UK Merchant Fees Benchmark 2026: Card Processing Costs, Interchange & Provider Rates

UK merchant fees in 2026

If you are trying to understand how much UK businesses pay to accept cards, these are the key figures:

• The average cost to UK merchants of accepting card payments is around 0.6% of transaction value, according to the Bank of England.

• The Bank of England also says the smallest merchants pay more than four times as much on average as very large merchants.

• Where the UK Interchange Fee Regulation applies, consumer-card interchange is capped at 0.20% for debit cardsand 0.30% for credit cards.

• Current publicly advertised pay-as-you-go rates include 1.69% for in-person payments with SumUp and 1.75% for UK in-person card payments with Square.

• Stripe currently advertises 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards online.

• Revolut Business currently advertises in-person domestic consumer-card pricing of 0.8% + 2p, with different rates applying to commercial and international cards.

• There is no single standard UK merchant-processing rate. Pricing depends on turnover, transaction value, card mix, payment channel, risk, provider and pricing model.

The important figure for a business is therefore not simply the advertised transaction percentage. It is the total effective cost of accepting its particular mix of payments. 

Processing cost is only one part of choosing a merchant account. Provider appetite, integrations, settlement, payment methods and contract structure can be equally important. Our main Merchant Accounts guide explains the wider merchant-account options available to UK businesses.

UK merchant fees benchmark 2026

Important: these figures are not directly interchangeable.

The Bank of England's 0.6% figure is a market-wide estimate of average merchant card-acceptance cost. The SumUp, Square, Stripe and Revolut figures are publicly advertised prices for specific products and transaction types.

They should not be interpreted as a ranking of providers or as the rate every business would receive.

Sources: Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator, SumUp, Square, Stripe, Revolut Business.

About this comparison: provider prices shown are publicly advertised prices included for reference. Inclusion does not represent a recommendation or ranking. Where Merchant Advice Service has a commercial relationship with a provider, this is disclosed separately.

If your current costs appear high against market benchmarks, our Payments Strategy Library explains the wider factors established businesses should consider before renegotiating or changing payment provider.

What is the average merchant fee in the UK?

There is no universal UK merchant-processing fee.

However, the Bank of England provides one of the most useful independent benchmarks currently available.

In February 2026, Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden reported that the average cost to UK merchants of accepting card payments is around 0.6% of transaction value.

The same Bank of England analysis highlighted a significant difference between businesses of different sizes: the smallest merchants pay more than four times as much on average as very large merchants.

Read the Bank of England source.

That difference is important.

A £10 million-a-year merchant operating on negotiated interchange-plus-plus pricing does not have the same cost structure as a small business using a pay-as-you-go card reader.

For that reason, saying that a business “should be paying 0.6%” would be misleading.

0.6% is a market benchmark, not a merchant-account quote.

Why can small businesses pay more for card processing?

Scale can affect card-payment economics.

Larger merchants may be able to negotiate acquiring margins and commercial terms based on their transaction volumes, while smaller merchants often use simpler fixed or blended pricing structures.

The Bank of England's finding that the smallest merchants pay more than four times the average cost paid by very large merchants illustrates just how significant this difference can be.

Some providers also explicitly offer different pricing for higher-volume businesses.

For example, Square states that custom pricing is available for businesses processing more than £200,000 in annual sales.

Similarly, many traditional merchant acquirers do not publish a single standard transaction rate because pricing is determined following an assessment of the business.

This is why comparing your current arrangement should normally start with your own processing data rather than somebody else's headline percentage.

Read: Compare UK Payment Providers.

What is included in a merchant processing fee?

The percentage appearing on a merchant quote is not necessarily the whole cost of accepting payments.

Depending on the provider and pricing structure, a merchant may encounter:

• interchange

• card-scheme fees

• acquirer or processor margin

• transaction charges

• authorisation fees

• gateway fees

• monthly account fees

• terminal rental

• PCI-related charges

• chargeback fees

• refund charges

• minimum monthly charges

• international-card charges

• currency-conversion costs.

The Payment Systems Regulator describes the merchant service charge as the amount charged to the merchant for card-acquiring services and notes that it normally includes interchange as one component.

For a full breakdown, see our Merchant Account Fees Explained guide.

What are interchange fees in the UK in 2026?

Interchange is one part of the card-payment cost chain.

Where the UK Interchange Fee Regulation applies, the current caps are:

The Payment Systems Regulator explains that following the UK's withdrawal from the EU, these caps generally apply where the merchant, acquirer and issuer are all located within the UK and the transaction falls within the scope of the regulation.

