Social commerce payment gateways UK: which are best?

What to take away

Named UK gateways and their published rates

"Gateway" is a loose term in UK payments. Payment gateway describes the software that authorises a card, passes the request to the acquirer and returns a result to your checkout.

Stripe and Worldpay sell a gateway together with a merchant account. You hold the account, so you keep the customer record and the dispute file.

Shopify Payments does the same work inside a Shopify store. It removes a separate integration, but ties the rate to the plan you pay for.

PayPal acts as wallet and processor at once. Buyers who have never heard of your brand often trust a PayPal button more than a bare card form.

SumUp started with card readers and now settles online payments too. On small baskets it beats percentage-plus-fixed pricing on the fixed part.

Platform commission is not a card rate, and TikTok Shop fees UK shows what the platform deducts per sale before a gateway is involved.

Published UK rates, before VAT:

Tariffs change, and negotiated pricing beats published pricing once your card volume is large enough to ask. Get every figure confirmed in writing in GBP, with the fixed fee shown separately.

Payment methods that shape the shortlist

UK shoppers expect a debit card to work first time. Behind most pay-by-bank buttons sits Faster Payments, which moves money between UK banks in near real time. Wallets remove typing on a phone, which matters on social.

Shortlist against these five:

Example: a £30 order on two gateways

On Stripe at 1.5% plus 20p, a £30 order costs 45p plus 20p, so 65p before VAT. Add VAT at the standard rate and the true cost is 78p, or 2.6% of the order.

On Shopify Payments Basic at 2% plus 25p, the same order costs 60p plus 25p, so 85p before VAT and about £1.02 with it. That is 3.4%.

The fixed pence hurts cheap items most. On a £10 basket, 20p alone is 2% before any percentage applies.

Chargeback ownership by route

Platform checkout is quick to start, but you inherit the platform's payment methods and its dispute process. Which platform you pick decides who holds the account, and Facebook Shops vs TikTok Shop UK compares how the two handle checkout and payouts.

What to test before you go live

Write the fee, its VAT and the refund into your accounts from the first sale.

Refunds, VAT and fee records

Where a distance sale is cancelled inside the 14-day cooling-off period, the refund must go back by the same means of payment unless the shopper agrees otherwise. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 set that duty out, so check the gateway can refund to the original method rather than by store credit.

Gateway and processing fees are standard-rated. VAT rates gives the current standard rate to add to the fee, which you reclaim as input tax if you are registered. The VAT rules for social commerce cover the sales side, a separate calculation from the fee side.

Common questions

Which gateway is best for a UK social seller?

Start with Stripe if you run your own checkout, or Shopify Payments if your shop sits on Shopify. Add PayPal as an alternative method rather than your only one, and move to a negotiated Worldpay tariff once your card volume justifies the application.

Who owns the chargeback on each route?

Whoever holds the merchant account. Platform checkout leaves that with TikTok or Meta, so you never manage disputes. On Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal or Worldpay the liability lands on you, and your evidence pack decides the outcome.

Do I need my own merchant account?

Only if you take card payments on your own domain. Platform checkout removes the setup work and the dispute control in the same move.

Can I switch gateway later without losing customer data?

Yes, but the work sits in the checkout integration and the stored payment records. Moving before you hold stored cards is cheaper than moving after.