What Paymentsense does

Paymentsense is a UK-based merchant services provider founded in 2009, delivering card payment acceptance infrastructure to over 70,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company processes more than £10bn in annual card sales across 250m+ transactions, anchoring its value proposition on aggregated buying power that negotiates lower transaction rates than traditional banks. Its product surface spans physical Ingenico terminals (countertop, portable, mobile variants) plus remote acceptance rails — online payment gateway, virtual terminal for phone payments, and pay-by-link for email transactions — backed by tiered merchant account subscriptions (Starter £8.29, Regular £12.45, Advanced £16.62 per month) and ancillary services including PCI compliance, till-roll replacement, and performance reporting.

The underlying technology stack combines cloud-based processing infrastructure with a proprietary Connect™ platform that links card machines directly to point-of-sale systems, eliminating double-keying and enabling features such as Pay at Table (hospitality) and Pay at Counter (retail). Card processing rides on a Member Service Provider relationship with First Data Europe (Clover), with Ingenico providing terminal hardware, Sysnet handling PCI compliance services, and lending partners Banking Circle and YouLend extending credit to merchants. A developer portal (docs.connect.paymentsense.cloud) exposes APIs for integration partners.

Commercially, Paymentsense operates a hybrid go-to-market: direct payment consultants, inside phone sales, partner referrals, and self-serve online quoting. Revenue combines transaction fees, monthly terminal rental, and recurring merchant account subscriptions. The company is PCI DSS Level 1 accredited, ICO-registered for GDPR compliance, and operates two legal entities — Paymentsense Limited (UK) and Paymentsense Ireland Limited (Dublin) — alongside a parallel consumer-facing brand Dojo. It was historically recognised on the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 for five consecutive years and Inc. 5000 Europe for two consecutive years through 2018.

Name

Paymentsense

Legal name

Paymentsense Limited

Website

https://paymentsense.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Paymentsense is a UK and Ireland merchant services provider serving over 70,000 small businesses with card machines, online payment gateways, merchant accounts, and integrated POS via its proprietary Connect platform, processing £10bn+ annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Merchant Services and Card Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA)

Keywords

• Card payment processing
• Merchant services
• Payment gateway
• Card machines
• Integrated payments

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Transaction fees: Transaction fees charged per card payment processed, based on card types (debit or credit) and card turnover. Higher card turnover typically results in better rates.
2. Monthly rental fees: Monthly rental fees for card machines, with pricing based on number of devices and business needs. Rates are tailored to individual business requirements.
3. Merchant account services: Free merchant account setup with rates based on annual transaction volume. Three tiers: Starter (£8.29/month up to £50K), Regular (£12.45/month up to £250K), Advanced (£16.62/month up to £1.2M).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Paymentsense provides card payment acceptance solutions to UK and Irish small and medium-sized businesses. Its offering spans countertop, portable, and mobile card machines (Ingenico terminals), an online payment gateway, virtual terminal for phone payments, pay-by-link for email payments, merchant accounts with acquiring banks, and the proprietary Connect cloud-based platform that integrates card machines with point-of-sale systems. The company also supplies related services such as PCI compliance support, automated till roll replacement, and performance reporting.

Product overview

Paymentsense is a UK-based payment services provider offering a unified merchant services platform. The core product portfolio includes three types of physical card machines (countertop, portable, and mobile), a payment gateway with online payments, virtual terminal for phone payments, and pay-by-link for email payments. These are supported by merchant account services and the Connect cloud-based integration platform. Connect enables card machine and POS system connectivity through features like Connect Pay at Table (restaurant) and Connect Pay at Counter (retail). Additional services include PCI compliance support, automated till roll replacement, and performance reporting. The company serves over 70,000 UK and Ireland SME customers processing approximately £10 billion in annual card sales across 250 million transactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Connect: Cloud-based technology platform that enables integrated payments, connecting card machines with point-of-sale systems for faster, smarter transactions at no extra cost.

