A credit card processing fee has three layers: interchange to the customer's bank, scheme fees to Visa or Mastercard, and the acquirer's margin. Most UK providers show you one blended percentage. How much credit card processing fees come to for a business depends on that percentage, the fixed pence beside it and your card mix. The layers matter because two of them are outside your acquirer's control and one is entirely negotiable.
How much are credit card fees, and what are standard credit card processing fees in the UK?
Published in-person rates on this shelf run from 0.79% to 1.75%, and the median across the providers read here is 1.5%. Lopay prints 0.79% on its Essential account for UK consumer Visa and Mastercard, Revolut Business prints prices starting from 0.8% plus 2p, and Zettle, Square and Elavon's Start Simple plan each print 1.75%. Fixed per transaction charges of 2p to 11p are common on top. On 3,000 pounds of monthly card takings the gap between the cheapest and dearest published rate is about 29 pounds a month.
How are credit card fees calculated: the layers you can and cannot negotiate
Interchange is capped for UK domestic consumer cards: the retained Interchange Fee Regulation sets 0.2% of the transaction value for a UK debit card and 0.3% for a UK credit card. Elsewhere it is set by the schemes; you cannot negotiate it. Scheme fees are the schemes'. The acquirer's margin is the only genuinely negotiable part, which is why interchange plus pricing makes negotiation possible and blended pricing makes it opaque. Ask any acquirer to quote both ways if your volume justifies it. Credit card terminal fees, a rental or a one off hardware price, sit outside all three layers and are priced separately.
Credit card payment charges on a merchant statement
Look for the merchant service charge, any authorisation fee counted per transaction rather than per sale, the minimum monthly charge, PCI fees, and refunds and chargebacks charged separately. These are the payment processing fees that sit beside the headline rate. Refund fees catch people out: several providers charge for giving a customer their money back, so a high returns business should ask about that specifically.
Credit card processing rates and the fixed element on small baskets
Published fixed charges here run from 2p to 11p per transaction. On a 3 pound sale, 5p is worth more than a full percentage point. Businesses with small average sales should compare providers on the cost of a typical basket in pence, not on the advertised percentage, and that comparison often reverses the ranking.
Compare credit card processing fees on what each provider prints
A fair credit card processing rate comparison puts the percentage and the fixed pence together. On published UK in-person rates: Lopay 0.79%, Revolut Business from 0.8% plus 2p, myPOS from 1.10% plus 7p, Tyl by NatWest 1.39% plus 5p for personal cards, Tide's Pay As You Go column 1.5% plus 11p, SumUp and Viva.com 1.69%, and Zettle, Square and Elavon 1.75%. What do banks charge for credit card processing? Tyl by NatWest prints its rate, while Barclaycard prints customised pricing and no rate anyone can sign up at, so for that bank the figure is not published and a quote is the only route to it.
Questions people ask about credit card processing fees
What are typical credit card processing fees in the UK?
Published in-person rates run from 0.79% to 1.75%, with the median across the providers read here at 1.5%. Fixed per transaction charges of 2p to 11p are common on top.
How much does credit card processing cost on 3,000 pounds a month?
At Lopay's 0.79% it is about 24 pounds a month before any fixed charge; at the 1.75% printed by Zettle, Square and Elavon it is about 53 pounds. Fixed pence per transaction come on top, so a business with many small sales should add those before comparing.
Why is my statement higher than my quoted rate?
Because the quoted rate covers UK consumer cards presented in person. Commercial cards, American Express, overseas cards and keyed transactions are priced above it, and authorisation and minimum monthly charges are separate.
Can a payment processing fee be negotiated?
The acquirer's margin can be. Interchange and scheme fees cannot. That is why an interchange plus quote makes a negotiation possible and a blended quote hides where the room is.