1
Square
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£19 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
1
Square
On Square’s Website
Featured Partner
Best merchant account service providers of 2024
- Square:Best overall
- SumUp: Best for flexibility
- Stripe:Best for owners of multiple businesses and brands
- PayPal:Best for e-commerce
Why you can trust Forbes Advisor Small Business
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content and guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
We reviewed 17 merchant services using a weighted methodology to help you find the top five merchant service providers for small businesses. Sixteen different factors contributed to our ratings, including if the merchant offers a transparent pricing structure, a well-laid-out reporting dashboard, contactless payments, invoicing and quick deposits.
We also checked third-party customer review sites and gave our own expert review of each service. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
BEST OVERALL MERCHANT SERVICE
Square
On Square's Website
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£19 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
Why We Picked It
Square’s services are a fit for the broadest range of businesses, so it’s no surprise the platform has climbed to the top of the industry since first providing its services for small businesses in 2009.
With a Square account, you’ll get access to the hardware and software you need to accept in-person payments on mobile, online through Square Checkout and through integrations with services such as WooCommerce and at retail locations with sleek point-of-sale (POS) equipment you can buy upfront or lease through monthly payments.
Square’s processing rate varies depending on the type of transaction:
- Chip and PIN transaction: 1.75%
- Online transaction: 1.4% + 25p for UK card transactions or 2.5% + 25p for non-UK card transactions
- Keyed transaction: 2.5%
You’ll pay no fees for refunds (chargebacks), and you’ll get your processing fee back for reversed transactions. You can usually get money within 36 hours after a transaction, but Square offers options to access funds immediately.
Who should use it:
Square is designed for small businesses that are just getting started. Its modern and easy-to-use equipment and online checkout features make it simple for you to get set up and start selling without a lot of complicated steps.
Pros & Cons
- No monthly fee
- Easy to get started
- No chargeback fees
- Mobile card reader available for £19
- Customer service could be better
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
BEST FOR FLEXIBILITY
SumUp
On SumUp's Website
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£39 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
Why We Picked It
SumUp provides flexible and cost-effective merchant services, offering a wide range of payment processing options including card readers,payment pinks andPOS with no contract to sign.
For the basic SumUp card reader (Air), it will cost £39 (plus VAT) upfront, and then fixed 1.69% of any transaction amount (for remote payment options such as for online stores, invoices, payment links and gift cards, it’s 2.5% per transaction).
SumUp accepts all major debit and credit cards, via chip & PIN, contactless or mobile payment.
You can choose for payments to be made into your own bank account or into the SumUp Business Account, which is free of charge. If you choose the business account, you’ll receive payment the next day, even if that’s a weekend or Bank Holiday. Otherwise payment will take between two and three working days to hit your account.
Who should use it:
SumUp’s affordable equipment, flexibility and lack of monthly fees make this platform ideal for any small business, whether that’s an e-commerce store, online educator or brick-and-mortar shop.
Pros & Cons
- No monthly fee
- No contract
- Choice of mobile card readers
- Fastest payments require business account
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
BEST FOR OWNERS OF MULTIPLE BUSINESSES/BRANDS
Stripe
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£49 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
Why We Picked It
Stripe is one of the most cost-effective merchant services with a wide range of payment processing options.
It’s one of the major players in online payment processing, and it’s automatically built into some major site builders, including Squarespace, Kajabi and Shopify. You can also use Stripe Terminal to accept in-person credit card payments, and Stripe integrations or invoicing to receive BACS payments.
Stripe charges these transactions fees, depending on how information is gathered:
- Keyed and online transactions: 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards (2.5% + 20p for EU cards and 3.25% + 20p for international cards)
- In-person or chipped transactions: 2.9% + 10p
- BACS direct debit: 1%
You’ll also pay 0.4% as a chargeback protection fee. You’ll pay £49 for the basic contactless card reader or £179 for the handheld mini POS.
Stripe is a convenient option if you run multiple online businesses or brands because you can operate them all from one merchant account with separate reporting.
Payouts come at a scheduled interval or as soon as two business days after a transaction, depending on the settings you choose.
Stripe customer support is available through live chat and phone 24/7.
Who should use it:
Stripe’s affordable equipment and no monthly fees make this platform ideal for small businesses, whether you’re an e-commerce store, online educator or brick-and-mortar shop.
Pros & Cons
- No monthly fee
- Chargeback protection
- 24/7 customer service online or by phone
- BACS payments supported
- Small learning curve for business owners not used to online payment processors
- Up to 14-day wait for first payout
FEATURED PARTNER OFFER
BEST FOR E-COMMERCE
PayPal
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£29 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
Why We Picked It
Since 1998, PayPal has steadily consolidated its position as the premier online payment processor, though it may not be keeping pace with the UX advances of later competitors.
