Payment links for UK businesses: fees compared
Quick Reference
Direct Answer
A payment link is a URL you send a customer so they can pay you on a secure hosted page, with no website or card machine. In the UK in 2026 no mainstream provider charges a monthly fee for links; you pay per transaction: Square 1.4% + 25p (UK cards), Stripe 1.5% + 20p, SumUp 2.5%, PayPal 2.9% + 30p, and GoCardless 1% + 20p capped at £4 on bank rails. On published card rates Stripe is cheapest below £50 a transaction and Square above £50; for large invoices the GoCardless cap wins.
Summary
UK payment link fees, read from provider pricing pages 14 July 2026: Stripe 1.5% + 20p standard UK cards with no link surcharge (optional £10 a month custom domain); Square 1.4% + 25p UK cards, 2.5% + 25p non-UK; SumUp 2.5% online rate; PayPal 2.9% + 30p Checkout rate; GoCardless payment requests 1% + 20p capped £4 on bank payment rails; Mollie includes links at EEA card rates published in euros (1.80% + EUR 0.25 consumer); Tyl by NatWest offers Pay by Link on quoted pricing. No monthly fees on standard plans. Links carry 3D Secure, shifting fraud liability to the issuer.
This Page Covers
What payment links are, per-link fees for every major UK provider on published July 2026 pricing, when links beat a virtual terminal or invoice, and safety.
Not Covered Here
Full ecommerce checkout integration (see the payment gateway guide) and bespoke enterprise pricing.
What a payment link is, and when to use one
A payment link turns any conversation into a checkout: you create the link in your provider's dashboard or app, send it by text, WhatsApp, email or social message, and the customer pays on a hosted page. There is nothing to build and nothing to install, which makes links the standard answer for deposits, invoices paid by card, phone orders, and selling through DMs.
Because the customer types their own card details, the payment can be authenticated with 3D Secure, and liability for authenticated fraud sits with the card issuer rather than you. That is the key advantage over keying a card into a virtual terminal yourself, where liability stays with you.
Payment link fees by provider
Every fee below was read from the provider's own pricing page on 14 July 2026. No provider on this table charges a monthly fee for standard payment links.
| Provider | Fee per paid link | Monthly fee | Rails | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Payment Links | 1.5% + 20p (standard UK cards) | £0 (custom link domain optional at £10 a month) | Card, wallets | No surcharge for links beyond standard processing; links convert to QR codes; subscriptions and donations supported |
| Square payment links | 1.4% + 25p UK cards; 2.5% + 25p non-UK cards | £0 | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Clearpay | Share by email, SMS, social or QR; one link can take payments from many customers |
| SumUp payment links | 2.5% | £0 | Card (online rate) | The 2.5% online rate covers payment links, bookings and digital products on both SumUp plans |
| PayPal payment links | 2.9% + 30p (PayPal Checkout rate) | £0 | PayPal balance, card, guest checkout | Highest consumer recognition; the priciest published per-link card rate on this page |
| GoCardless payment request | 1% + 20p, capped at £4 (bank payment) | £0 | Bank payment (Direct Debit rails), not card | A bank payment, not a card payment: no chargebacks, cap makes large invoices cheap |
| Mollie payment links | 1.80% + €0.25 EEA consumer cards (published in euros) | £0 (standard plan) | Card and local methods | Payment links at no extra cost; commercial cards 2.90% + €0.25, non-EEA 3.25% + €0.25 |
| Tyl by NatWest Pay by Link | Not published, quoted per business | Per quote | Card | Offered within Tyl online payments; NatWest banking relationship typically expected |
Read from each provider's UK pricing page, 14 July 2026. Providers change published rates without notice; check the provider's page before committing volume to it.
How to read that table
For everyday card payments, the maths splits at £50: Stripe's 1.5% + 20p is cheaper below £50 a transaction (its fixed fee is 5p lower), Square's 1.4% + 25p is cheaper above it, and both cost exactly 95p at £50. Both are free to create and share, including as QR codes. See the full Square and Stripe fee breakdowns.
