The Best International Payment Gateways in the UK in 2026

Compare international payment gateways for UK businesses

Multi-currency account and local accounts

8.8

Airwallex

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"Airwallex offers a comprehensive financial platform for businesses. Make global transfers to 150+ countries, receive funds in 20+ currencies. Connect with popular software for a seamless approach."

Taking payments and business banking

8.6

Revolut

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Subscriptions and custom checkout

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Stripe

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Low international card fees

8.5

Sokin

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"Sokin is a global payments platform for businesses. Hold 75+ currencies with free IBAN accounts. Make up to 5,000 payments per batch transfer. Excellent ecommerce payment gateway available."

Taking payments directly from bank accounts

7.8

GoCardless

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Shopify e-commerce stores & POS

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Shopify Payments

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Taking payments from Europe

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Mollie

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Large enterprises

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Adyen

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Airwallex for a multi-currency account and local accounts

Airwallex provides card checkout, foreign-currency balances and local receiving details in one account.

Eligible sales proceeds can reach your Airwallex balance in more than 20 currencies without an immediate conversion into pounds.

You can take payments through a checkout integration, payment links or an API, while local account details also let customers pay you by bank transfer.

Online Visa and Mastercard fees are 1.30% + 20p for UK cards, 2.40% + 20p for EEA cards and 3.15% + 20p for other international cards.

The Explore account costs £19 monthly, waived with £10,000 in deposits or processing volume during the subscription month, or a £10,000 balance at its end.

Subscription Management adds 0.50% per successful card transaction to the processing fee.

When conversion is needed, Airwallex adds 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies and 1% for other currencies.

I think Airwallex makes most sense when retaining foreign revenue has a clear use, especially if overseas suppliers can be paid from those balances.

Revolut Business for taking payments and business banking

Revolut Business combines payment acceptance, currency balances, business spending and transfers in one account.

You can use payment links, checkout integrations or its API, but merchant approval is separate from opening a Business account.

Revolut Pay lets customers pay from their Revolut account alongside your card options, with online payment processing charged at 1% + 20p.

Payments made with UK business cards cost more to process than domestic consumer cards, so Revolut’s 1% rate does not apply to corporate-card sales.

Revolut also supports in-person card acceptance, so you can use it for physical sales as well as online checkout.

Revolut suits you if you want payments and business banking together, especially when your currency exchanges fit within your plan’s allowance.

Stripe for subscriptions and custom checkout

Stripe combines subscription billing with a customisable checkout for connecting payments to your own software.

Hosted Checkout and Payment Links reduce setup work, and Billing handles recurring charges and subscription changes.

Standard Payments has no monthly fee, which suits businesses whose sales volume does not justify an account subscription.

Payouts in additional currencies carry a separate fee, so accepting a foreign currency does not automatically mean you can withdraw it without further costs.

Stripe supports bank payment methods as well as cards, although availability depends on the method, currency and account configuration.

Choose Stripe if subscription management or a custom checkout will save you development work, with Airwallex better suited to keeping and spending foreign sales income.

Sokin for low international card fees

Sokin’s standard processing fees for US-issued cards are lower than Airwallex, Stripe and Revolut’s fees.

Its Checkout product supports WooCommerce and API integration, letting you use a hosted payment page or embed checkout in your website.

GBP card fees are 1.20% + 15p for UK consumer cards, 1.90% + 15p for other UK cards and 2.50% + 15p for international cards.

The fixed authorisation fee varies with the transaction currency, so the 15p figure should only be used when comparing payments charged in pounds.

Sokin charges £2 per refund and £15 per dispute, which can reduce the saving for stores with frequent returns or contested payments.

Sokin can hold a reserve, temporarily withholding part of your sales income.

Sokin is a good fit for frequent US-card sales with few refunds, although conversion and payout costs still affect the total you receive.

GoCardless for taking payments directly from bank accounts

GoCardless specialises in bank collection, making it a useful alternative for invoices, memberships and recurring services where customers can authorise payment from their accounts.

International bank debit supports eight currencies across the UK, Eurozone, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.

Collected funds can be converted into your home currency using a Wise-powered exchange rate and paid into one domestic bank account.

Standard international fees are 2% + 20p, including the FX service, while UK domestic pricing is 1% + 20p with a £4 cap.

Prices exclude VAT, and an additional 0.3% charge applies to Direct Debit payments over £2,000, so the domestic cap is not an unconditional maximum.

International payments with conversion take an extra two to four business days to reach your bank account, so they do not suit urgent cash-flow needs.

Its Pay by Bank product, previously called Instant Bank Pay, supports separate UK GBP collections, which should not be confused with instant international bank debit.

I suggest GoCardless for collecting invoices and recurring bank payments, alongside a card gateway if your customers also want to pay by card.

Shopify Payments for Shopify e-commerce stores & POS

Shopify Payments lets you manage payments, orders and refunds in your Shopify store.

Shopify Payments and Adyen support Shopify’s local-currency checkout, allowing customers to complete their purchase in the currency shown in your store.

Adyen’s Shopify integration requires approval for an existing Adyen organisation, making Shopify Payments the more accessible route for many smaller stores.

An external gateway normally adds Shopify’s own transaction fee on top of that provider’s charges, so cheaper card processing can still produce a higher bill.

PayPal payments avoid Shopify’s third-party transaction fee when Shopify Payments is your primary payment provider.

Shopify also offers POS for physical sales, with hardware and optional POS Pro subscriptions adding to the cost of your retail setup.

Shopify Payments is the simplest choice here for a Shopify store, particularly if you also want to manage physical shop sales in the same system.

Mollie for taking payments from Europe

Mollie suits UK merchants selling to European customers who prefer local payment methods, including iDEAL/Wero, Bancontact and BLIK where available for your account.

