Nochex UK: Is This Payment Gateway Right for Small Businesses?

Nochex is a UK-based online payment gateway founded in Leeds in 2002, aimed specifically at small businesses and sole traders selling online. It offers a hosted payment page, a telephone and mail order (MOTO) virtual terminal, and a pay-by-link service, all without requiring a separate merchant account. Transaction fees start at 2.9% plus 20p per transaction for UK Visa and Mastercard on its standard no-monthly-fee plan. Nochex is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a payment institution (FCA FRN 757821). It is a narrowly focused product and is not suited to businesses processing high volumes or needing in-person card terminals.

Key Facts: Nochex UK

Who Is This Page For?

This page is for UK sole traders and small business owners who have come across Nochex and want an honest, independent assessment before signing up. It is also useful if you are already using Nochex and want to check whether the fees you are paying are still competitive. If you are comparing Nochex against PayPal, Stripe, or Opayo, the comparison sections below will help you decide.

Nochex Payment Gateway: What Is It?

Nochex is a payment service provider that lets UK businesses accept card payments online without opening a separate merchant account with a bank. Nochex acts as the merchant of record, meaning your customer's funds pass through Nochex's own account before being settled into yours. This makes it faster to get started than applying for a traditional merchant account, which can take one to two weeks and requires a credit check.

The product sits in the same category as PayPal and Stripe: a payment service provider rather than a dedicated merchant account. The key difference is that Nochex is smaller, UK-focused, and has a simpler feature set than either of those two. That is both its strength and its limitation.

Who Is Nochex For?

Nochex suits very small UK online businesses and sole traders who are just starting out and need a simple way to accept card payments without opening a full merchant account. If you sell handmade goods, run a small services business, or take occasional one-off payments, the low barrier to entry and no fixed contract make it accessible. You do not need technical development skills to get started, as Nochex provides a hosted payment page that handles card data on its own servers.

The product also works for businesses that take telephone orders. The virtual terminal lets you key in card details manually, which is useful for tradespeople or consultants who invoice clients by phone. Pay-by-link lets you send a payment request by email or SMS, which covers simple remote payment scenarios without any integration work. For more on this payment method, see our guide to pay-by-link services for UK businesses.

Nochex is not the right choice for businesses processing more than around £5,000 a month in card sales. At that volume, the 2.9% rate starts to cost significantly more than it needs to. A business turning over £10,000 a month in card payments would pay around £290 in transaction fees with Nochex, compared to roughly £150 at Stripe's standard UK card rate of 1.5% plus 20p for the same volume. Larger retailers, subscription businesses, and anyone needing in-person terminals should look elsewhere.

Nochex Features

• Hosted payment page: Nochex hosts the checkout on its own servers, so you avoid storing card data yourself and reduce your PCI DSS scope to the simplest level. Our guide to hosted versus self-hosted payment gateways explains the difference in more detail.
• Virtual terminal (MOTO payments): A web-based interface lets you key in card details for telephone or mail order transactions, useful for service businesses that take bookings by phone. Read more about MOTO payments for UK businesses.
• Pay-by-link: Generate a payment link and send it by email or SMS. The customer clicks through to a secure Nochex-hosted page to pay. No website integration is required.
• Shopping cart plugins: Ready-made integrations exist for WooCommerce and a handful of other older ecommerce platforms, though the plugin library is limited compared to Stripe or PayPal.
• Fraud screening: Basic automated fraud checks are applied to each transaction, including address verification (AVS) and CVV checks.
• Merchant dashboard: A simple online portal lets you view transactions, issue refunds, and download basic reports without needing separate software.
• UK-based customer support: Phone and email support is available during UK business hours, which is a genuine advantage over some larger providers with offshore or automated-only support.
• No merchant account needed: Nochex acts as a payment service provider, so your funds pass through its account rather than requiring you to open and maintain a separate merchant account with a bank. See our explainer on merchant accounts versus payment service providers.

Nochex Fees and Pricing

Nochex publishes three main pricing tiers on its website, though the exact names and thresholds have changed over time and are worth confirming directly before signing up. The standard entry plan carries a transaction fee of 2.9% plus 20p per transaction for UK Visa and Mastercard, with no monthly fee. A mid-tier plan aimed at businesses with higher volumes charges a lower percentage rate alongside a monthly fee of around £10 to £25, which can work out cheaper once you are processing consistently above approximately £2,000 a month.

There is no setup fee and no minimum monthly charge on the basic plan. Refunds are processed without an additional fee, though the original transaction fee is not returned. Chargebacks carry a fee of £15 per disputed transaction, which is broadly in line with the industry standard. There is no charge for PCI DSS compliance itself, though you are expected to complete an annual self-assessment questionnaire. For a broader explanation of what PCI compliance costs UK merchants, see our guide to PCI compliance fees.