View the Payment Systems Regulator's Interchange Fee Regulation guidance.

Is interchange the same as my merchant fee?

No.

This is a common source of confusion.

The 0.20% and 0.30% figures are interchange caps, not caps on what a payment provider can charge a merchant overall.

A merchant's total cost may also include scheme and processing costs, acquiring margin and additional service charges.

If your provider uses interchange-plus or interchange-plus-plus pricing, these different components may be shown separately.

Read our guide to interchange rates and card-payment pricing.

Published card-processing rates in the UK

Public provider pricing can provide useful reference points, particularly for small businesses.

It is important, however, to compare the same transaction types.

An online international commercial-card transaction should not be compared directly with an in-person domestic consumer debit-card transaction.

SumUp merchant fees

SumUp's standard UK pay-as-you-go pricing is currently:

1.69% per in-person transaction

with £0 monthly fixed cost under the standard pay-as-you-go option.

SumUp also advertises its Payments Plus plan at:

0.99% on eligible transactions + £19 per month.

Check current SumUp pricing.

The lower percentage does not automatically mean the subscription plan will be cheaper for every merchant. Businesses need to compare the monthly cost against their processing volume and card mix.

If your turnover has increased considerably since you first chose a simple card reader, see our guide: Outgrown SumUp? How to Switch to a Better Payment Provider.

Square merchant fees

Square currently publishes the following UK-card rates:

Different pricing applies to non-UK cards.

Check current Square pricing.

Square also states that custom pricing may be available to businesses with more than £200,000 in annual sales.

Stripe merchant fees

For online payments, Stripe currently advertises integrated UK pricing of:

1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards

and:

2.5% + 20p for EU cards.

Stripe also offers custom pricing for companies with large payment volumes, high-value transactions or particular business models.

Check current Stripe UK pricing.

Again, an advertised starting or standard rate should be considered alongside the business's actual card and transaction mix.

Revolut Business merchant fees

Revolut Business currently publishes more granular pricing according to card type.

For in-person Visa and Mastercard payments, its current pricing includes:

Different pricing applies to online transactions, American Express, Revolut Pay and other payment methods.

Check current Revolut Business payment acceptance pricing.

This example is useful because it demonstrates why a single provider can have multiple processing rates depending on the card being used.

Why the cheapest advertised percentage may not be the cheapest option

Imagine two providers:

Provider A charges 1.4% plus 25p.

Provider B charges 1.7% with no fixed transaction charge.

Which one is cheaper?

There is no answer without knowing the merchant's average transaction value.

For a £10 transaction:

• 1.4% = 14p

• plus 25p

• total fee = 39p

• effective cost = 3.9%

For a £100 transaction:

• 1.4% = £1.40

• plus 25p

• total fee = £1.65

• effective cost = 1.65%

This simple example demonstrates why businesses with a low average transaction value should pay particular attention to fixed per-transaction charges.

It also explains why comparing percentages without understanding the underlying transaction data can produce the wrong conclusion.

Figures above are illustrative MAS calculations and do not represent a recommendation of a provider.

What is an effective merchant processing rate?

One useful way of examining your current costs is to calculate an effective processing rate.

A simple starting formula is:

Total relevant payment-processing costs ÷ total card turnover × 100

For example:

If a business processes £50,000 during a month and its relevant card-processing costs total £600:

£600 ÷ £50,000 × 100 = 1.2% effective cost

That figure can provide a more meaningful starting point than looking at one percentage on a statement.

However, merchants need to be consistent about what they include.

You might choose to include:

• transaction fees

• authorisation fees

• gateway fees

• account charges

• PCI charges

• terminal costs.

Chargebacks and exceptional one-off costs may be better reviewed separately depending on what you are trying to measure.

For help reading your bill, see How to Understand Your Card Provider's Transaction Statements.

Blended pricing vs interchange plus vs IC++

The way a merchant is charged matters just as much as the headline percentage.

Blended pricing

With blended pricing, different underlying payment costs are combined into a simpler merchant rate.

For example, a provider might charge one percentage for most in-person transactions.

This can be easy to understand and forecast.

The downside is that the underlying components of the cost may be less visible.

Interchange plus pricing

Interchange-plus pricing normally separates the underlying interchange from the provider's own processing or acquiring charge.

This can give the merchant more visibility into the underlying economics of different card types.

Interchange plus plus – IC++

Interchange-plus-plus pricing typically separates three broad elements:

1. interchange

2. scheme and processing costs

3. acquirer or processor margin

This type of pricing is frequently relevant to higher-turnover and more complex merchants because it makes more of the cost stack visible.

