Best Online Payment Gateway For Small Business UK

1.Paypal

Paypal is considered as the world’s best trusted, popular and preferred brand among payment gateways. It is also UK’s number one most preferred payment gateways.  Paypal was first founded in 1998 and since then its has been running successfully throughout the country. It is present in more than 200 markets across the globe and also has more than 360 million active customers presently using it. It accepts 100 different currencies from worldwide and also supports almost every international credit card and debit card. The companies that commonly use Paypal are Amazon, Goldsmiths, Little woods etc. Recently they had won Webby award and Webby People’s choice award in 2006 for their outstanding customer performance. 

Features of Paypal

• Easily set up
• All international cards are accepted
• Prevents fraud
• Price plans are flexible
• Offers buy now and pay later offers
• Most reliable

Pros of Paypal 

• Possible to pay with paypal account directly

• Accepts international card and payments

• Recurring payments are supported 

Cons of Paypal

• High fee charge for low volume merchants

• Customization is possible only on expensive versions

2.Amazon pay

The A-to-z Guarantee also covers your qualified purchases at Amazon Pay’s secure checkout. The Amazon Pay checkout solution improves your company’s consumer engagement, brand visibility, and security by enabling daily payments from hundreds of millions of Amazon customers. Your whole credit card, debit card, or bank account number is not disclosed to websites or nonprofit organisations using Amazon Pay. Only the data needed to complete and support your transaction is provided to the merchant. Your name, email address, and delivery address are examples of this data.

Due to further security measures, Amazon Pay transactions online are becoming even more secure. You could be taken to your bank’s or your card issuer’s website during checkout to confirm your credit card or debit card payment. On the Amazon website, you can register for Amazon Pay. You can add it to your website or list products on the Amazon marketplace as long as you have a business account with the platform. Unlike other payment processing providers, Amazon also provides the advantage of finishing your payment processing online. This implies that once Amazon Pay is integrated inside your website, customers won’t need to leave it to transact with you.

3.Stripe

Stripe is a well -known Irish American financial service and software company that has its dual headquarters situated at Dublin and San Francisco. Stripe is somewhat different from other payment gateways in UK because it offers payment gateway with a range of API’s. This gives us full control of the look and feel of the payment pages which enables us to create a great shopping experience. Stripe has most recently gained utmost popularity in UK because of its transparent pricing systems. It is designed for gateway in UK and it offers payment with several ranges of API’s. Stripe is also customizable to look based on our stores designs and helps to have a good and comfortable shopping experience. It accepts all international credit and debit cards and payments can be made in more than 100 currencies.  Major companies like Google, Shopify, Amazon and Wayfair work with Stripe. 

Features of Stripe

• PCI complaint
• Live sales Reporting 
• All international cards are accepted
• Prevents fraud
• Price plans are flexible
• Most reliable
• Flexible invoice

Pros of Stripe

• Simple, transparent pricing

• Accepts international card and payments

• Payment gateway can be customized easily

• Designed suitable for all business sizes

Cons of Stripe

• Must have technical knowledge

• Not suitable for use in physical stores
• Customization is possible only on expensive versions

4.Cardstream

Cardstream is the only company in UK to have providing a fully independent white label payment gateway to consumers. It is an independent company with various connections and network which can help us get set up if we don’t already have one. The system accepts card payments on its website and also provides real time virtual terminal so that payments can also be made through email. The main difference with Cardstream is that its entirely independent of banks and other payment companies that process card payments which means that we can use cardstream as our online payment gateway regardless of which bank is holding our card. 

Features of Cardstream

• Create a fully branded gateway page on chosen URL
• Allows to take payments over phone
• Alternative payments include PayPal, Apple pay, Masterpass.
• Secure payment can be done
• All cards are accepted
• Price plans are flexible
• Real time reporting provided

Pros of Cardstream

• Fully customizable

• No setup fees

• Offers virtual facilities

• Recurrent billing

• ACH payment processed

• Payment solutions available to both small and large enterprises

Cons of Cardstream  

• Fees not publicly disclosed
• 12 month contract
• Slightly expensive
• Not ideal for small business
• Includes contract and termination fee. 

