Shopify Payments in the UK: fees and setup

The short answer: Shopify Payments is available in the UK, and the conditions are documented precisely. Your bank account must be held at a financial institution based in the United Kingdom, be in GBP, and be eligible for Faster Payments Service (FPS) transfers. Savings, wire-only and flex-currency accounts are excluded. Sole traders, private companies, LLPs, other partnerships and both kinds of non-profit are listed as eligible. Card rates start at 2% + 25p on Basic, with Amex and international cards at 3.1% + 25p. The minimum settlement time is 3 business days, the minimum payout is £1, and using another gateway adds 2% on Basic.

Most articles about Shopify Payments describe a toggle in the admin. The thing that decides whether it works for you is a page of banking conditions, and it deserves a read before you build anything.

Shopify plans, pricing and features change; always verify the current details on shopify.com before deciding.

This guide sets out what Shopify's documentation states for the UK, with the date each page was read, and marks clearly where the documentation stops.

Is Shopify Payments available in the UK?

Yes. The UK has its own set of Help Centre pages for Shopify Payments: supported country, requirements and payouts. Those pages are the source for everything below, read on 29 August 2026.

Disclosure: some of the Shopify links in this guide are affiliate links. Start a plan through one and this site is paid a commission. What you pay is unchanged.

Available and activated are different things, though. Activation runs verification of you and your business, and the banking conditions below are where applications either sail through or stall for a fortnight.

What each sale costs

These rates come from Shopify's UK pricing page, checked on 29 August 2026.

These two rows deserve attention before you budget.

American Express and international cards cost over a point more than an ordinary card on Basic. The second of those matters the moment you start selling into the EU.

The 25p is the small-basket cost. On a £75 order it's nothing. On a £6 order it's over 4% by itself, before the percentage.

Which businesses can activate it

The UK requirements page lists the eligible structures, and it covers most British sellers.

• Individual and sole trader.
• Private corporation.
• Limited liability partnership (LLP).
• Other partnerships.
• Incorporated non-profit organisations.
• Unincorporated non-profit organisations.

So a limited company isn't required to take card payments. Certain businesses are prohibited outright, and the same page points to the Shopify Payments Terms of Service for the full list. Read it before you build a shop around an unusual category.

The bank account rule that stops applications

This is where most British applications are decided, and it's stricter than "a business account".

The requirements page states the account must be held at a financial institution based in the United Kingdom and must be in GBP currency. It must also be eligible for Faster Payments Service (FPS) transfers.

The exclusions matter as much. Savings accounts, accounts that accept only wire transfers, flex-currency accounts and money-transfer services are all listed as unsupported.

That last exclusion catches people out. A fintech account that gives you a sort code and account number is not automatically acceptable — the test is a UK-based institution, GBP, and FPS eligibility.

Check this before you pick a theme. Swapping a theme takes an afternoon; opening a compliant business account can take a fortnight.

The documents you'll be asked for

Verification runs in four parts, and the UK page is specific about each.

Identity. A passport, driving licence, citizen card or electoral ID, showing full legal name, date of birth and photo.

Address. A driving licence, or a utility bill, bank statement or government letter within six months. Also accepted: a solicitor's letter, council or housing documentation, benefits documentation, an electoral register entry, an NHS medical card or a GP registration letter.

The business. A Companies House registration document or certificate of incorporation for companies, LLPs and incorporated non-profits. Partnerships use HM Revenue & Customs documents; unincorporated non-profits use Charity Commission or OSCR documents.

Ownership. A register of members, PSC register, confirmation statement, certificate of incumbency or IN01 form, dated within twelve months.

Gather these before you start rather than during. An application waiting on a confirmation statement is an application that isn't taking money.

When the money lands

British settlement is slower than in several markets, and that changes cash-flow planning for a small shop.

The UK payouts page states that the minimum settlement time in the United Kingdom is 3 business days. It also states that payments captured on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are consolidated and sent as a single payout.

Read those two together and a strong Saturday arrives as one payment well into the following week.

There's also a floor: the minimum payout amount in the United Kingdom is £1.

