Entity proof
Our UK acquirer + lender panel.
As of June 2026 the Kartapay panel covers 10 UK-licensed card-payment providers (SumUp UK, Zettle by PayPal UK, Square UK, Worldpay UK, takepayments, Dojo, Tide POS, Stripe Terminal, Barclaycard Smartpay, myPOS UK) and 8 UK-licensed SME finance lenders (Iwoca, Funding Circle, YouLend, 365 Business Finance, Capitalise, Sonovate, Aldermore, Close Brothers Asset Finance). Every entry is FCA-authorised, HMRC-registered, or operates under a recognised UK card scheme. Polish-domestic and Romanian-domestic operators such as polcard.pl, NETOPIA, mypos.com/ro-ro and sumup.com/ro-ro are deliberately excluded because they cannot settle into a UK business bank account.
Every provider Kartapay compares is UK-licensed by the FCA, HMRC, or a recognised UK card scheme; you can verify any firm on the FCA Register. We do not compare Polish-domestic or Romanian-domestic providers. This is the full panel as of June 2026.
Card payment acquirers + facilitators
For card terminals, online gateways, Tap to Pay, and EPOS integration. All UK-licensed.
| Provider | Model | Onboarding language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SumUp UK | Payment facilitator | EN + PL | Pay-as-you-go, Polish helpdesk, no contract. |
| Zettle by PayPal UK | Payment facilitator | EN | Pay-as-you-go, integrates with PayPal. |
| Square UK | Payment facilitator | EN | Pay-as-you-go, EPOS-led ecosystem. |
| Worldpay UK | Acquirer | EN | Contract-based, interchange-plus at volume. |
| takepayments | ISO acquirer | EN | Traditional acquirer, contract-based. |
| Dojo | ISO acquirer | EN | Next-day settlement, contract-based. |
| Tide POS | Payment facilitator (bank-led) | EN | Bundled with Tide business banking. |
| Stripe Terminal | Payment facilitator | EN | Online-first, terminal SDK for custom apps. |
| Barclaycard Smartpay | Acquirer (bank-bundled) | EN | Bundled with Barclays business account. |
| myPOS UK | Payment facilitator | EN | Standalone terminal with built-in IBAN. |
Business finance lenders
For working capital, MCA, asset finance, invoice finance. All UK-licensed and FCA-authorised where required.
| Lender | Product | Authorisation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iwoca | Working capital line | FCA-authorised (713683) | Up to £500k, monthly drawdowns. |
| Funding Circle | Business term loan | FCA-authorised (722513) | £10k-£500k, 6mo-72mo terms. |
| YouLend | Merchant cash advance | FCA-authorised | Advance against card sales, daily holdback. |
| 365 Business Finance | Merchant cash advance | FCA-authorised | £10k-£300k, hospitality + retail focus. |
| Capitalise | Specialty finance marketplace | FCA-authorised broker | Accountant-led panel access. |
| Sonovate | Invoice finance | Non-bank | Recruitment + consultancy specialist. |
| Aldermore | Asset finance | FCA-authorised | Vehicles + equipment, £25k+. |
| Close Brothers Asset Finance | Asset finance | FCA-authorised | Established asset finance lender. |
Who is not on this panel
- Polish-domestic acquirers, polcard.pl, PayTel, eService, Centrum Rozliczeń Elektronicznych Polskie ePłatności. They do not legally settle into UK Ltd bank accounts.
- Romanian-domestic acquirers, mypos.com/ro-ro, NETOPIA, mobilPay, Banca Transilvania POS (Romania-only). Same regulatory reason.
- Polish or Romanian banks, PKO BP, BCR, Banca Transilvania, BRD, ING Bank Romania. They lend to PL/RO-resident businesses, not to UK Ltds.
- Unregulated peer-to-peer lenders, we do not introduce to lenders that lack FCA authorisation, even where authorisation is not legally required.
Reference articles
Background reading on the products this panel sells:
- What is a card machine?, plain-English explainer of UK terminals, acquirers, and payment facilitators.
- How to switch UK card-machine provider, 7-step playbook for moving acquirer without losing sales.
- Chargebacks for UK card-machine merchants, the 1% ratio threshold, 6 common dispute reasons, prevention checklist.
- Glossary, EN / PL / RO definitions of every term used on this page.
- How we compare, editorial method, sourcing, FCA introducer disclosure.
Updating this panel
Adding a provider: we add a provider when (a) the provider has UK trading regulatory authorisation, (b) the provider has either Polish-language or Romanian-language onboarding OR Kartapay can provide live translation, (c) the provider's published fees and contract terms can be independently verified. Removing a provider: we remove when published rates persistently differ from quoted rates by more than 0.5%, or when complaint volume materially exceeds peer level, or when authorisation lapses.
Spot a provider missing that should be on this list? Email [email protected].