Top Payment Methods in the UK That Your Business Needs to Know

In 2023 over 80% of the total population (50 million people) in the UK will purchase online. This number is expected to be 86% by 2027 (52 million people). With these many individuals shopping online, there’s ample opportunity for digital business owners to capture the market and generate more revenue.

However, as more people buy online and become digital, their preferences are also changing. For instance, customers now want more digital payment methods and a seamless checkout experience. So, the question here is, have you adapted to these changing needs? If not, this blog is there to help.

Below, you’ll learn about some common payment trends in the UK, the top payment methods the customers prefer, and how you can offer those payment methods as a business. So, read in full.

UK Payment Trends for 2023

One of the primary payment methods used in the UK is debit and credit cards, so much so card payments constitute around 90% of the total retail transactions in the country.

Also, there are over 50 million credit card accounts in the UK, which are steadily increasing. Moreover, the card giant MasterCard launched its B2B payment solution for businesses in the UK. All this information states that card payments will trend in 2023 and in years to come.

In addition to traditional card payments, other digital payment methods, such as digital gift cards, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), Samsung Pay, PayPal, Shopify, etc., are also gaining popularity. Thanks to the increasing internet and smartphone penetration and online retail.

Overall, the UK’s payment market is dynamic and expected to grow at a rate of 12.56% within 2023 – 2028. And to grow as a business, you need to offer the latest payment methods for customers to choose from. Let’s learn more about the popular payment methods in the UK.

Top 5 Payment Methods in the UK

1. Cash

The popularity of cash as a payment method has been reducing in the UK. As of 2023, just 17% of the consumers in the country prefer using cash for making payments. And this percentage is expected to reduce further as other payment methods gain popularity. 

Nevertheless, if you’re an offline store in the UK, you still need to accept cash payments. However, for online consumers, accepting cash payments is not an option.

2. Credit/Debit Cards

Debit cards are the most popular payment method in the UK and are used more frequently than cash. They account for around 70% of the total retail purchases in the UK. Also, credit cards account for 38% of total purchases and are expected to capture a wider market share in the country.

So, merchants must accept credit at debit cards for online and offline purchases in the UK.

3. Bank Transfers

In bank transfers, a customer, using the bank’s application, enters the receiver’s account details and transfers the money. This method is secure and has become pretty fast over time.

While bank transfer is primarily used for transferring money and isn’t that popular for eCommerce transactions, it’s expected to capture a more significant market share in the years to come. So, merchants must offer bank transfers as a payment method.

4. Digital Wallets

With online payment methods becoming popular, businesses in the UK must be ready to accept digital wallets. Digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are becoming popular with PayPal, dominating the market. 

5. Buy Now, Pay Later

The eCommerce industry has seen an upsurge in buy-now-pay-later or BNPL as a preferred payment method for customers. The BNPL service provider pays the entire amount in this payment method on the buyer’s behalf. And the buyer then has to return the money in monthly interest-free installments. This method has made it easy for customers to make costly purchases instantly without paying the entire amount. 

Good Read: Top Payment Methods In India That Your Business Needs to Know

Local Payment Methods and Rising Complexities for Businesses

Based on the payment trends in the UK, digital payment methods are expected to rule the market. And the businesses that offer digital payment methods the customers prefer will have the edge over others and will be able to capture the market better. However, achieving this can be challenging.

For instance, businesses may not know which payment methods are popular locally and what providers can help offer those payment methods. And this can lead to companies integrating the wrong payment methods and paying high charges, which could have been avoided.

In addition, integrating multiple payment methods individually based on customer preferences is an expensive task, both logistically and financially. You need to pay a setup fee and hire engineers to integrate the payment methods into your existing payment stack, which is a challenge.

Furthermore, different payment methods have different levels of consumer protection rights and online security features. So, no single system governs all these payment methods, making your and your customers’ data vulnerable to attacks. And it becomes your responsibility to fortify your payments ecosystem.

Also, by integrating multiple payment methods, businesses won’t be able to analyze the payment data and make data-driven decisions, as there won’t be a trustworthy source of information.

Fortunately, there is a solution to the above challenges: payment aggregation. By opting for a payment aggregation solution such as inai, you can tackle the above challenges easily and capture the customers in the UK easily. Let’s learn how

How can inai Help you Integrate Payment Methods in the UK?

inai is a global payment aggregator which offers integration with over 30+ payment gateways. And using these 30+ payment gateways, you can accept credit cards, digital wallets, BNPL, bank transfers, and over 300 other payment methods.

Once you integrate inai, which is pretty easy, using the codeless integration, you can choose which payment gateway you prefer based on which location it serves and its payment methods. You can then select and enable the payment methods on inai’s dashboard. Also, inai allows you to add or remove payment gateways/methods as and when required, making it easy to scale up and down.

This way, you can save time, engineering, and other additional costs when integrating payment methods individually.

inai is PCI-DSS certified and GDPR compliant and has its fraud prevention tool. So, as a business, you can offer secure payments to your customers without setting up security measures on your own.

Last but not least, inai’s dashboard offers you deep insights into your payments by analyzing the data consolidated from all sources. From how many transactions are happening and how much money is rolling into the transaction decline rate and chargeback information, inai’s dashboard offers you everything. And with such insights, you can make data-driven decisions and improve your offerings.

To learn more about how inai can help you boost your revenue, book a free demo now!