Data Index

UK Card Acquirer Index 2026

Cite this dataset: Parker, A. (2026). UK Card Acquirer Index: Acquirers, Contract Structures and Published Pricing. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21536186

The UK Card Acquirer Index is a structured dataset of card-payment acquirer terms: tier, sales channels, headline rate, settlement timing and contract length. Every figure is taken from published 2026 provider pricing, the FCA Register and Companies House records, not from advertising. This page tracks 43 named acquirers in the MerchantHQ Card Acquirer Index.

Last updated: · Compiled by MerchantHQ · See the full provider list · Data API and MCP server

Acquirer Tier Channels Headline rate Settlement Contract
Dojo Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.2% blended below £100k a year in card turnover, custom above Same-day or next-day 12 months
SumUp Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.69% pay-as-you-go, 0.99% on Payments Plus (£19 a month) Next business day (same-day on SumUp One) No contract
Square Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel 1.75% in-person, 1.4% + 25p online (UK cards) Next business day (same-day for extra fee) No contract
PayPal Zettle Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.75% on all cards, including Amex 1 to 2 business days No contract
Stripe Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel 1.5% + 20p online (standard UK cards), 1.4% + 10p in-person (EEA cards) 2-day to 7-day rolling for new accounts No contract
Tide Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.5% + 5p per card-reader payment (pay-as-you-go) Same-day to Tide Business account No contract
Revolut Business Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel 0.8% to 1.0% on higher plans Same-day to Revolut Business account Plan subscription required
Teya Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke (blended, tiered or interchange++) Next-day by 9am incl. weekends; instant to Teya Business Account Rolling monthly, no lock-in
Adyen Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke interchange-plus Bespoke schedule Custom
Worldpay (FIS) Hardware review → Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke, blended or IC+ above £100k Next business day 12 to 36 months
Tyl by NatWest Hardware review → Bank acquirer in-person 1.39% + 5p standard; bespoke for higher volume Same-day to NatWest account 12 to 18 months
Barclaycard Payments Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
Elavon Bank acquirer omnichannel From 0.99% on the Always Open plan, plus a £25 monthly gateway fee Next business day 36 months
Lloyds Cardnet Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
HSBC Merchant Services Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day Custom
Santander Merchant Services Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 24 months
Global Payments UK Bank acquirer omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
Paymentsense Mainstream in-person 1.40% on debit and credit cards, 1.99% on business cards (in person and online) Next business day 12 to 36 months
Take Payments Mainstream in-person Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
Handepay Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke per merchant, quote-led (Price Challenge against your current bill) Next banking day, set by the acquiring partner Flexible lengths, on quote
Cardstream Online gateway online Bespoke per partner Set by the acquirer behind each partner Agreed with each partner
Trust Payments Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
Castles Technology Mainstream in-person Bespoke per partner Per acquirer Per acquirer
MyPOS Mainstream omnichannel From 1.10% + 7p (UK consumer cards, in person); higher for other card types and online Instant to MyPOS account No contract
Truevo Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke Next business day 12 months
GoDaddy Payments Mainstream omnichannel 1.5% + 25p online, 1.75% in-person Next business day No contract
Shopify Payments Online gateway online 2% + 25p Basic, 1.7% + 25p Grow, 1.5% + 25p Advanced (online, standard cards) T+3 typical Shopify monthly plan
PayPal Checkout Online gateway online 2.9% + 30p (UK commercial transactions) PayPal account, 1-3 day to bank No contract
Klarna Online gateway online Bespoke per merchant 1 to 14 days No contract
Clearpay (Afterpay) alt-payment online Merchant fee plus per-transaction fee (varies by plan) 1 to 2 days No contract
GoCardless alt-payment online 1% + 20p, capped at £4 (Standard plan, UK Direct Debit) T+3 Bacs No contract
Opayo (formerly Sage Pay) Online gateway online Bespoke, typically 1.5% to 2.5% Via Elavon merchant agreement 36 months
Mollie Online gateway online From 1.20% + 20p (UK domestic consumer cards) Next business day No contract
Tipalti Online gateway online Bespoke per merchant Multi-currency, schedule per merchant Custom
HighRisk-Pay High-risk specialist online From 1.79% Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
SecurionPay High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 2.5% to 5% Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
eMerchantBroker High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 2.5% to 6% Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
Easy Pay Direct High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 2.5% to 5% Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
Soar Payments High-risk specialist online Bespoke Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
Durango Merchant Services High-risk specialist online Bespoke Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
Corepay High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 3% to 6% Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
Instabill High-risk specialist online Bespoke Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom
T1 Payments High-risk specialist online Bespoke Set per merchant, usually with a rolling reserve Custom

Click the Acquirer or Tier column headers to sort. Headline rates are the published 2026 figures; many acquirers price bespoke per merchant, so some cells read as a range or "Bespoke" rather than a single point. Your actual cost depends on card mix, turnover, sector, hardware and contract terms.

Methodology

Each acquirer in the index is recorded against a common schema so the rows are directly comparable. We capture the tier (mainstream, bank, online gateway or high-risk specialist), the sales channels supported, the headline rate, settlement timing and contract length.

Source material is published provider pricing pages, the FCA Register for the regulated legal entity, and Companies House records for incorporation data. Where a provider publishes a rate band rather than a single figure, we record the band. We do not publish a rate we cannot evidence from a primary source, so some cells read as "Bespoke per merchant" rather than a fabricated point estimate. Specialist high-risk acquirer names are public, but their specific rates are bespoke per merchant.

The date above is the last change to the index content. The index is maintained by the MerchantHQ editorial team and overseen by Oliver Mackman, director of Best Business Loans Ltd.

This dataset is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. You may reuse the figures with attribution to MerchantHQ (merchanthq.co.uk). The same data is available as a machine-readable JSON API and MCP server.

What the index measures