PayPal integrates with major e-commerce platforms, including WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce and Wix, as well as tons of invoicing platforms such as QuickBooks and Harvest.
PayPal fees are in line with similar online payment processors, but quite a bit higher than more traditional merchant account providers. You’ll pay a percentage plus a fixed fee per transaction that varies by regional currency. For payments received in GBP, fees are:
- Commercial transactions online and in-store: 2.9% + 30 pence
- Pay with PayPal online: 1.2% + 30 pence
- In-person payments: 1.75%
PayPal offers a simple and affordable chip & PIN or contactless card reader for counter or handheld use to receive in-person payments to your account. It’ll cost you £29 for the first one and £59 per additional reader. Or you can use the PayPal Zettle POS mobile app for free.
Most merchants won’t pay a monthly service fee to accept payments via PayPal, but you can add on features for additional monthly fees if your business has more complex payment needs.
PayPal’s hefty transaction fees and growing complexity are making the well-known platform less and less popular with merchants, especially small businesses that just need basic payment processing at a low cost. What keeps it among the top providers is largely its ubiquity – customers are familiar with and trust the platform because it’s been around for so long.
Who should use it:
PayPal is popular with small e-commerce businesses and online service providers who don’t mind paying its high fees in exchange for a well-known platform.
Pros & Cons
- Easy to set up and use
- Well-known and popular with online shoppers
- Auto-integrated with tons of online business services
- High transaction fees
- Increasingly complex platform
What is a merchant service?
Traditionally, a merchant account is a type of business bank account that connects with a payment processor, credit card issuer and your bank to let you receive electronic payments such as credit and debit cards. The merchant account receives money from credit card companies so that it’s available to you immediately, instead of after the customer pays their credit card bill.
However, modern payment service providers combine the functions of merchant accounts with payment processing, so many small businesses don’t have to worry about setting up this type of account separate from signing up for a payment processor.
You’ll get a merchant account and payment processing when you sign up with payment service providers, such as any of those listed above.
How does a merchant service work?
When a customer swipes their credit card or debit card to pay for a transaction, the card processor sends those transaction details to your merchant account.
Your merchant account provider will then confirm sufficient funds with the customer’s card issuer. Once funds are confirmed, your merchant account provider will front your business the funds for that transaction.
How to choose the best merchant service provider
No two businesses are alike, and therefore it’s important to find the merchant account that best meets your unique needs.
Essential features
Payment service providers compete on a lot of features you might not think to look for when choosing which platform to use. As you review options, consider which of these aspects matter most to your business:
- Do you need an app and hardware that’s easy for anyone to use, or do you and your team prefer to navigate a more complex system with richer features?
- Will you get by with a mobile app?
- Do you need a robust point-of-sale system? Or will a simple card reader do?
If you run an in-person business, look for a provider that offers the hardware you need at a price that makes sense for you.
Pricing models
Pricing structure is the biggest factor you want to look out for when shopping for a vendor. Typically vendors will use one of three models: flat-rate pricing, interchange pricing or tiered pricing.
- Flat-Rate pricing: This is the simplest and most commonly used pricing model by mobile credit card processors. For every credit card or debit card transaction, you are charged a fixed percentage of that transaction. If your business has low sales volume or small-ticket items, this might be the most beneficial pricing structure for you
- Interchange-plus pricing: This model consists of two components: an “interchange” and a “plus.” The interchange is a processing rate set by the credit card company. The second rate is the markup set by the credit card processor itself as the profit. For example, a typical interchange-plus pricing structure looks like 1.8% plus £0.30 per transaction. This model is considered the fairest pricing structure because of its transparency, but it will make your statements difficult to read
- Tiered pricing:This model breaks down transactions into three categories: qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified transactions. Not surprisingly, qualified transactions tend to receive the best rates while non-qualified transactions receive the least advantageous rates.Unfortunately, this model is the most common pricing model available. While it will make your monthly statements easy to comprehend, the transaction fee will likely be higher than you were expecting as the provider will advertise the lowest possible rate and most transactions will not actually qualify.
Merchant account fees
The fees associated with a merchant account vary by provider. Make sure to read the contract carefully to assess what fees your business will likely accrue.
A setup fee will be the first fee you are likely to encounter. It is a one-time fee typically required to set up the new merchant account. Your merchant account might also charge a monthly fee (sometimes referred to as a statement fee) for the preparation of your monthly statement, a gateway fee for remote or online transactions, a monthly minimum fee for accounts that fall below a monthly minimum, an annual fee for maintaining the account and a customer service fee for merchant support.
These additional fees can increase your cost-per-transaction to well over 3%, so make sure to factor them into the overall cost of a vendor when shopping for merchant accounts.