The bookkeeping consequence is the one nobody warns you about. Reconcile on payouts, not on orders — a payout groups several orders and nets fees and refunds against them, so it will never match a single order total.

Payout currencies, and selling into the EU

For a British shop, sterling is the domestic currency, and that keeps things simple.

GBP payouts carry no multi-currency payout fee. The documentation is explicit that where orders are in your domestic currency and paid out to a bank in your domestic region, no extra fees apply.

The other available currencies are numerous — including EUR, USD, SEK, DKK and CHF — but all are non-domestic for a UK store and carry a multi-currency payout fee. The same page notes that setting up additional bank accounts for different currencies brings further fees.

Selling in another currency also brings a conversion fee into the price your customer sees, stated as either 1.5% or 2% depending on where the shop is based.

If a meaningful share of your sales go to EU customers, that combination — 3.1% on the card plus conversion — is worth modelling before you advertise EU delivery.

Work out your real blended rate

The headline rate describes one kind of sale. Your real cost per pound is a weighted average, and it's nearly always higher.

Take a shop on Basic turning over £8,000 a month across 130 orders. Suppose 70% is standard cards, 20% Klarna and 10% international cards.

The standard share costs 2% of £5,600, so £112. The Klarna share costs 4.99% of £1,600, so £79.84. The international share costs 3.1% of £800, so £24.80. The fixed component adds 130 × 25p, another £32.50.

That totals about £249 on £8,000, or roughly 3.1% — over a point above the rate on the pricing page.

There are two lessons here. Payment mix moves your costs more than plan choice does at this volume. And if you're comparing an outside acquirer, compare it with your blended rate rather than with 2%.

Your own split is visible in your payouts and transactions. It's usually the number nobody has looked at.

What a third-party gateway costs instead

Using another provider isn't free, and the pricing page states the cost plainly.

Take payments through a gateway other than Shopify Payments and Shopify adds a surcharge on top of that provider's own fees: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus, checked on 29 August 2026.

On Basic that surcharge alone matches the entire 2% card rate you were trying to beat. An outside acquirer has to be dramatically cheaper before the arithmetic works.

The Help Centre lists the exemptions. Orders processed through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments and Paypal Express carry no third-party transaction fee. Manual methods such as cash, cash on delivery and bank transfer carry none either.

That last exemption is worth money if you invoice trade customers. An order settled by bank transfer costs nothing in transaction fees.

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Refunds, chargebacks and what you keep

Two documented details are worth knowing before your first dispute.

Shopify's currency documentation states that conversion fees and credit card fees are not returned to you when you issue a refund. The sale reverses; the cost of having taken it does not.

The same documentation states you are not charged additional conversion fees when you issue a refund or receive a chargeback. On a chargeback, conversions apply at the rate in force when funds transfer rather than at the time of the order.

For a shop with a high return rate, clothing and footwear especially, that's a real annual cost. It belongs in the margin calculation rather than in a year-end surprise.

Five things that stall an application

Applications rarely stall for technical reasons. They stall on paperwork.

The wrong account type. A savings account, or a payment service that isn't a UK-based institution offering FPS.

Expired identity documents. Or a driving licence photographed on one side when both are wanted.

Proof of address that's too old. The window is six months for most documents.

Names that don't match. The account holder and the Companies House record must be the same legal entity.

Missing ownership documentation. The PSC register or confirmation statement is in a folder rather than a file, and it must be dated within twelve months.

All five take an hour to sort out beforehand and become genuinely annoying mid-launch.

What the checkout actually shows a British shopper

The fee table is your view. Your customer sees a set of buttons, and what appears there is decided by your settings and by where they are.

Cards come first for most British shoppers. Debit cards dominate ordinary retail here, and that's the rate you'll pay most often.

Accelerated checkouts change the flow, not the fee category. Shop Pay and similar buttons speed up a returning customer without moving the sale into a different rate on the pricing page.

Pay-later is a visible choice. Offering it is a merchandising decision with a fee attached, and the fee is the highest row on the table.

What you must not do is advertise a method you can't honour. A logo in the footer that the checkout won't show costs you trust at exactly the wrong moment.

The reliable check is the same as everywhere else in this guide: open Settings › Payments in your own shop and see what's actually offered, then test the checkout on a phone before launch.

