Do you need a merchant account? Merchant services in the UK explained
You do not need to apply for a merchant account in the UK if you use SumUp (1.69%), Square (1.75%) or Zettle (1.75%): their merchant services come bundled, so you sign up and take cards the same way you would open an app account. A merchant account in your own name, through Dojo, Barclaycard, Worldpay or a bank, only pays once your card takings pass about £3,060 a month if you rent the terminal.
Below that line, stay on a flat-rate reader. Above it, the lower rate starts to cover the terminal rental. With a free terminal the lower rate wins at any volume, but you take on a minimum term and fees Dojo does not publish. The arithmetic for the £5,000 a month shop is below.
Rates checked 27 August 2026 (Dojo November 2026); contract terms checked 25 August 2026 unless a row says otherwise.
What a merchant account is
A merchant account is where your card takings land before they are paid into your business bank account. It carries a merchant ID (MID), which is how the card schemes know whose money it is. Every card payment in the UK passes through one. The only question is whether it is yours or your provider's.
SumUp, Square and Zettle are payment facilitators: they hold one master merchant account and sign up businesses underneath it. That is why there is no separate application, and why the price is one flat percentage on every sale. Contract providers open an account in your business name, underwrite you, and price you individually. Our explainers on payment facilitators vs merchant accounts, merchant acquirers and merchant IDs go into the plumbing.
UK merchant account providers compared
Every cell comes from the provider's own site or published terms. Where a provider does not publish a term, the cell says so.
| Provider | Published in-person rate | Minimum term | Exit fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp | 1.69% pay as you go; 0.99% on domestic cards with Payments Plus (£19/month) | None; pay-as-you-go, subscriptions run monthly or yearly | None stated; unused subscription periods are not refunded |
| Square | 1.75% | None; terminate from account settings at any time | None stated |
| Zettle by PayPal | 1.75% | None; "no long-term commitments or rentals" | Not addressed in the published terms |
| Dojo | 1.2% all-in blended under £100,000 a year; a custom rate quoted per business above | 12 months, then monthly rolling (under £1m annual card turnover; negotiated above) | An early account closure fee can apply if you leave before your minimum term; the amount is not published ("based on your agreed plan"). No early closure fee if you end within the first month |
| Barclaycard Payments | Bespoke rates | Countertop and Portable readers: 18 months. Smartpay Touch: 12 months. Smartpay Anywhere: no contract | Countertop/Portable: variable, priced per remaining month. Barclaycard's own examples: "£7 x two months left in your contract = £14 plus VAT cancellation fee" (Countertop) and "£10 x two months left in your contract = £20 plus VAT cancellation fee" (Portable). Smartpay Touch and Anywhere: £0 |
| Tyl by NatWest | 1.39% + 5p (UK/EU personal cards) or 1.99% + 5p (other cards), published under £50k/year card value; custom quote above | 12-month contract on card machines | Tyl contradicts itself. Its pricing page lists "Cancelling your contract" among the things there is "no extra charge for"; its help centre still says "There may be a termination fee if you're ending your Tyl contract early". No amount is published |
| Worldpay | Bespoke rates | Not published | Not published |
| Lloyds Cardnet | Bespoke rates | Minimum 6 months: "Your joining fee covers setting up your account and includes a minimum 6-month agreement". Card machine rental is a separate agreement | Not published |
| Elavon | Bespoke rates | None for a business that is not a Large Corporate or Large Charity: it can end the agreement "at any time" on one month's notice (s.25.1.1). The 36-month Initial Term binds Large Corporates and Large Charities only (s.25.1.2). Terminal hire has its own Minimum Hire Period under separate hire terms; length not stated (s.6.3) | Leaving within 6 months of the start date: a Termination Fee covering Elavon's "reasonable costs" (amount not published). After 6 months: "free of charge" (s.25.8). Ending a terminal hire inside its Minimum Hire Period: "certain monies will be payable" (s.6.3) |
The full table of providers, with hardware prices and cancellation guides, is on our card payment provider comparison.
What it costs the £5,000 a month shop
| Route | Sum | A month |
|---|---|---|
| SumUp, no merchant account needed | £5,000 × 1.69% | £84.50 |
| Square or Zettle, no merchant account needed | £5,000 × 1.75% | £87.50 |
| Dojo, own merchant account, Dojo Wired rented | £5,000 × 1.2% + £15 | £75.00 |
| Dojo, own merchant account, terminal free through MerchantSwitch | £5,000 × 1.2% | £60.00 |
| Barclaycard, Worldpay, Lloyds Cardnet, Elavon | Rate Not published | Quote only |
At £5,000 a month the own-account route with a rented terminal saves £9.50 a month on SumUp (£84.50 − £75.00), or £114.00 a year. Dojo's fees schedule also lists fees whose amounts it does not publish, so check the full quote.
