Why can you start taking payments with SumUp in minutes, but a traditional merchant account takes days? It comes down to two different models.
Payment facilitator (PayFac)
SumUp, Square and Zettle are payment facilitators. You sit under their master merchant account, so sign-up is fast and there's no separate underwriting. Trade-off: flat-rate pricing and less negotiation.
Traditional merchant account
Worldpay, Barclaycard and bank acquirers give you your own merchant account. Set-up involves underwriting and takes longer, but you can negotiate bespoke rates — better at higher volumes.
TPThe POS
The POS editorial team
Independent UK payments research. We test, read the small print and write it up in plain English.
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