The UK: where card habits meet bank-to-bank speed

Is your payments infrastructureready for the United Kingdom?

UK shoppers reach for a debit card more than any other way to pay, and bank transfers over Faster Payments sit right behind that. Global brands selling into the UK need sterling card payments that approve like a local merchant. UK businesses growing abroad need the same strength in every new market. Nuvei offers local acquiring in the United Kingdom, connected to the same global platform you use everywhere else, with one integration across markets.

At a glance

A card-first marketthat keeps moving faster

Debit cards carry most UK payments, cash is shrinking and account-to-account payments are growing. For merchants like you, that means sterling card acceptance has to approve reliably, and bank transfer options matter more every year.

01 · Digital payments

Debit cards lead,bank transfers follow

Debit cards accounted for 54% of the 49.7 billion payments made in the UK in 2025, while cash fell to 8%, according to UK Finance. Faster Payments and other remote banking were the second most used payment method, and Pay.UK reports that Faster Payments volumes grew 9% in 2025.

54%

Debit card share of all UK payments, 2025

8%

Cash share of all UK payments, 2025

5.5B

Faster Payments transactions, 2025

80%

UK adults who bought goods or services online, 2025

02 · Local infrastructure

Local acquiring keepssterling sales domestic

What does local acquiring mean in the UK? It means your card payments from UK customers are processed by an acquirer connected to the UK card ecosystem, so they are handled as domestic sterling sales rather than cross-border ones. Instant bank transfers run on Faster Payments, operated by Pay.UK, and payment firms are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Nuvei’s FCA-regulated UK subsidiary secured the scheme licenses to keep acquiring and processing Mastercard and Visa payments for UK merchants after Brexit, and Nuvei offers local acquiring in the UK today.

Read the UK scheme licenses announcement ↗

United Kingdom

Local acquiring.
One global connection.

Local acquiring in the United Kingdom53 acquiring markets

03 · How the United Kingdom pays

Cards at checkout,bank transfers on the rise

UK consumers typically switch between debit cards, contactless taps and bank transfers depending on the moment. A checkout built for the UK should cover all three, priced in sterling and approved like a domestic sale.

Debit cards first

Debit cards were the most used payment method in the UK in 2025, according to UK Finance. Local card acquiring helps those sterling transactions approve like domestic sales.

Contactless by default

UK Finance counted 19.2 billion contactless card payments in 2025, 39% of all payments. Shoppers expect to tap at the till and pay with a wallet on mobile.

Faster Payments for bank transfers

Nuvei’s UK bank transfer lets customers pay straight from their bank account over the Faster Payments network, with bank authentication and payments available 24/7.

The performance gap

Reach was the hard part.Performance is harder.

For years, selling into the UK was judged on reach. Could you show a sterling price and accept a British card? Reach is no longer the problem; approval is. A UK card processed as a cross-border sale can meet more caution from its issuer than the same card processed locally. Local acquiring is built to close that gap.

01 · Acquiring

Local processing,more approvals

Local acquiring processes UK card payments within the domestic ecosystem instead of sending them abroad. Domestic processing can increase issuer confidence, supporting higher authorization rates and fewer unnecessary declines. With fewer parties in the chain, a decline is easier to trace and fix.

02 · Checkout

Cards and bank transfers,powering one checkout

Offering sterling cards, wallets and Faster Payments bank transfers through one connection reduces friction for UK shoppers and gives every customer a familiar way to pay.

03 · Costs

Domestic sales,fewer cross-border costs

Processing UK transactions locally can reduce the cross-border fees and currency steps that come with routing sterling sales through an acquirer in another market.

“For UK merchants seeking a locally regulated payments partner, approved licenses will be critical.”
Phil Fayer

Philip Fayer

Chair and CEO, Nuvei

What local acquiring changes

Five ways acquiringimpacts your payments

Combined with Nuvei’s gateway capabilities, local acquiring in the UK is designed to help your business in five ways.

A checkout can reach the UK. Local acquiring helps it perform there.

Explore local acquiring →

Specific Nuvei payment methods, currencies and availability in the United Kingdom are subject to confirmation.

The Nuvei platform

How Nuvei deliversin the United Kingdom

Local acquiring, bank transfers, transaction data and operational controls, all connected through one global platform built to help you perform in the UK and scale beyond it.

Local acquiringfor sterling cards

Nuvei offers local acquiring in the United Kingdom, connecting your card payments to the domestic ecosystem and combining it with Nuvei’s gateway capabilities.

Faster Payments,inside your checkout

Nuvei’s UK bank transfer runs over the Faster Payments network, with bank authentication and no shared card details. Confirm eligibility and limits with your Nuvei team.

A checkout builtaround UK customers

Bring checkout, authorization and fraud management closer together to reduce friction. Work with Nuvei to confirm the methods, currencies and capabilities that fit your business.

Greateroperational control

More complete transaction data, with integrated reconciliation and reporting, gives you a clearer view across the payment lifecycle.

One platform,less fragmentation

Manage authorization, fraud prevention, reconciliation and reporting together. Nuvei’s optimization layer adds smart routing, automatic cascading of eligible declines to backup acquiring connections, and conversion specialists who review your performance. Confirm which capabilities apply in the UK with your Nuvei team.

What is unified commerce? →

Built in the UK,scaling everywhere

Nuvei gives UK businesses one partner as they grow: acquiring in 53 markets, 150+ currencies, 720+ payment methods, payouts, risk management and reporting, with reach in more than 200 markets worldwide.

Acquiring through intermediaries vs. Nuvei local acquiring

One market,fewer layers

Selling into the UK should not mean processing UK cards as foreign sales. Local acquiring connects you to the domestic card ecosystem, while Nuvei keeps your global operation connected.

Acquiring throughintermediary partners

Routing

UK card payments go to an acquirer in another market and are processed as cross-border sales.

Approvals

Cross-border processing can draw more caution from UK issuers and makes declines harder to diagnose.

Costs

Cross-border processing and extra providers can each add their own fees.

Reporting

Multiple providers can fragment transaction data and reconciliation.

Expansion

Each new provider can add another integration to manage.

Settlement

Each extra provider adds a step between your transaction and your funds. Currencies, timing and fees depend on the provider and contract.

Local acquiringwith Nuvei

Routing

UK card payments are processed locally, connected to the domestic card ecosystem.

Approvals

Local processing can increase issuer confidence, supporting higher authorization rates. Results depend on your transaction mix.

Costs

Domestic processing can reduce cross-border costs, with Faster Payments bank transfers as a lower-cost option.

Reporting

Transaction data with integrated reconciliation and reporting in one place.

Expansion

The same Nuvei integration used across other markets, with fewer providers to manage.

Settlement

Fewer parties between your sterling transactions and settlement. Confirm settlement currencies, timing, pricing and eligibility with your Nuvei team.

Ready when you are

Ready to make your paymentswork harder for you?

Talk to Nuvei about what local acquiring, Faster Payments and stronger approval rates could mean for your UK business. And how the same platform can support your next market, without rebuilding the stack.

From Nuvei on the United Kingdom

Three women carrying shopping bags outdoors

Perspective · Global growth

A local foundationfor global expansion

Explore how Nuvei connects locally optimized payment capabilities through one global platform.

Merchant reviewing payment performance on a laptop

Perspective · Expansion

Payments come firstwhen you enter a market

Why global expansion so often stalls at checkout, and why payment methods and local processing should be the first decision, not the last.