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The 10 Best Alternative Payment Aggregators

In a world where more transactions occur without cash and through online platforms, it’s imperative as a merchant to stay competitive and offer your customers simplified methods to pay for your products or services.

Enter payment aggregators. Payment or merchant aggregators are third-party payment solutions that allow for easy merchant sign-up directly underneath the third-party’s merchant identification number to process transactions through a single master account. This allows for businesses to start credit card and online money transfers without the need of an individual merchant account through a bank or other financial services provider. 

Most payment aggregators provide a simple and transparent fee structure, usually without the need to sign up with a fixed contact. Once you complete the quick sign-up process, merchants are typically approved within days and can begin processing e-commerce transactions immediately. 

Generally, merchant aggregators are only appropriate for small to medium-sized businesses that have a lower monthly transaction volume. Businesses with higher monthly transactions may end up paying more fees than with other payment processing solutions. 

Once you decide if a payment aggregator is right for your business, you can begin researching the pros and cons of each individual provider. We have compiled a list of the 10 best alternative payment aggregators in the UK to help save you some time and hassle.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Bolt Payments

Founded in 2014 but only made public 2018, Bolt Payments is a payment platform with all-in-one services for ecommerce retailers. Unlike other existing solutions, Bolt includes all the following into one single platform: a payment gateway, payment processor, shopping cart, fraud detection services, and personal data entered by the customer.

The Pros

With fewer fields for customers to fill out, the checkout process is expedited. Bolt provides a virtual terminal so merchants can take payments on their computers or phones. It integrates with major shopping carts such as: BigCommerce, Drupal Commerce, Magento 1, Magento 2, Prestashop, Shopify, Volusion, and WooCommerce. Bolt’s risk team reviews any fraudulent activity that their in-house technology detects.

The Cons

Bolt seems to be directing its efforts to draw online businesses that pull in seven to nine figures in sales annually. Therefore they currently do not service smaller ecommerce businesses.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Authorize.net

One of the oldest options on this list, Authorize.net offers two payment solutions: just payment gateway or both payment gateway and merchant account services. They claim they have over 400,000 merchant customers worldwide.

The Pros

Setup is free. Clear pricing information is laid out on their website. They offer automatic recurring billing and customer data storage. Fraud prevention tools are also available. Easy integration into QuickBooks.

The Cons

Online reviews say that their fees might be a little higher than some competitors. They also charge additional fees for extra currencies.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Payoneer

Payoneer claims to have 4 million users and can handle payments in 150+ currencies. They offer local currency accounts, billing services, and marketplace payment solutions.

The Pros

No fee for sign-up. No fees on receiving payments from another Payoneer customer. They claim that they can save you up to 90% on your payment fees. 

The Cons

No pricing information disclosed on their website. Not the best option for online stores and is more suited to payments with freelancers and other affiliates. There are some online reviews that cite poor customer service experience. 

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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WorldPay

Worldpay is one of the largest payment processors in the UK and says that they offer solutions to over 300,000 small businesses. Their online payment gateway allows you to accept payments from all major credit and debit cards in over 116 currencies.

The Pros

They offer a combination of flexible tiered and interchange-plus pricing plans. Offers fraud screening to help keep your business safe. Pay-by-link is an available payment option. You can also set up recurring and subscription-based payment plans for your customers. They generally have positive reviews online. There is no joining fee. Offers 24/7 support based out of the UK.

The Cons

Their fees are not disclosed online and you must speak with them over the phone for more information.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Paypal

Paypal is likely the first name that comes to your mind when you consider online payment options, and that notoriety is fairly earned. Paypal claims that over 20 million shoppers use their services every year in the UK alone, and 7 million businesses use their services worldwide.

The Pros

Transparent pricing information available upfront on their website. Optimised for mobile checkout solutions. Built-in fraud protection. You can receive payments directly from your customers’ Paypal accounts. Easy integration with a wide variety of platforms.

The Cons

May not be the best pricing option for merchants with lower monthly transaction volumes due to increased fees. It has a mixed ratio of positive and negative reviews, though this is to be expected from a company of this size.

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Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Stripe

A growing provider in the industry, Stripe boasts that it has millions of users with global offices in many major cities. They offer payment solutions for subscription services, e-commerce, and crowdsourcing platforms.

The Pros

They provide clear pricing structure information on their website with no setup, monthly, or hidden fees. They provide real-time fee reporting and competitive processing rates. They place an emphasis on the technical side of their software.

The Cons

Some reviews note that integration requires a bit more technical knowledge than other options, but they do offer extensive walkthroughs to help get you through it. Account transfers are on a 7-day rolling basis, which can be slower than other options.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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2Checkout

2Checkout provides transaction solutions worldwide, claiming that they service over 50,000 merchants and support transactions from most major payments in 26 currencies and 15 languages.

The Pros

Clear pricing package information available on their website. Integrates with most popular online shopping carts, and allows for APIs and connectors. Provides a reporting and analytics dashboard. Email and chat support available through their website.

The Cons

There are negative reviews online regarding sudden account closure and poor customer service to get issues resolved.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Adyen

Adyen promotes itself as an innovative payment solution platform whose aim is to provide a simple, state-of-the-art payment structure. They offer B2B, B2C, and subscription checkout solutions that integrate with your business’ website, mobile site, and app.

The Pros

Can integrate their checkout system by drop-in, adding specific components that integrate with your own forms, or API only to build your own customised form. They also offer pay-by-link. There are no setup fees and their transaction fees are competitive.

The Cons

Minimum monthly invoice requirement of €100, so they might not be a viable solution for smaller merchants. Online reviews say that they typically settle funds into your account once a week, which may be slower than other providers.

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Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Klarna

Klarna is a good payment solution integration for e-commerce shops built using the EKM platform. They are unique because they offer deferred payment and finance options to your customers, while still providing the payments to your business upfront.

The Pros

Extensive fraud protection. Customisable metrics through their dashboard allows you to track what’s important to you. Simple integration in your online platform with automatic software updates. The Pay Later options can help simplify the checkout process, converting to more sales for your business.

The Cons

There’s no clear pricing information on their website. Some online reviews say that their customers were confused over how the Pay Later service worked.

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A good fit for:

Alternative Payment Aggregators

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Shopify

Shopify is truly a one-stop-shop service. They offer payment processing, website creation and hosting, and seamless integration with other sales platforms, such as Amazon. They are a popular choice worldwide, asserting that they work with over 800,000 businesses.

The Pros

Offers a free 14-day trial. Transparent pricing plan available on their website, starting at £29 per month plus transaction fees. Offer abandoned cart recovery services, which means that you can send reminders to potential customers who put items in their online shopping cart but did not finish a transaction. Access to 24/7 customer service support.

The Cons

There are additional transaction fees for using an alternative payment gateway. Online reviews are more of a mixed bag, but that is to be expected from a company of this size.

Provider of the Month

Why Bolt

Get Double-Digit Growth with Bolt; The Complete Solution for Checkout, Payments & Fraud. Bolt is The Only Full-Stack Market Solution that Guarantees 100% Fraud Protection. Zero Fraud Chargebacks. Frictionless Checkout.

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