WhatsApp and Telegram +44 7563 115980
[email protected]
What makes up a card fee, how blended and interchange plus plus pricing differ, and what each costs on real sales. UK prices read 27 October 2026.
Published online rates from the major processors serving UK businesses, plus the quoted rates that only come on request. You see them side by side, on your own sales.
The short answer
Payment processing fees are what you pay to accept a card. Blended pricing charges one rate for every card, such as Stripe's 1.5% + 20p on standard UK cards. Interchange plus plus passes on the card issuer's fee and the card scheme's fee at cost, then adds the processor's margin, such as Adyen's £0.11 + 0.60%. Prices read 27 October 2026.
Published prices read on 27 October 2026 from each provider's own pricing page. Quote only or not published means the provider gives rates on request; we obtain those for you.
| Provider | Standard UK card rate | European and international cards | Monthly fee | Payouts | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe Source | 1.5% + 20p standard UK cards; 2.8% + 20p premium UK cards | 2.5% + 20p EEA; 3.15% + 20p international; +2% if converted | £0 | Standard free; instant 1% (min 40p); first payout 7 to 14 days | Pay as you go |
| Adyen Source | £0.11 + interchange++ + 0.60% | Same structure; interchange is higher | £0, no setup fee | Flexible, you choose | Not stated |
| PayPal Source | 2.9% + 30p standard; 1.2% + 30p for advanced card payments | +1.29% EEA, +1.99% other markets | £0; £20 for Website Payments Pro | Free withdrawal to bank | Not stated |
| Mollie Source | 1.20% + 20p UK consumer cards | 2.90% + 20p European and UK commercial; 3.25% + 20p other | £0 | 5 free a month, then 25p each | No lock-in |
| Viva.com Online Source | 2.19% + 24p UK consumer cards | 2.06% + 24p plus interchange and scheme fees | Not published for online | Not published | Not published |
| Square Online Source | 1.4% + 25p UK cards | 2.5% + 25p non-UK cards | £0, or Plus from £29 | Next day; instant 1.95% | Not stated |
| Checkout.com Source | Quote only (interchange++) | Quote only | No setup or account fees | Not published | Not published |
| Worldpay Source | Indicative quote, e.g. 1% debit, 1.8% credit + 4.5p | Quote only | £5 PCI fee; £15 minimum monthly charge | 24 hours | Not shown in tool |
Rates are for online card payments taken by UK businesses, before VAT where the provider states it. Premium, business and non-UK cards usually cost more. Our service is free to you. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose; it never changes the price you pay.
Tell us about your business. We compare the whole market, including the processors that only quote on request, and come back with the lowest total cost for your online sales and the right set-up. You keep a named account manager after setup.
Our service is free to you. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose; it never changes the price you pay.
Every card payment carries three costs, whichever way you are charged for them.
Interchange is the fee the card issuer, your customer's bank, receives on each payment. For UK consumer cards used with a UK business it is capped: Viva.com's UK price list states 0.20% for debit and prepaid cards and 0.30% for credit cards. Business cards, premium cards and cards issued abroad carry higher interchange. PayPal's fee page says interchange ranges from approximately 0.2% to 2%.
Scheme fees are what Visa and Mastercard charge for using their networks. They are small per payment but complex, with different charges for authorisation, clearing and cross-border use. Few processors list them in full.
The acquirer's margin is what your processor keeps for its service, risk and profit. This is the only part you can negotiate. How it is presented to you is the difference between blended and interchange plus plus pricing.
With blended pricing, sometimes called flat-rate pricing, the processor rolls interchange, scheme fees and its margin into one published rate. Stripe charges 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards. Mollie charges 1.20% + 20p for UK consumer cards. Square Online charges 1.4% + 25p for UK cards. SumUp charges 2.5% for online payments.
The advantage is simplicity. You know what each payment costs before it happens, and your statement is easy to check. It also protects you when customers use expensive cards, because the processor carries that variation.
The disadvantage is that you pay the same margin on a cheap debit card as on an expensive one. Since UK consumer debit interchange is only 0.20%, a blended rate of 1.5% leaves most of the fee with the processor. Some blended providers split their rates by card group, such as Stripe's separate 2.8% + 20p for premium UK cards and 3.15% + 20p for international cards.
