Data Index

UK Card Acquirer Index 2026

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 42 named acquirers in the MerchantHQ panel.

Last updated 2026-05-11 · Compiled by MerchantHQ · See the full acquirer panel · Data API and MCP server

Acquirer Tier Channels Headline rate Settlement Contract
Dojo Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.4% to 1.9% blended Same-day or next-day 12 months
SumUp Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.69% standard, 0.99% charity Next business day (same-day on SumUp One) No contract
Square Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel 1.75% in-person, 1.4% + 25p online Next business day (same-day for extra fee) No contract
PayPal Zettle Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.75% standard, 2.5% AMEX 1 to 2 business days No contract
Stripe Hardware review → Mainstream omnichannel 1.5% + 20p UK online, 1.5% in-person 2-day to 7-day rolling for new accounts No contract
Tide Hardware review → Mainstream in-person 1.5% per transaction 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
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 From 0.74% for NatWest customers 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 Bespoke per merchant Next business day 36 months typical
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 Bespoke, often 1.6% to 2.5% Next business day 12 to 36 months
Take Payments Mainstream in-person Bespoke per merchant Next business day 12 to 36 months
Cardstream Mainstream online Bespoke per partner Per partner Per 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 1.85% standard Instant to MyPOS account No contract
Truevo Mainstream omnichannel Bespoke Next business day 12 months typical
GoDaddy Payments Mainstream omnichannel 1.5% + 25p online, 1.75% in-person Next business day No contract
Shopify Payments Online gateway online 2.0% + 20p Basic, 1.5% + 20p Advanced T+3 typical Shopify monthly plan
PayPal Checkout Online gateway online 2.9% + 30p UK PayPal account, 1-3 day to bank No contract
Klarna Online gateway online 2.99% + 30p typical 1 to 14 days No contract
Clearpay (AfterPay) Online gateway online ~6% blended 1 to 2 days No contract
GoCardless Online gateway online 1% + 20p, capped £2 T+3 Bacs No contract
Opayo (formerly Sage Pay) Online gateway online Bespoke 1.5% to 2.5% Via Elavon merchant agreement 36 months typical
Mollie Online gateway online 1.8% + 25p UK Next business day No contract
Tipalti Online gateway online Bespoke per merchant Multi-currency, schedule per merchant Custom
Allied Wallet High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 3% to 6% Rolling reserve 5-10% Custom
HighRisk-Pay High-risk specialist online Bespoke, typically 3% to 5% Rolling reserve 5-10% Custom
SecurionPay High-risk specialist online Bespoke 2.5% to 5% Rolling reserve typical Custom
eMerchantBroker High-risk specialist online Bespoke 2.5% to 6% Rolling reserve typical Custom
Easy Pay Direct High-risk specialist online Bespoke 2.5% to 5% Rolling reserve typical Custom
Soar Payments High-risk specialist online Bespoke Rolling reserve typical Custom
Durango Merchant Services High-risk specialist online Bespoke Rolling reserve typical Custom
Corepay High-risk specialist online Bespoke 3% to 6% Rolling reserve typical Custom
Instabill High-risk specialist online Bespoke Rolling reserve typical Custom
T1 Payments High-risk specialist online Bespoke Rolling reserve typical 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 "last updated" date above is the panel review date; the panel is re-audited each quarter. 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