International cards and business cards typically attract a higher rate than the standard 2.9%, so if a meaningful share of your customers use corporate cards or are based outside the UK, your effective rate will be higher than the headline figure. Nochex does not publish a full interchange schedule, so it is worth asking for written confirmation of all applicable rates before committing.

Nochex Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• No fixed contract. You can leave at any time without paying an early termination fee.
• No setup fee and no monthly fee on the basic plan, keeping the initial cost of entry to zero.
• FCA authorised (FRN 757821), giving you a regulated payment institution rather than an unregulated intermediary.
• UK-based business and support team, with phone support available during office hours.
• Simple enough for non-technical business owners to set up and use without developer help.

Cons

• The standard rate of 2.9% plus 20p is expensive. At £10,000 monthly volume, you pay around £310 in fees. Stripe charges 1.5% plus 20p for UK cards on its standard plan, which costs around £170 for the same volume, saving you roughly £140 a month.
• Settlement takes three to five business days, which is slower than providers like Dojo or Stripe, which can settle funds by 7am the next business day.
• The integration library is limited. Nochex does not offer the breadth of API documentation, webhooks, or developer tools that Stripe or Opayo provide, making it less suitable for custom-built platforms. See our guide to payment gateway integrations for what to look for.
• No in-person payment terminals. Nochex is purely an online and MOTO solution, so you cannot use it at a market stall, shop counter, or event.
• The platform has not kept pace with the market on features. Subscription billing, advanced reporting, and multi-currency settlement are absent or very basic compared to modern competitors.

Is Nochex Safe? Regulation and Security

Nochex is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a payment institution, registered under FCA FRN 757821. You can verify this on the FCA register at fca.org.uk. Being FCA-authorised means Nochex must meet minimum capital requirements, maintain segregated client funds, and follow the FCA's rules on treating customers fairly.

Card data is handled on Nochex's own servers using SSL encryption. Because Nochex uses a hosted payment page, your customers' card numbers are never transmitted through your own website or stored on your servers. This reduces your PCI DSS compliance obligations to SAQ A, the simplest self-assessment questionnaire level. For more on what secure payment gateways do to protect card data, see our guide to secure payment gateways for UK businesses.

The key question buyers ask is whether a payment showing as "Nochex" on a bank statement is legitimate. If you have bought from a small UK online retailer and see Nochex on your statement, it means the seller uses Nochex to process card payments. It is a legitimate, regulated UK payment provider.

What Is Nochex? A Plain-English Explanation

Nochex is a UK payment service provider that processes card payments on behalf of small businesses selling online. It is not a bank, a card scheme, or a merchant account provider. Instead, it sits between your customer's bank and your business bank account, handling the secure transfer of funds when someone pays by debit or credit card. Nochex Ltd is a private company based in Leeds, registered in England and Wales, and has operated since 2002.

The name sometimes confuses people who receive a payment request from a seller and see an unfamiliar Nochex-branded checkout page. This is normal. It means the business you are paying has chosen Nochex as its payment processor rather than PayPal or Stripe. Your payment is protected by your card issuer's standard purchase protection regardless of which gateway the merchant uses.

Nochex vs PayPal: A Direct Comparison

PayPal is the most common alternative small UK businesses consider alongside Nochex. Both require no separate merchant account and have no minimum contract. PayPal's standard rate for UK transactions is 2.9% plus a £0.30 fixed fee for most card types on its business account, similar to Nochex's 2.9% plus 20p, and marginally higher once the larger fixed fee is factored in. PayPal also offers broader international reach, buyer protection that some customers actively seek out, and a larger plugin library.

Nochex's advantage over PayPal is its UK-focused customer support and a simpler, more direct relationship with merchants. Some sellers prefer not to expose customers to a PayPal login prompt at checkout. For purely UK-focused, low-volume businesses that want a clean hosted page and a UK phone number to call, Nochex remains a credible option. For most businesses comparing the two directly, PayPal or Stripe will offer lower fees and more features. Read our full PayPal Business review for a detailed breakdown.

Is Nochex Right for Your Business?

Nochex works best as a starting point. If you are a sole trader or very small business taking fewer than 50 card transactions a month and you want zero upfront cost, no contract, and a UK company to call if something goes wrong, Nochex is a reasonable choice. The hosted payment page means you can start accepting cards without touching any code or worrying about PCI compliance beyond a basic self-assessment.

The moment your card volume grows past around £2,000 a month, the maths changes. At that point, the difference between 2.9% and a lower rate from a competitor starts to add up to real money every month. A business processing £5,000 a month would save around £70 a month by moving to Stripe's 1.5% plus 20p rate. Moving to a provider with a lower transaction fee and faster settlement is a straightforward switch that most businesses can complete in one to two weeks. Our guide to switching payment providers in the UK walks you through the process.