Payment Processing Fees Guide for the UK
Understand payment processing fees in the UK. Explore types, costs, and how to choose the best payment solutions for your business.
PayPal fees for receiving money: Commercial transactions
If you receive commercial payments through PayPal, you’re required to have a PayPal business or merchant account. This will allow you to accept domestic and international payments in different currencies for selling goods and services. However, unlike personal accounts, receiving commercial payments is not free.
The fees can range from 2% to 4% of the amount you receive. If you’re a freelancer or an independent contractor receiving multiple payments, this fee is hard to sweep aside.¹
This article will cover some facts about PayPal fees and show you how to reduce the cost of collecting your hard earned money using Wise for Business.
Commercial and Personal transactions
PayPal categorized transactions as commercial and personal.
“Commercial Transaction” involves buying and selling goods and services, or payments received when you “request money” using the PayPal Services.
”Personal Transaction“ involves sending money (initiated from the “Personal” tab of the “Send Money” flow) to, and receiving money into your PayPal Account from, friends and family without making a purchase (that is, the payment is not for goods or services).
If you want to use PayPal for selling goods or services, you must open a business account or convert your personal account to a business.²
With a business account you’d be able to:
- Operate under your company or business name.
- Accept debit card, credit card, and bank account payments for a low fee.
- Allow up to 200 employees limited access to your account.
- Sign up for PayPal products that meet your business needs, such as PayPal Checkout.
- Set up a separate email address for your customer service issues.
PayPal receiving fees
Having a PayPal business account provides more ways to get paid. However, the fees can vary according to the type of business account you have with them so it's important to evaluate your needs first before signing up.¹ Calculate PayPal fees for merchants with this free PayPal fee calculator.
Standard rate for receiving domestic transactions
| Receiving Country/Territory | Rates |
|---|---|
| 2.90% + 0.30p |
| 3.40% + fixed fee according to currency you receive |
Additional fees for receiving International Transactions
These fees are added on top of the standard receiving fee for domestic transactions:
| Sender’s country/territory | Fee |
|---|---|
| Canada and US | 2.00% |
| Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Estonia, France (including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and Mayotte), Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Vatican City State. | 0.50% |
| Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine. | 2.00% |
| Aland Islands, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. | 0.50% |
| Rest of the world | 2.00% |
PayPal offers the same fee (2.90% + 0.30p) for a merchant account that are received within Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey & United Kingdom (UK) with a slight different in all other countries/territories which ranges from 1.90% to 3.40% of the amount being received plus a small fixed fee which varies according to the currency.
PayPal also offers a solution that lets your customers pay by debit or credit card without leaving your site. It’s called PayPal advanced payments. The fees vary according to payment type.
Domestic card payments within Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey & United Kingdom (UK) cost around 1.20% to 3.50% plus a fixed fee of 0.30 p.
International card payments. Just like with standard international transactions, 0.50% to 2.00% gets added on top of the advanced debit and credit card payment which brings a total of 1.70% to 5.50% of the amount being received plus a small fixed fee.
How to reduce the receiving cost?
PayPal brings a lot of convenience for you and your customers, however, if you add up the fees, it becomes harder to turn a blind eye to and makes you wonder if there’s a way to reduce the cost.
Luckily, there are services like Wise Business that you can use as an alternative.
Here’s a quick price comparison based on a payment of €1000 to pounds:
| Fee | Wise | PayPal |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving fee | €0 | €24.30 or €39.30 |
| Conversion fee | €4.75 | n/a |
| Total | €4.75 | €24.30 (or €39.30 for other Eu countries) |
It’s free to receive payment in EUR, USD, AUD, NZD, PLN and GBP using Wise Multi-currency account and to withdraw the funds to your local bank account in GBP, you’ll only have to pay around 0.05% of the amount being converted.
Wise Business is up to 14x cheaper than PayPal. You can receive, hold, convert and withdraw to your local bank account in minutes using the real exchange rate and with a low and transparent fee.
Wise is a groundbreaking company with over 5 million customers globally taking an innovative, fresh approach to financial services.
Wise is known for offering one of the fairest exchange rates in the business instead of inflating their exchange rates with hidden fees.
You can also take advantage of the following benefits:
- Payroll to overseas contractors
- Payments to vendors and suppliers in over 40 currencies
- A unique integration with Xerofor multi-currency accounting
- Multi-currency debit card attached to the account
Create your Wise account, and start saving time and money today!
Sources:
1.PayPal website - merchant fee
2.PayPal Fee Policy
*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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