UK merchant service providers fall into three groups: payment apps that publish a flat rate and open in days, bank owned acquirers that underwrite you and quote against turnover, and resellers that sell someone else's acquiring through a consultant. Which group a provider is in tells you more about how you will be priced than any brochure.
The three groups, and how each prices
Apps publish a blended rate, no minimum term, and settle into an account they open for you. Bank owned acquirers underwrite, quote bespoke above a threshold and usually attach a term. Resellers sit on top of an acquirer, sell through a consultant and rarely publish anything. None is inherently better; each suits a different size and stage of business.
Six questions that separate them
What is the in-person rate for UK consumer debit and credit? What for commercial and non UK cards? Is there an authorisation fee or a minimum monthly charge? What is the term and the early termination charge? When does money settle? And who owns the hardware if I leave? Any provider unwilling to answer all six in writing is telling you something.
What the market looks like on published numbers
Of the thirty two UK providers read for this index, eleven print an in-person rate, ten publish none and are described that way, and two refuse to be read. That distribution is not a scandal, and it is a planning fact: a shortlist built only from published pricing will miss half the market, and a shortlist built from calls will take a fortnight.
Questions people ask about merchant service provider
What is a merchant account provider?
The firm that provides your card acceptance: the account, the processing and usually the terminal. It may be an acquirer itself, a payment institution aggregating merchants, or a reseller selling another firm's acquiring.
How do I compare merchant account providers fairly?
On the same six questions asked of each: the in-person rate, the rate for commercial and non UK cards, fixed charges, the term and exit fee, settlement timing, and hardware ownership on exit.
Do the biggest providers offer the best rates?
Not necessarily, and several of the best known publish no rate at all. Size affects service and stability more than price; price follows your turnover and your negotiating position.
How do merchant service providers differ on what they publish?
Sharply, and it is a planning fact rather than a scandal. Of the providers read for this index, about a third print an in-person rate on their own pages, about a third publish nothing and quote after a conversation, and a couple refuse to be read at all. A shortlist built only from published pricing is therefore a partial shortlist, so supply the same figures to the unpublished ones and make them quote against it.