The cheapest model depends on the individual business.

A merchant should not assume that blended pricing is expensive or IC++ is automatically cheaper simply because one appears more transparent.

Why card type affects merchant fees

Not all cards have the same underlying cost.

A merchant's card mix can include:

• UK consumer debit cards

• UK consumer credit cards

• commercial or corporate cards

• premium cards

• EEA-issued cards

• international cards

• American Express

• digital wallets funded by underlying cards.

This explains why two businesses processing exactly the same turnover can still have very different payment costs.

Revolut's published pricing, for example, currently charges a different rate for domestic consumer cards and domestic commercial cards.

Stripe similarly publishes different standard pricing for UK and EU cards.

The relevant comparison is therefore not:

“What percentage is Provider A charging?”

It is:

“What would Provider A charge for the types of transactions my business actually processes?”

Why European cards can cost UK merchants more

Cross-border card fees deserve particular attention for ecommerce businesses and merchants with international customers.

Following the UK's departure from the EU, Visa and Mastercard increased interchange on certain card-not-present transactions between the UK and European Economic Area.

The relevant rates increased from:

• 0.20% to 1.15% for consumer debit

• 0.30% to 1.50% for consumer credit.

The Payment Systems Regulator subsequently investigated the market and concluded that Mastercard and Visa faced ineffective competitive constraints in relation to these fees.

Read the PSR's cross-border interchange fee market review.

For merchants selling internationally, customer location and card origin can therefore be material when comparing providers.

What is happening to Visa and Mastercard scheme fees?

Interchange is only one part of card acceptance costs.

The Payment Systems Regulator has also investigated the scheme and processing fees charged by Mastercard and Visa.

Its review found concerns around competition, pricing complexity and rising fees. In July 2026, the PSR introduced final measures intended to improve transparency around scheme and processing fees and strengthen governance of Visa and Mastercard pricing decisions.

Read the PSR's card scheme and processing fees review.

This matters to merchants because changes further down the card-processing cost stack can eventually influence the amount businesses pay to accept payments.

It is another reason why looking only at regulated interchange does not provide a complete picture of merchant costs.

Are ecommerce merchant fees higher?

They can be, but there is no universal ecommerce rate.

Online transactions can have different:

• fraud risks

• authentication requirements

• gateway costs

• international-card exposure

• card-not-present pricing

• chargeback profiles.

Public provider pricing illustrates the variation.

Square currently charges 1.75% for an in-person UK-card transaction but 1.4% + 25p for an online UK-card transaction.

Whether one is actually more expensive for a particular merchant depends partly on transaction value.

This is why MAS does not publish a blanket statement such as “online merchants should pay X%.”

Are high-risk merchant fees higher?

They frequently can be, but there is no universal high-risk merchant rate.

Providers may assess factors including:

• industry

• product or service

• merchant location

• customer location

• average transaction value

• processing volume

• refund levels

• chargeback history

• future-delivery exposure

• subscription models

• fulfilment time

• regulatory requirements

• trading history

• processing history

• countries and currencies required.

For example, an established retailer delivering low-value goods immediately presents a different acquiring exposure from a new travel business accepting large deposits months before the customer travels.

The phrase “high risk” therefore describes an underwriting assessment, not a standard price band.

Businesses with more complex requirements can read our High-Risk Merchant Accounts guide.

Should merchant fees fall as your business grows?

Potentially.

If your business originally chose a simple fixed-rate card reader when processing £2,000 per month but now processes £50,000 per month, it may be worth reviewing the arrangement.

The original provider may still be competitive.

But the increase in turnover may mean:

• different pricing models become available

• bespoke pricing can be negotiated

• fixed subscription models become more economical

• alternative acquirers become relevant.

Cost is not the only consideration.

Businesses should also examine:

• integrations

• settlement

• reliability

• contract length

• customer support

• reporting

• fraud tools

• recurring payments

• token migration

• currencies

• international acceptance.

Read: Tips for Switching Merchant Account Provider.

Why we do not publish unsupported “typical sector fee” tables

You may see UK payment-processing benchmarks presented like this:

The problem is not necessarily that a range is wrong.

The problem is that a benchmark is only as useful as the data behind it.

Before treating a processing-fee range as an industry benchmark, it is worth asking:

• How many merchant accounts were analysed?

• When was the data collected?

• Were these quoted rates or actual fees paid?

• What turnover bands were represented?

• What was the average transaction value?

• Were fixed transaction charges included?

• Were monthly and gateway fees included?

• What proportion of transactions involved international cards?

• Were commercial cards included?

• Was the calculation weighted by transaction value?

