contact the company for custom pricing.⁹

If you need support, you can contact Zettle customer services via chat (quickest) or phone.

Over on Trustpilot, Zettle currently has an ‘Average’ score of 3.0 based on 4,800 customer ratings.¹⁰

PayPal Braintree

Another service owned by payments giant PayPal, Braintree is aimed primarily at mobile users and offers both hosted and integrated payment gateway solutions.

Features include:

• Huge choice of payment methods, including cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo and more.
• Drop-in or customised user interface (UI)
• Payouts - to pay global suppliers and freelancers
• Braintree Direct for online payments
• Standard and advanced levels of fraud protection

Braintree can be integrated with lots of third-party apps and tools. This includes ecommerce platforms and billing applications, including WooCommerce, Salesforce, Recurly and Chargebee.

Like Stripe and others, the platform has a per-transaction pricing model, where you’ll pay 1.9% + £0.20 for every payment and no monthly fees.¹¹

Customer support is primarily accessed via raising an online support ticket.

PayPal Braintree has a ‘Bad’ rating of 1.1 on Trustpilot, although it’s worth pointing out that this is from just 270 reviews and the profile is unclaimed by the company.¹²

FAQs - business payment services

How do I set up a payment method for my small business?

You need to choose a provider, create an account and select a plan (if applicable). The next steps are to integrate the payment service into your website, order a POS terminal if needed and configure your payment settings. Then you can test, and finally launch.

What is the most popular payment method in the UK?

Debit cards are currently the most popular online payment method in the UK, according to data from Statista for September 2024.¹³

Which payment service provider is best?

The best payment service provider for you depends on your business needs. You need to compare providers on cost, the features you need, security, reliability and customer reviews.

What is the most popular payment platform?

PayPal is one of most popular payment platforms worldwide based on market share, followed closely by Stripe.¹⁴

Are payment providers safe?

Yes, as long as you stick with a trusted and well-known payment processor, you should benefit from sophisticated security features. This includes measures such as encryption, tokenization, and compliance with PCI standards for card payments.

Receive payments in multiple currencies with Wise Business

Wise can help UK businesses to receive payments in multiple currencies, with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate.

A Wise Business account comes with local account details to get paid in 8+ major foreign currencies like Euros and US Dollars just as easily as you do in Pounds, these payments can come directly from your customers, from PSPs like Stripe or platforms such as Amazon

All you need to do is add the relevant currency account details to the platform you need to withdraw the funds. Once you receive the payment in Euros, Dollars or other supported currencies, you can hold this money into your multi-currency account, send with Wise Business debit card or convert back to Pounds with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

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And that’s it - our full rundown of payment processing platforms in the UK. We’ve looked at all the big names from Stripe to Square, along with their key features, pricing, customer ratings and much more.

After reading this, you should be all set to compare options and choose the best solution for your business.

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Sources used:

1. Square - Pricing
2. Trustpilot - Square
3. Worldpay - Simplicity payment gateway
4. Trustpilot - Worldpay
5. Stripe - Pricing
6. Trustpilot - Stripe
7. GoCardless - Pricing
8. Trustpilot - GoCardless
9. Zettle - Pricing
10. Trustpilot - Zettle
11. PayPal Braintree - Pricing
12. Trustpilot - Braintree
13. Statista - Most common online payments by type in the UK as of September 2024
14. Statista - Most used payment processing technology - including payment gateways and BNPL (buy now, pay later) - on websites worldwide as of August 2024

Sources last checked on date: 11-Nov-2024