5.Authorize.net

Authorize.net provides the tools you need to collect payments quickly and effectively everywhere, whether in person, online or through various mobile devices. Additionally, Authorize.net offers an outstanding round-the-clock support staff that can assist you with virtually any payment-related issue. Automated recurring billing, sophisticated fraud detection security settings, recurring payments, and straightforward checkout options are some additional services offered by authorize.net. It syncs with Quickbooks as well. Authorize.net is a cloud-based point-of-sale system for companies that enable them to manage payments received in person, online, and over the phone. It connects to the donor database and is simple to use.

6.Opayo

Opayo utilizes this payment gateway to accept payments quickly and safely. Take card payments anywhere, anytime, in a store or on the go. Utilize its virtual terminal to accept credit card payments over the phone. Payments can be made at any time using the Opayo payment gateway, which also accepts Paypal and credit and debit cards from over 25 countries. Opayo is a payment gateway and merchant account combined. It is renowned for providing high-security levels while charging small businesses, large corporations, and everyone in between fair fees for transaction processing.

Because the Opayo payment gateway is entirely customizable, you can design a checkout process that matches the aesthetic of your website. You can even use Opayo for in-person transactions to keep all of your payment information in one location. Opayo, previously Smart Pay, has expanded throughout the years yet continues to be popular with small businesses. The payment gateway provider hasn’t forgotten its beginnings, and its small company solutions are perfect for anyone starting an internet business.

7.Shopify

In the UK, Shopify is a well-liked all-inclusive ecommerce platform that provides everything you need to launch an online business. The best option for Shopify users is Shopify Payments, which makes sense. It maintains your website’s tools and your payment gateway under one roof. Additionally, it has no transaction costs, which will significantly increase SME revenues. Remember that you would incur much higher transaction fees, ranging from 0.5% to 2%, if you abandon Shopify Payments and integrate a third-party payment gateway provider into your Shopify website.

The Shopify Payments tool can be easily added to the backend if you already have a Shopify account. To enter the necessary information, go to settings click Payments and click Activate Shopify Payments. If you already have a Shopify account, you may use the Shopify ecommerce add-on to avoid transaction costs altogether. Customers can safely save their payment information with Shop Pay for upcoming purchases.

8.Braintree

Braintree is owned by PayPal but the company operates mostly like an independent entity from its parent company likewise. Braintree operates differently from PayPal in the sense it provides that they are not talking about a direct alternative. In contrasts to many companies, Braintree does not aggregate multiple merchants. The gateway is also highly customisable designed for programmers and tech savvy businesses owners. Braintree offers online payment gateway that’s designed in order to integrate with all kinds of e-Commerce platforms across UK. It enables small and medium businesses to accept payment through their website as well as mobile app. The company initially started along with Paypal but is now working as a independent subsidiary. It is one of the most used payment gateways worldwide with more than 300 billion transactions. Payment process is very easy as it uses credit card, debit cards and ACH payments. Braintree has fraud free protection for all merchants and extra security features also. 

Features of Braintree

• Accepts all type of cards like credit, debit card and gift card.
• Allows customer to pay with simple phone number
• Accepts transfer from 26 different currencies

Pros of Braintree

• Braintree has affordable pricing plan
• Offers higher level of fraud and charge protection
• Available in many countries

Cons of Braintree

• Does not offer software development kits
• Must have technical knowledge

• Development work required to intergrate braintree
• Fund can be held for long periods

9.Worldpay

Worldpay is UK’s biggest payment service provider and offers everything we need, in store and over the phone also. It offers one of the best robust payment gateways in the industry but default design is dated for it though. Worldpay is one of UK’s leading payment gateway provider that processes half of all the payments taking place in the UK. Worldpay now has more than 20,000 customers who are using the app as the number one payment gateway. Also Worldpay is leading in UK with close to 7.9 billion transactions processed as of 2017. Worldpay also provides online transactions and payments is received through credit /debit cards and also E-Wallets. Due to its efficiency Worldpay is used in both small business enterprises and large enterprises and business companies. This payment gateway also provides a virtual terminal that allows us to capture payments from customers through phone and is also possible to keep a track of all payments using real time reporting. 

Features of Worldpay

• Secure payment can be done
• All cards are accepted
• Price plans are flexible
• Real time reporting provided

Pros of Worldpay 

• Offers virtual facilities

• Recurrent billing

• ACH payment processed

• Payment solutions available to both small and large enterprises

 Cons of Worldpay  

• Slightly expensive
• Not ideal for small business
• Includes contract and termination fee.