Four questions worth asking your bank

The bank conversation goes faster when you know what to ask for.

Is this a current account rather than a savings account? The wording matters because Shopify's condition is written that way.

Is it eligible for Faster Payments? FPS eligibility is stated explicitly in the requirements, and it's the detail most people have never checked.

Is the institution UK-based? Some accounts marketed to British businesses are issued elsewhere, which is a different thing from a UK-based institution.

How long does opening it take? That answer sets your launch date more than anything else in this article.

With those four answers written down, activation usually takes only as long as verification itself.

A setup order that avoids rework

Six steps, in the order that stops you doing work twice.

1. Confirm the account qualifies. UK-based institution, GBP, FPS-eligible, and not a savings or flex-currency account.
2. Gather the four document sets. Identity, address within six months, Companies House or HMRC documents, and ownership evidence dated within twelve months.
3. Start activation in Settings › Payments during the trial, before the shop is built.
4. Check which methods your account is actually offered, rather than assuming from an article.
5. Model your blended rate, not the headline one — Amex, international cards and Klarna move it noticeably.
6. Place a real test order and refund it. It's the only way to see settlement timing and refund behaviour with your own eyes.

Frequently asked questions

What bank account does Shopify Payments require in the UK?

The requirements page states the account must be held at a financial institution based in the United Kingdom and be in GBP. It must also be eligible for Faster Payments Service transfers, checked on 29 August 2026. Savings accounts, wire-only accounts, flex-currency accounts and money-transfer services are unsupported, so a fintech account with a sort code is not automatically acceptable.

Can a sole trader use Shopify Payments?

Yes. Individual and sole trader are listed among the eligible business types, alongside private corporations, LLPs, other partnerships and both incorporated and unincorporated non-profits. You'll still be asked for identity, address, business and ownership documents, and certain businesses are prohibited under the Shopify Payments Terms of Service.

How long do Shopify payouts take in the UK?

The minimum settlement time in the United Kingdom is 3 business days, per the UK payouts page checked on 29 August 2026. Payments captured on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are consolidated into a single payout, and the minimum payout amount is £1. Initial settlement periods can be longer and shorten as a shop reliably fulfils orders.

How much does Shopify Payments charge per sale in the UK?

On Basic it's 2% + 25p for standard cards and 3.1% + 25p for American Express and international cards, checked on 29 August 2026. Grow is 1.7% + 25p and Advanced 1.5% + 25p on standard cards. Klarna is 4.99% + 30p across all three plans, and in-person card rates are 1.7% on Basic and Grow.

Can I be paid out in euros?

You can, but it costs more. Sterling is the domestic payout currency for a UK shop and carries no multi-currency payout fee, while EUR and every other listed currency are non-domestic and do. Setting up extra bank accounts for different currencies brings further fees, per the UK payouts page checked on 29 August 2026.

Is Shopify Payments cheaper than an outside acquirer?

Usually, because of the surcharge. Using another gateway adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced on top of that provider's own fees. On Basic the surcharge alone matches the whole 2% card rate, so an outside acquirer would have to beat Shopify Payments by more than that before switching saves anything.

Sources

1. Shopify Help Center, "Bank account and personal information requirements" (United Kingdom). https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/supported-countries/united-kingdom/requirements — retrieved 29 August 2026.
2. Shopify Help Center, "Payouts and settlement times with Shopify Payments in the United Kingdom". https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/supported-countries/united-kingdom/payouts — retrieved 29 August 2026.
3. Shopify, "Pricing" (United Kingdom). https://www.shopify.com/uk/pricing — retrieved 29 August 2026.
4. Shopify Help Center, "Shopify Payments" (fees). https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/fees — retrieved 29 August 2026.
5. Shopify Help Center, "Local payment methods". https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/local-payment-methods — retrieved 29 August 2026.
6. Shopify Help Center, "Currency conversions and exchange rates". https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/international/pricing/exchange-rates — retrieved 29 August 2026.
7. Shopify Help Center, "Payout reconciliation report". https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/shopify-payments/payouts/payout-reconciliation-report — retrieved 29 August 2026.