Payment Insights, Guides & Industry Analysis for UK Businesses

The UK payments landscape is evolving fast, with rising processing fees, new technologies and increasing competition between payment providers.
The Insights hub from Compare Card Fees brings together expert guides, real-world data and practical advice to help UK businesses compare payment providers, reduce costs and improve performance.
Whether you're reviewing your current payment setup, switching providers or scaling your business, you’ll find clear, actionable insights across ecommerce, retail and SME payment solutions.

2026 UK Payments Report

The UK payments landscape has undergone a fundamental shift over the past decade. Cash usage continues to decline, digital payments dominate retail, and ecommerce has become a core . . . View Full Report

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Latest Insights & Analysis

Latest data, guides and analysis on UK payment providers.

Marketplace and platform businesses have fundamentally more complex payment requirements . . . Explore

Open banking is one of the most significant changes to . . . Explore

Both Direct Debit and open banking offer UK businesses a . . . Explore

Pay by Link is one of the most practical additions . . . Explore

An online payment system is the combination of technology and . . . Explore

Digital wallets, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal, have become . . . Explore

Your payment gateway is one of the most commercially significant . . . Explore

A payment gateway that sits in isolation, not connected to . . . Explore

Exclusive Rates From as Low as 0.26% Compare Rates Here . . . Explore

MOTO stands for Mail Order and Telephone Order. These are . . . Explore

Switching payment providers is simpler than most UK businesses expect. . . . Explore

Many UK businesses stay with a payment provider long after . . . Explore

Switching payment providers is not always free, and the total . . . Explore

Most merchant services quotes are not directly comparable. Providers present . . . Explore

A chargeback is a transaction reversal initiated by the cardholder's . . . Explore

When you receive a chargeback, your first instinct may be . . . Explore

Prevention is significantly more cost-effective than disputing chargebacks after the . . . Explore

Card fraud affects UK businesses across every sector and size. . . . Explore

Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is a legal requirement for most . . . Explore

The best payment gateway for your business depends on how . . . Explore

Payment gateway and merchant account are two of the most . . . Explore

Payment gateway pricing is inconsistently presented across UK providers. Some . . . Explore

When setting up online payments, one of the first decisions . . . Explore

"What should I be paying to process card payments?" is . . . Explore

Most UK businesses assume their card processing rate is fixed . . . Explore

Three charges appear on almost every UK merchant statement. Very . . . Explore

If you have ever looked at your merchant statement closely, . . . Explore

Most UK business owners receive their merchant statement every month . . . Explore

Most UK business owners notice the charge on their statement. . . . Explore

When you compare card processing quotes from UK providers, two . . . Explore

Every time a customer pays by card, a fee leaves . . . Explore

Switching to a better card processing deal is straightforward in . . . Explore

Every term you are likely to encounter on a merchant . . . Explore

If you have ever bought something online, you have used . . . Explore

Switching merchant account providers is easier than most UK businesses . . . Explore

The right merchant account for a small business depends on . . . Explore

Some UK businesses are classified as high-risk by payment providers. . . . Explore

Merchant account pricing is rarely as simple as a single . . . Explore

Opening a merchant account is the step that enables your . . . Explore

If you want to accept card payments in your business, . . . Explore

The UK payments landscape has undergone a fundamental shift over . . . Explore

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