Scalability
Consider where you see your business going in the next year, five years or ten years. Will the system you set up now be able to grow with you? Will it be easy to switch if it can’t? Does it make sense to sign up for a more costly system now to save headaches in the future?
Methodology
To choose the payment processors that are the best fit for small business merchants, we selected seventeen providers and analysed their pricing and fee transparency, essential and advanced features, customer support, reviews and recognition from customers and third-party reviewers and looked at the provider’s offerings. The five best-rated services made our final list.
Pricing
For pricing, the most important aspect we looked for was a transparent fee structure, such as for keyed transactions; swipe, chip or tap transactions; and online transactions. We also looked at other fees, such as subscription discounts, BACS processing and international payments. If the provider offered online quotes, that also weighed into our scoring, which accounted for 20% or the final score.
General features
The general features that we considered essential for a merchant account service provider to have include a reporting dashboard, invoicing, data exports, contactless payments and integrations with third-party software. General features accounted for 20% of our weighted scoring.
Advanced features
Some advanced features we looked for include offering fast deposits,Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, a variety of customer support options, such as live chat, blog, phone and/or a knowledge base, and even more detailed invoicing options. We weighted advanced features at 25% of our total score.
Third-party reviews
How others viewed each merchant account service provider also played a part in our rankings. We turned to third-party review sites, including Trustpilot and Capterra, and looked at what real users had to say about each service and how they scored them. Those who scored higher (4 and higher on a 5 scale) did significantly better in this category. These reviews accounted for 20% of the total score.
Expert analysis
Finally, our experts took everything discussed above into consideration, looking specifically at a provider’s popularity and any stand-out functionality it offered, to come up with our own analysis. These final criteria make up 15% of the total score.
1
Square
Monthly fees
No
Mobile card reader
£19 + VAT
Mobile, POS, online and e-commerce transactions
Yes
1
Square
On Square’s Website
Featured Partner
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the best merchant service for a small business?
While you should take careful considerations of the unique needs of your business, our research putsSquareandStripeat the forefront of the merchant account services industry. Neither option requires a monthly fee, and both offer a wide variety of services that make them appealing to business owners.
Can I accept credit cards without a merchant account?
You can acceptcredit cardpayments and debit card payments in-store and onlinewithout a merchant accountby using a payment service provider, such as PayPal, Stripe or Square. These modern payment processors have merchant account functions built in, so you don’t have to open a separate merchant account with a bank.
How do I avoid merchant fees?
You can accept payments from customers without merchant fees by accepting cash or using a merchant service provider that offers no-fee credit card processing (cash discounts). With a no-fee account, customers cover your transaction fees, and you offer an in-store “cash discount,” so their final total is less if they pay in cash.
How do I receive money from my merchant account?
When a customer swipes their card or enters their information online, the charge goes to the card issuer for approval. Once it’s approved, the issuer puts money in your merchant account, and the money can be transferred manually or automatically to your business bank account. Payouts can be instant (usually with a fee), take one to two business days or happen on a set schedule, such as monthly or weekly.
What if my business doesn't qualify for a merchant account?
You might have trouble getting or keeping a merchant account if your business is considered ahigh-risk merchant, usually because you’re in an industry that incurs many chargebacks or cancellations or has a high failure rate for new businesses.
In this case, look for merchant account services targeted at high-risk merchants. They usually charge higher fees than the providers in this list, but they make it possible for high-risk merchants to continue to do business.
What is the difference between a merchant service provider and a payment gateway?
While they perform similar functions, a merchant account and a payment gateway are two distinct things. A merchant account refers to the bank account that facilitates transactions to your business.
A payment gateway is essentially the technology that processes the card transactions for your business. You can check out our guide to thebest payment gatewayson the market for more information.
How much do merchant services cost?
Typical monthly and transaction fees vary depending on your industry and the types of transactions you need to accept. Banking Automated Clearing System (BACS) payments – for memberships or service providers – usually are lowest at under 1% per transaction.
In-person payments can be cheaper, depending on your service provider, and they’re usually higher for restaurants than retail businesses.
Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Forbes adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by ourpartners.
Dana MirandaContributor
Dana Miranda is a certified educator in personal finance (CEPF) who has been writing and editing since 2011, covering personal finance, careers and digital media. She’s written about work and money for the New York Times, CNBC, The Motley Fool, The Penny Hoarder, a column for Inc. and more. Dana has taught journalists, writers and editors how to write for the web through Utah Valley University, Queen's University at Kingston, ACES: The Society for Editors, the National Association for Independent Writers & Editors, online courses and private trainings. Find her at danasitar.com.
Rob WattsEditor
Rob is an SMB writer and editor based in New Jersey. Before joining Forbes Advisor, he was a content producer at Fit Small Business. In that role, he was responsible for writing, editing, and strategising content geared toward small business owners. Before that, he worked at PCMag as a business analyst.