Most merchant services shortlists are built from the providers that answer the phone quickest, which is the opposite of useful. The Payment Systems Regulator's own conclusion is that this market does not work well for small and medium-sized merchants, and the reason is visible on the pricing pages: a third of the providers on this index print a rate, a third print nothing, and a couple cannot be read at all. So the ranking below is on transparency, because a price you cannot see is a price you cannot compare.
Three providers, and the criterion each was judged on
Each pricing page was read on 30 September 2026. The criterion is what the provider puts on its own page before a conversation: a rate, the card types it applies to, and the conditions attached. It is not a claim that these three are cheapest for you, which depends on your card mix and your volume and cannot be read off any page.
- Tyl by NatWest: judged on publishing a rate BY CARD TYPE. Under a stated annual turnover threshold its own page prints one transaction rate for personal UK and European cards and a separate, higher one for everything else, which is the only shape that lets a debit heavy business predict its bill. Above that threshold the price is bespoke, and the page still names the five things the invoice is made of rather than going quiet.
- Square: judged on a published plan ladder with nothing to negotiate at the bottom. Its own page prints a free tier with no setup fee and no monthly fee, a paid tier above it, and a bespoke band for high turnover, so at entry the whole cost is the processing fee and you can work it out yourself before signing up.
- Teya: judged on publishing the CONDITION as well as the price. Its own page states the monthly fee that applies when card turnover falls below a stated floor, which is exactly the sort of term that usually lives in the merchant agreement rather than on the pricing page. Knowing it in advance is worth more than a slightly better headline rate.
Transparency is the criterion because the market is not transparent
The regulator reviewed this market and concluded it does not work well for small and medium-sized merchants, with comparing and switching named as the practical difficulty. That is the condition a buyer is actually in, so the first useful sort is not cheapest to dearest but readable to unreadable. Providers that publish let you build a shortlist in an afternoon; the rest need the same three figures supplied to each before they will quote.
What to send the providers that publish nothing
Your last twelve months of card acceptance, your average transaction value and your merchant category. Those are what the pricing tools and the consultants ask for anyway, and sending the identical three to every unpublished provider is the only way to get quotes that can be laid side by side. Without them you get a range, and a range is not a quote.
The rate is not the whole price, on any of them
Authorisation fees per transaction, a minimum monthly service charge, PCI compliance fees, chargeback fees and an early termination charge are all real and none is in the headline percentage. Ask for each as its own line, and ask which of them appear in a month where you take almost nothing, because that is the month a minimum charge is designed for.
Then check the exit before you check the price
The term, the notice period and the early termination charge are set in the merchant agreement rather than on the pricing page, and they are what turns a keen rate into a three year commitment. Get the notice period and the exit cost in writing, and ask what happens to the hardware if you leave, because a bought terminal is certified to one platform and worthless on another.
Questions people ask about best merchant services
Which are the best merchant services for a small UK business?
The ones you can price before you commit, which is a smaller set than the market. Start from the providers that publish a rate for your card mix, get comparable quotes from two that do not, and decide on the total of rate, fixed fees and exit cost rather than the advertised percentage.
Is the cheapest advertised rate usually the cheapest account?
Not reliably. A low blended rate can sit above a higher card-type rate once commercial cards, non UK cards and a minimum monthly charge are counted. Work your own last twelve months through each quote; it is the only comparison that survives contact with a statement.
Why do so many providers not publish a price?
Because they price per merchant on turnover, average transaction value and category, and because a published number invites comparison. It is not evidence of a bad deal, and it does mean a shortlist built only from published pricing is a partial one.
Should I use my business bank for merchant services?
Worth quoting, not assuming. Bank owned acquirers underwrite properly and some publish clearly, but the account is a separate contract from the bank account and the same questions apply: rate by card type, fixed fees, term and exit.
How often should merchant services be re-tendered?
At every term end, and sooner if your card volume or mix has changed materially. Rates quoted against last year's turnover stop fitting once the turnover moves, and the regulator's own finding is that few merchants switch, which is what keeps stale pricing in place.