• Were merchants using blended, IC+ or IC++ pricing?

• How was “high risk” defined?

Without that information, a fee range is better described as an estimate or observed range, rather than an industry benchmark.

Merchant Advice Service therefore separates the information in this guide into:

Independent market data
Figures published by organisations such as the Bank of England.

Regulatory data
Rules and figures published by the Payment Systems Regulator.

Provider-published pricing
Current prices published directly by payment providers.

MAS calculations or analysis
Calculations performed by Merchant Advice Service and clearly labelled as such.

This makes it possible for readers — and other publishers — to verify where each number originated.

How to benchmark your current merchant fees

If you want to know whether your current processing arrangement is competitive, collect the following information before comparing providers.

1. Monthly card turnover

How much do you actually process?

Use several months if your business is seasonal.

2. Number of transactions

Transaction count matters where fixed authorisation or per-transaction charges apply.

3. Average transaction value

A 20p fixed charge has a very different impact on a £10 transaction than a £500 transaction.

4. Card-present vs card-not-present volume

Separate in-person, ecommerce, telephone and recurring payments where possible.

5. UK vs international cards

International-card exposure can materially change your underlying cost.

6. Consumer vs commercial cards

Commercial cards can attract different pricing.

7. Your total fees

Do not look only at the merchant service charge.

Check:

• processing

• authorisations

• terminal rental

• gateway

• account fees

• PCI

• chargebacks

• other service charges.

8. Settlement

Check how quickly your money reaches you.

Cost matters, but cash flow matters too.

9. Contract terms

Look at:

• minimum term

• notice period

• terminal agreement

• exit charges

• equipment ownership

• gateway arrangement.

10. Integrations

If your payments connect to an EPOS system, website, booking platform or CRM, switching provider may involve more than replacing a card machine.

Our Compare UK Payment Providers guide explains how to compare these wider requirements.

UK Merchant Fees Benchmark methodology

Merchant Advice Service created this benchmark to provide a transparent reference point for UK businesses researching payment-processing costs.

We currently use three principal categories of evidence.

Independent market data

Figures published by bodies such as the Bank of England.

Regulatory data

Current rules, market reviews and published findings from the Payment Systems Regulator.

Public provider pricing

Prices published directly on UK provider websites.

Provider pricing was checked on 11 August 2026.

We do not describe publicly advertised provider prices as UK market averages.

We do not describe an anecdotal pricing range as an industry benchmark unless the underlying sample and methodology can be explained.

Where Merchant Advice Service performs its own calculations, these are identified as MAS calculations.

Where future MAS research uses anonymised merchant statements or processing data, we will publish:

• sample size

• data period

• merchant turnover bands

• payment channels

• calculation methodology

• relevant exclusions.

This page will be updated as new independent data, regulatory information and provider pricing becomes available.

Sources and reference links

All core figures in this article can be checked against the original source.

Bank of England

Talking 'bout next generation – speech by Sarah Breeden, February 2026
Source for the average UK card-acceptance cost and differences between smaller and very large merchants.
View Bank of England source.

Payment Systems Regulator

The Interchange Fee Regulation
Source for UK consumer debit and credit interchange caps.
View PSR source.

The IFR and merchants
Additional explanation of when UK interchange caps apply.
View PSR merchant guidance.

Market review into cross-border interchange fees
Source for the PSR's work on UK-EEA cross-border card fees.
View PSR cross-border review.

Market review into card scheme and processing fees
Source for the PSR's findings and 2026 measures around scheme-fee transparency and pricing governance.
View PSR scheme-fees review.

Provider pricing

SumUp UK pricing
View current SumUp pricing.

Square UK pricing
View current Square pricing.

Stripe UK Checkout pricing
View current Stripe pricing.

Revolut Business payment acceptance pricing
View current Revolut Business pricing.

Editorial and commercial disclosure

Merchant Advice Service is an independent payments information and comparison website. We may receive a fee from some payment providers where a business chooses to proceed following an introduction. This does not influence the statistics, regulatory information or publicly advertised provider pricing included in this article.

Providers have not paid for inclusion in this benchmark unless explicitly stated. Provider prices included in the article were taken from publicly available information on the providers' own websites and were checked on the date shown above. Pricing, eligibility and terms can change, so businesses should check current information directly with the relevant provider before making a decision.

Merchant Advice Service does not present publicly advertised provider prices as market-wide averages. Market and regulatory statistics are taken from the original sources referenced and linked throughout this article.

Merchant Advice Service does not provide legal, regulatory or financial advice. Information is provided for general guidance and comparison purposes.