Choosing the best card payment gateway for your business
Businesses are now spoilt for choice when it comes to finding the best card payment gateway.
But it’s important to consider several key factors before you commit to ensure your chosen system aligns with your long-term business needs, budget & security requirements.
Here’s our advice on how to choose the best card payment gateway for your business…
1. What’s the size of your business?
If you’re a small start-up taking less than £40k per year, then Stripe might be the best way to go. They have an easy set up & integration, with no monthly, setup or other hidden fees.
However, with Stripe, you will still need to provide your own website & shopping cart software to start selling online. They also charge higher fees, & card payment settlements to your account are much slower than with others.
2. Do you need a separate card payment gateway?
If you’re a bigger business taking more than £40k per year, then look for a gateway that works separately from the acquiring bank. This will help you to reduce costs with better rates as you can use a range of card payment companies.
Think about this before you choose your website platform. Many people choose a website platform like Shopify, Wix or Yell due to the low set up costs but then find that they are locked into using the payment system of that platform at much higher rates than needed.
You might also want to consider whether the card payment gateway has the capacity to grow with your business. As you scale, you may have different, or more complex payment needs & you’ll be keen to ensure that your system can handle any increased demand without compromising on your customer experience.
3. What’s your budget?
There are many fees associated with a card payment gateway including set up fees, monthly service fees, transaction fees, & additional charges such as chargebacks or for international payments.
We recommend that you carefully review any contracts or service agreements for terms related to contract length & early termination fees to make sure you don’t get caught out later if your business needs change.
It’s important to understand what fees apply before you commit, ensuring you find the best long-term option that aligns with your expected volume of transactions & payment types. Don’t be afraid to ask about hidden fees to make sure you fully understand what you are signing up for!
4. How quickly do you want to get paid?
Settlement times can vary depending on which system you choose so it’s important to understand how long it will take for funds to be transferred from your card payment gateway into your bank account. Longer lead times can affect your cash flow & may cause unnecessary stress.
Breathe Payment’s gateway transfer funds the next day making it one of the fastest in the industry.
5. What payments methods do you need?
Making sure that the card payment gateway supports the ways your customer’s like to pay is critical to help improve customer satisfaction & ensure you don’t lose out to your competitors.
Consider the wide range of payment methods including credit & debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay & Direct Debits.
6. How tech savvy are you?
The range of card payment gateways come with varying degrees of ease when it comes to integrating the system with your current website.
SagePay or Worldpay for example required a bit of technical knowledge to get up & running whereas with someone like Stripe, they offer much easier integrations that require a lot less technical expertise.
Before you decide, check how easy the card payment system integrates with your website, e-commerce platform, or accounting software as this is crucial for a great user experience. It is also worth understanding what support you will be given to integrate your systems, to give you peace of mind from the start. If you need advice on this, we can help.
So, what are the best card payment gateway options?
Here is a roundup of the best payment gateway options to help you make the best choice for your business:
1. Adyen
Adyen offer a checkout solution that can work with your website. They don’t charge set up fees & rates are ok. They charge roughly 0.6% – 1.1% + 11p & Amex is 3.95% + 11p.
They also offer multiple currencies & allow all types of payments on one platform. However, they are designed for bigger businesses with a minimum invoice amount of €100. Typically, they make payment to your bank account twice a week so whilst not the quickest, they are faster than some others.
2. Breathe Payments
Breathe Payment’s gateway offers Google & Apple pay & various integrations. You can choose our hosted payment pages for ease of integrations or if you want to keep your website design & the payment page on your page, we also offer hosted fields. This means you still don’t need to handle sensitive card details & the complications that come with that.
For Pay as you Go we charge 0.8% +12p or pay monthly is £10 per month & then 0.5% – 0.9% +10p on debit / credit cards. Lower rates are available for businesses taking over £100k per year.
3. Opayo (Formerly Sagepay)
Elavon bought Sagepay & it’s one of the biggest gateways in the UK. It has plenty of integrations, but the tech is getting a little old, so it’s not the best. Saying that, it’s reliable & secure & with the integrations they’ve built up, it’s a good option.
4. Paypal
PayPal is a market leader with over 7 million businesses worldwide using them to accept payments. Many people already have a PayPal account making set up easier.
However, like some of the other big names, they do come at a premium – especially for smaller businesses with a low volume of sales. Transaction fees range from 1.9% – 3.4% +20p & monthly fees are free with their standard or express payment package, or £20 per month for their pro version.
5. Shopify
Shopify is a hugely popular ecommerce platform which allows its users to create & customise their own online store. They boast an easy set up and free 3-day trial, making them a good choice if you want to get your business up and running quickly. They are a web platform & costs for this start low, but their card transaction rates are high & if you choose their platform, you are then locked into using them for your card transactions.
Monthly fees are £25 for ‘Basic’, £65 for ‘Shopify’, £344 for ‘Advanced’ or $2,300 for ‘Plus’. And depending on which package you choose, online card rates are between 1.5% – 2% + 25p.
6. Stripe
Stripe offers easy integration & transparent pricing making them a go to for many in the market. There are no set up, monthly or hidden fees but you will need your own website or online shopping cart. However, they are expensive for both UK & non UK cards, so if you take more than £40k on cards per year, it’s worth looking at other options.
Rates are 1.5% +20p for UK cards and 2.5% +20p for European cards.
7. Worldpay Online Payments
This is the largest of the payment companies handling over 40% of all card payments in the UK. They offer flexible pricing plans, fraud screening & accept payments in 135 currencies. However, their payment gateway isn’t the best in the market at the moment – with different integration & features that are lagging behind others.
Whilst transaction rates vary depending on your monthly card turnover, they offer different pricing plans depending on what you need e.g for a Pay as you Go plans there is no upfront or setup fees with rates of 1.3% +20p for consumer Mastercard or Visa debit & 2.9% +20p commercial cards & Amex.
Still confused?
Give us a call if you like – we have access to various gateways & acquiring banks, so can advise you on the best option for your business .
Call: 0203 985 9080 or Email: info@breathepay.co.uk