Now the £2,000 a month stall: SumUp costs £2,000 × 1.69% = £33.80, against Dojo's £24.00 + £15 = £39.00 with a rented Dojo Wired. The flat-rate reader wins by £5.20 a month, so if you would be renting the terminal, do not open a merchant account to save money at that size. With the terminal free it is £24.00, cheaper on paper, but weigh that against the minimum term and Dojo's unpublished fees.
The crossover is the rental divided by the rate gap: £15 ÷ (1.69% − 1.2%) = about £3,060 a month. With a Dojo Go Max at £25/month it is about £5,100. For a statement-based answer at your own volume, send us a statement for a free statement review.
Which route to take
No merchant account (SumUp, Square, Zettle): under about £3,060 a month by card, a new business, or one that trades in bursts. No minimum term on any of the three, per their published terms.
Your own merchant account: above that line, or when you need the terminal to talk to a till. If you are weighing an EPOS at the same time, our EPOS systems comparison shows which tills tie you to one card provider. Read the minimum term column before you sign: 1 of the 9 providers above do not publish one at all.
Provider by provider, our reviews of takepayments, Paymentsense, Worldpay and Tide set out what each publishes. The card machines hub and the rates table cover the rest.
Want the sums at your own turnover?
Tell us what you take by card each month and we will price the flat-rate and own-account routes side by side. Free, no obligation.
Merchant account questions
Do I need a merchant account to take card payments in the UK?
No, not as a separate application. SumUp (1.69%), Square (1.75%) and Zettle (1.75%) take you on under their own merchant account, so you sign up, buy a reader and take cards. Contract providers such as Dojo, Barclaycard, Worldpay and Lloyds Cardnet set one up in your business name as part of onboarding. Either way the merchant account comes with the provider; you never shop for it on its own.
What are merchant services?
Merchant services is the bundle that lets a business accept cards: the acquiring (the bank side that collects the money from the card schemes), the terminal or online gateway, and settlement of the takings into your business bank account. A merchant services provider sells you that bundle, priced as a percentage of each sale plus any terminal rental or monthly charges.
Who are the main merchant account providers in the UK?
The table on this page covers nine: SumUp, Square and Zettle on published flat rates; Dojo on a published 1.2% blended rate under £100,000 a year; and Barclaycard, Tyl by NatWest, Worldpay, Lloyds Cardnet and Elavon, which quote per business. Of those, Worldpay, Lloyds Cardnet and Elavon publish no minimum term or exit fee at all, which we record as Not published rather than guess.
Can I get a Barclays merchant account?
Yes, through Barclaycard Payments, which quotes its rate per business. Its published contract terms: Countertop and Portable readers: 18 months. Smartpay Touch: 12 months. Smartpay Anywhere: no contract. Leaving early: Countertop/Portable: variable, priced per remaining month. Barclaycard's own examples: "£7 x two months left in your contract = £14 plus VAT cancellation fee" (Countertop) and "£10 x two months left in your contract = £20 plus VAT cancellation fee" (Portable). Smartpay Touch and Anywhere: £0. You do not need to bank with Barclays to apply, but compare the quote against the flat rates in the table first.
How much does a merchant account cost?
On the £5,000 a month shop: SumUp £84.50, Square and Zettle £87.50, Dojo £60.00 on its 1.2% rate before any terminal rental (£75.00 with a Dojo Wired at £15/month). Barclaycard, Worldpay, Lloyds Cardnet and Elavon do not publish a rate, so their cost is whatever the quote says; hold it up against these numbers.
Is a dedicated merchant account cheaper than SumUp or Square?
Only above a certain turnover. Dojo's 1.2% with a rented Dojo Wired (£15/month) beats SumUp's 1.69% once card takings pass about £3,060 a month; with a Dojo Go Max at £25/month, about £5,100. Below that, if you would rent the terminal, the flat-rate reader is cheaper and you should stay put.
MerchantSwitch is a free comparison service; we are paid by providers when we successfully match a business. We are an introducer, not a lender or acquirer, and we are not regulated by the FCA.