These methods let customers in the Netherlands, Belgium or Poland pay in a familiar way, which helps if they prefer them to cards.

Ecommerce integrations and an API let you add those methods alongside cards, with account eligibility and currency support varying by method.

Visa and Mastercard fees are 1.20% + 20p for UK consumer cards, 2.90% + 20p for UK commercial and European cards, and 3.25% + 20p for other cards.

Stripe charges less for standard EEA card processing, so Mollie makes more sense when your customers want its local payment methods.

Foreign-currency payouts require eligibility and matching bank details, with a 1% fee for non-primary currency payouts, subject to a minimum charge.

Choose Mollie to offer European customers familiar payment methods, with Airwallex a better fit if you mainly need to keep foreign sales income.

Adyen for large enterprises

Adyen combines online and in-person payments across countries, with acquiring and payment management in one platform.

Its POS tools suit retailers managing several stores alongside ecommerce more than small businesses needing only payment links.

Card pricing includes a £0.11 processing charge plus interchange++, which combines the card-issuing bank’s fee, the card network’s fee and Adyen’s acquiring markup.

The £0.11 is only one part of the cost, so the total varies with the card and your agreed markup.

Adyen has no setup or monthly fee, but a minimum invoice can apply according to your industry and business model.

It also supports local payment methods and connects with ecommerce systems, including Shopify for organisations with existing Adyen approval.

Adyen suits a large retail business connecting stores and online sales across countries, where shared payment management can justify its minimum invoice.

What can an international payment gateway do for your business?

Take payments at checkout or through a payment link

A gateway connects customer payment authorisation to your checkout, while the associated processing service handles collection and pays the proceeds into an eligible account.

A hosted checkout suits an online store, and payment links let you request payments by email without an ecommerce website.

For paying suppliers after the sale, international business transfers from the UK involve a different service and fee calculation from customer checkout.

Offer subscriptions and customers’ preferred payment methods

Recurring billing decides when and how much to charge, while the payment method determines whether the money comes from a card, wallet or bank account.

A subscription business might use Stripe Billing with cards, or GoCardless with bank debit, depending on customer preferences and the collection process it needs.

Keep foreign sales income or convert it into pounds

Charging a customer in euros, holding a euro balance and withdrawing euros to a bank account are separate capabilities that require separate checks.

Keeping foreign revenue can avoid an immediate conversion when you also have expenses in that currency, although processing, account and payout charges may still apply.

How much will you receive after payment fees?

For a £100 online Visa or Mastercard purchase, these standard processing fees leave the following amounts before account subscriptions, refunds, disputes or other service charges.

Both examples charge and settle in GBP without currency conversion, using an EEA-issued consumer card or a US-issued consumer card.

Sokin leaves more from the US sale in this processing-only comparison, while Airwallex leaves slightly more from the EEA sale.

If you charge in dollars and receive pounds, conversion adds to processing costs, including Stripe’s 2% surcharge or Shopify’s 2% UK conversion fee.

Account subscriptions, billing add-ons, payout fees and Shopify’s external gateway charge can outweigh a small difference between card processing rates.

Sokin’s £2 refund charge reduces its processing savings if your store has frequent returns.

Adyen’s minimum invoice can make it expensive for a small operation, even when its per-transaction pricing looks attractive.

Refunds and disputes can add further fees, and a reserve temporarily withholds part of your sales income, delaying access rather than permanently reducing the payment.

Choose a gateway for your business needs

Payment methods and customer countries

Payment methods are the ways customers pay, including cards, digital wallets and bank payments, with some local methods especially familiar in particular countries.

Offer the methods your buyers use so they can pay in a familiar way.

Multi-currency accounts, local bank details and payouts

Multi-currency support can mean charging in a foreign currency, keeping that currency in a balance or paying it into your bank account.

Local account details, such as an IBAN, are a separate feature that lets customers send you bank transfers instead of paying at checkout.

Airwallex suits you if euro or dollar sales will pay expenses in the same currency, because you can keep eligible sales proceeds without converting immediately.

Revolut Business combines payments with currency balances and banking functions, making it suitable when you want to manage more of your business finances together.

If most of your customers already pay by bank transfer, UK business multi-currency accounts may provide the receiving details you need without adding card checkout.

Ecommerce platforms and APIs

An ecommerce integration connects payments with your store’s orders and refunds, reducing work across separate systems.

An API lets developers connect payments to your own website or software, which gives you more control but requires development work.

Shopify Payments suits an existing Shopify store, including local-currency checkout and payment management within the same system as your orders.

Stripe suits a custom checkout or software product, and Sokin gives WooCommerce stores another card option with a lower US-card processing fee.

If you run a marketplace, seller onboarding and splitting payments between sellers need a separate platform product beyond ordinary shop checkout.

Subscriptions and bank collections

Subscription billing sets the payment schedule and amount, with the money collected through a payment method such as a card or bank debit.

Billing tools help when customers change plans or renew automatically, while bank collection can reduce the work of chasing recurring invoices.

Stripe Billing suits changing subscriptions, and Airwallex connects recurring card payments with the multi-currency account holding your sales income.

GoCardless works for invoices, memberships and recurring services paid from bank accounts, provided its collection and payout timings work for your cash flow.

Online and in-person payments

Point of sale (POS) means taking payments in person, usually through a card reader or other payment device.

Connecting POS with online payments lets you manage website and shop sales in one system.

Shopify Payments suits a retailer already using Shopify, and Revolut Business combines physical card acceptance with its wider business account.

Adyen connects several stores and online sales across countries through one enterprise payments platform.

What do you need to get started?

Once you have collected sales income, you may also need to convert money or pay overseas suppliers through a business transfer service.