Products and services

• Card Machines Physical Ingenico card payment terminals (countertop ICT 250, portable IWL 250, mobile Move 3500) enabling face-to-face card transactions including contactless, chip and PIN, and mobile wallets for UK and Irish SMEs.
• Online Payments Payment gateway service enabling merchants to accept card payments through their website, with ready-made plugins for popular shopping carts and custom integration via the Connect API.
• Virtual Terminal Web-based software that lets merchants process card-not-present payments over the phone by keying card details into a secure browser interface, protected by AVS and tokenisation.
• Pay by Link Email-based payment service that lets merchants send secure payment links to customers for remote card payments, requiring no physical card machine or website integration.
• Payment Gateway Technical infrastructure processing card transactions between merchants, card networks, and acquiring banks for online, phone, and email payments.
• Merchant Accounts Accounts held with acquiring banks that enable merchants to accept card payments, acting as intermediary between merchant and customer for transaction processing; offered in Starter, Regular, and Advanced monthly tiers.
• Connect Integrated Payments Platform Cloud-based technology platform that creates a secure link between card machines and point-of-sale systems, enabling integrated payments so the till and card machine communicate directly, eliminating double-keying.
• PCI Compliance Service PCI DSS compliance support service, delivered in partnership with Sysnet, providing phone-based support and questionnaire assistance to help merchants achieve and maintain compliance certification.
• Auto Roll Replacement Automated till roll (receipt paper) supply service with scheduled delivery to ensure merchants never run out of till rolls.
• Performance Reports Business intelligence reporting service delivering transaction summaries and merchant insights by email to help SMEs monitor their card payment activity.

Quantifiable outcome

• Save up to 40% on card processing fees compared to competitors
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, support and minor.

• First Data Europe Limited (Clover)coreTechnology or IntegrationPaymentsense is registered with MasterCard & Visa as an Independent Sales Organisation and Member Service Provider of First Data Europe Limited trading as Clover. This partnership enables the processing of card transactions through the Clover network.
• IngenicocoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides card machine hardware (terminals) dispatched to customers. Ingenico devices including ICT 250 (countertop), IWL 250 (portable), and Move 3500 (mobile) are used.
• Talkdesk / NICE (inContact)supportTechnology or IntegrationContact centre software providers enabling 24/7 customer support operations.
• SysnetsupportImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvides PCI compliance services to customers, including phone-based support, questionnaires, and related assistance to help merchants achieve PCI DSS compliance.
• Banking CircleminorOthersProvides lending services for merchants, enabling merchant instant settlement products.
• YouLendminorOthersProvides lending services for merchants.
• Adobe SignsupportTechnology or IntegrationElectronic contract signing platform used to autofill and send contracts to customer email addresses.
• GoogleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEnhanced targeting and exclusions for advertising campaigns.
• LinkedInminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEnhanced targeting for advertising campaigns.
• FacebookminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEnhanced targeting for advertising campaigns.
• ResponseTapsupportTechnology or IntegrationCall tracking and recording service providing bespoke phone numbers for the main sales line and campaign measurement.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SumUp: Global SME payments provider offering mobile card readers, POS, and payment gateway. Competes head-to-head with Paymentsense in the UK/Ireland micro-merchant and SMB segments.
• Square (Block): Block's flagship SME payments and POS platform. Offers integrated hardware/software payments with adjacent lending and banking services—competing for the same SME card acceptance wallet share.
• Dojo: Sister brand and direct UK SME card payment competitor. Offers card machines, payment gateway, and integrated payments targeting the same UK SME segment with comparable collective-bargaining economics.
• Zettle by PayPal: PayPal-owned SME payments brand offering card readers and POS software across Europe. Targets the same small business segment with mobile-first hardware and integrated software.
• takepayments: UK-based SME card payment and merchant services provider. Directly competes with Paymentsense on card machines, online payments, and merchant accounts for UK small businesses.
• Handepay: UK merchant services provider offering card machines, payment gateways, and EPOS to SMEs. Overlapping product portfolio and customer base with Paymentsense in the UK.

Broad incumbents

• Worldpay (FIS): One of the largest global acquirers with significant UK SME merchant services presence via Vantiv. Competes with Paymentsense for mid-market and larger SME merchants in the UK.
• Barclaycard Payments: Barclays' card acquiring arm serving UK SMEs. Represents the legacy bank-disintermediation opportunity Paymentsense targets, with comparable card machine and gateway products.
• Tyl by NatWest: NatWest Group's dedicated SME payments business. Offers card machines, payment gateway, and integrated POS to UK small businesses, representing a major incumbent competitor.

Emerging players

• Stripe Terminal: Stripe's in-person payments extension leverages the Stripe developer ecosystem to offer integrated card readers and POS. A growing competitive threat in UK SME omnichannel payments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/paymentsense
• Facebookfacebook.com/Paymentsense
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/paymentsense
• Instagraminstagram.com/paymentsenseltd

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Paymentsense