For invoices and big amounts, the card percentage hurts: £1,000 by card costs £14 to £30 across this table. A GoCardless payment request runs on bank rails at 1% + 20p capped at £4, so the £1,000 invoice costs £4 and cannot be charged back like a card payment. The trade-off is that the customer approves a bank payment rather than tapping a card, which not every payer is comfortable with. Bank-rail options are covered in full in our pay by bank guide.
For customers who trust the brand more than you, PayPal's 2.9% + 30p buys the highest-recognition checkout in the UK, which still converts hesitant one-off payers. See the PayPal Checkout profile.
SumUp keeps it simple: the 2.5% online rate covers payment links, bookings and digital products on both its plans, with no monthly fee, making it the natural link option for merchants already on a SumUp reader. Mollie includes links at its standard rates but publishes them in euros (1.80% + €0.25 for EEA consumer cards), so your effective sterling cost moves with the exchange rate. Tyl by NatWest offers Pay by Link but publishes no rate, quoting per business; see the Tyl profile.
In one sentence
Square or Stripe for everyday card links, GoCardless for big invoices, PayPal when the payer needs the brand.
If you also take payments in person, the right answer is usually one provider for both. MerchantHQ compares the whole UK market on your real mix, then stays your named account team.
Get matched in 2 minutesFrequently asked questions
What is a payment link?
A payment link is a URL your customer opens to pay you on a secure hosted checkout page, with no website or card machine needed. You create the link in your provider dashboard or app, send it by text, email, WhatsApp or social media, and the customer enters their own card details (or approves a bank payment). Because the customer authenticates the payment themselves, links can carry 3D Secure, which shifts fraud liability to the card issuer.
How much do payment links cost in the UK?
On published July 2026 pricing there is no monthly fee at any mainstream provider; you pay per transaction. Square charges 1.4% + 25p for UK cards, Stripe 1.5% + 20p, SumUp 2.5%, PayPal 2.9% + 30p. GoCardless payment requests run on bank rails at 1% + 20p capped at £4. Mollie includes links at its standard card rates, published in euros. Tyl by NatWest quotes per business.
Which is the cheapest payment link provider?
For card payments on published UK rates it depends on transaction size: Stripe (1.5% + 20p) is cheaper below £50 a transaction because of its lower fixed fee, and Square (1.4% + 25p) is cheaper above £50; they cost the same 95p at exactly £50. For invoices and larger amounts, a GoCardless bank-payment request at 1% + 20p capped at £4 undercuts every card option: on a £1,000 invoice it costs £4 against £14 to £30 by card.
Are payment links safe?
The hosted checkout behind a mainstream payment link is PCI DSS compliant and supports Strong Customer Authentication, so the payment itself is as safe as any online card payment, and safer for you than keying a card over the phone because liability for authenticated payments shifts to the issuer. The real-world risk is impersonation: fraudsters send fake payment links to consumers, so send links from a recognisable account and tell customers what to expect.
Payment link or virtual terminal for phone orders?
A payment link is usually the safer default: the customer enters their own card details and 3D Secure shifts fraud liability to the issuer. A virtual terminal (you key the card in while the customer is on the line) is faster on a live call but leaves chargeback liability with you and runs at higher keyed rates. We compare both in the guide to taking card payments over the phone.
Sources
Fees read 14 July 2026 from: stripe.com/gb/payments/payment-links, squareup.com/gb/en/online-checkout, sumup.com/en-gb/pricing, the PayPal UK merchant fees page (paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/merchant-fees), gocardless.com/pricing, mollie.com/pricing, tylbynatwest.com.
Related
Take card payments over the phone · QR code payments · Virtual terminals · Pay by bank · Payment gateways · Card fees by provider · Fees calculator
Reviewed by Oliver Mackman. Last reviewed: 2026-07-14.