Interchange plus plus, written IC++, charges you the actual interchange and the actual scheme fees for each payment, then adds the processor's margin as a separate, fixed charge. Adyen publishes its margin: £0.11 per payment plus 0.60% for Visa and Mastercard. Checkout.com says it prices on interchange plus plus and quotes each business.
Others offer it on request. PayPal publishes an interchange plus option for its Advanced Credit and Debit Card Payments at interchange + 1.2% + 30p, and says interchange plus plus is available on request. Stripe lists IC+ pricing in its custom packages for large volumes. Mollie offers IC++ pricing to businesses processing more than £50,000 a month.
The advantage is that you see every part of the cost and pay less on cheap cards. The disadvantage is that your costs vary with your card mix, statements are harder to read, and scheme fees are rarely listed in advance.
Take one £50 payment on a UK consumer debit card. Under Adyen's IC++ pricing, interchange at 0.20% is 10p, the 0.60% margin is 30p and the fixed fee is 11p: 51p plus scheme fees. Under Stripe's blended rate of 1.5% + 20p it is 95p. On a UK consumer credit card, interchange at 0.30% makes Adyen 56p plus scheme fees. Stripe is still 95p.
Now take £20,000 a month in 400 payments of £50, all UK consumer debit. Adyen comes to £44 in fixed fees, £120 margin and £40 interchange: £204 plus scheme fees. Stripe comes to £300 plus £80: £380. Mollie's blended 1.20% + 20p comes to £240 plus £80: £320.
The gap narrows when customers use premium, business or foreign cards, because their interchange is higher. If half your payments are on such cards, ask for a modelled quote on your actual card mix before you choose.
The rate is only part of the bill. Ask every provider for its full fee list. Published examples, read 27 October 2026:
UK card acquirers such as Worldpay now give businesses a standard summary of their card charges so they can compare providers. Worldpay's pricing tool shows its summary and says it is required to provide this information by the Payment Systems Regulator. The summary lists the rate for personal debit, personal credit and business cards, in person and online, plus the authorisation fee, chargeback fee and monthly charges.
Ask each provider you are considering for the same summary, based on your real turnover and average sale. Then put your own card mix through each one: the share of debit, credit, business and foreign cards, and your number of payments. This is the only reliable way to compare a blended rate with interchange plus plus.
If you already take cards, your last three monthly statements show your card mix. We use them to model the total cost with every provider.
We compare the whole online payments market for you, including the processors that only quote on request, such as Worldpay, Checkout.com, takepayments and Elavon. We look at your real card mix, average sale and the countries you sell to, and work out the total monthly cost with each one, including monthly charges, dispute fees and payout costs, not just the headline rate.
We then negotiate the rate and terms, handle the application and the switch from your current processor, and give you a named account manager who stays with you after you go live and reviews your costs as your sales grow. Our service is free to you. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose; it never changes the price you pay.
Payment processing fees are what a business pays to accept card payments. They are made up of interchange, paid to the customer's bank; scheme fees, paid to Visa or Mastercard; and the processor's margin. You may also pay fixed fees per payment, monthly charges and chargeback fees.
Interchange plus plus, or IC++, charges you the actual interchange and scheme fees on each payment, plus the processor's margin as a separate charge. Adyen publishes its margin as £0.11 per payment plus 0.60%. Checkout.com quotes on this basis, and PayPal, Stripe and Mollie offer interchange-based options.
Blended pricing rolls interchange, scheme fees and the processor's margin into one published rate. Stripe's 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards and Mollie's 1.20% + 20p for UK consumer cards are blended rates. They are simple to understand but charge the same margin on cheap and expensive cards.
Often, when most of your payments are on UK consumer debit and credit cards, because their interchange is capped at 0.20% and 0.30%. On £20,000 a month of £50 debit payments, Adyen costs about £204 plus scheme fees against £380 at Stripe. Premium and foreign cards narrow the gap.
For UK consumer cards used at UK businesses, interchange is 0.20% for debit and prepaid cards and 0.30% for credit cards, as Viva.com's UK price list states. Business, premium and foreign cards carry higher interchange, which PayPal says ranges up to about 2%.
Yes, the processor's margin is negotiable, especially above about £10,000 to £50,000 a month. Stripe offers custom pricing for large volumes, Mollie offers volume pricing above £50,000 a month and Braintree discounts above £50,000. We negotiate on your behalf.
Tell us what you need and where you operate.