Top 8 SaaS payment solutions for UK businesses in 2025

How you collect, manage, and optimise payments affects churn, retention, cash flow, and global expansion. In 2025, SaaS companies have more payment options than ever, from developer-first gateways to full-stack financial platforms. This guide explains what SaaS payment solutions are, how they work, and which deliver the most value at different stages of growth.

What are SaaS payment solutions?

A SaaS payment solution gives you the rails to accept subscription payments, automate renewals, retry failed charges and settle funds into your account in the currencies you want. The best solutions also provide APIs and controls that reduce churn, lift authorisation rates, and support global expansion without rebuilding your billing system.

How SaaS payment solutions work

When a customer signs up, their payment details are tokenised and vaulted for future billing. The provider routes transactions through acquiring banks and card networks, applies Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) where required, and handles renewals, retries, and refunds.  

Why SaaS businesses need a payment solution

The right platform drives retention, enables new pricing models, and keeps you compliant across markets. You’ll gain:

Revenue protection. Higher authorisation rates, smart retries, and automatic card updates minimise failed payments and reduce involuntary churn.

Scalability. Advanced billing capabilities support tiered, usage-based, and hybrid models, so you can expand without manual workarounds.

Global reach. Local payment methods and like-for-like settlement in multiple currencies help you enter new markets with fewer barriers.

Cash flow control. Faster payouts and transparent FX pricing protect your margins and give you more control over working capital.

Compliance and security. Strong Customer Authentication, PCI DSS compliance, and built-in tax handling keep your business aligned with regulations while safeguarding customer data.

Top SaaS payment solutions in the UK (2025)

For SaaS businesses seeking automation across both revenue collection and outgoing bill payments, several featured platforms offer integrated accounts payable solutions.

Airwallex enables automated bill payments for suppliers, payroll, and recurring business expenses, embedding multi-currency capabilities and spend management directly into its unified platform.

Other listed solutions can complement your SaaS billing workflows by streamlining payment scheduling, reconciliation, and approval processes. Making use of these built-in automation features allows SaaS teams to scale efficiently, control cash flow, and minimise manual effort—all under one roof.

Airwallex

We are a global financial platform that combines payments, acquiring, multi-currency accounts, interbank-based FX, payouts, and spend management. We’re a strong option for SaaS businesses selling across the UK, Europe, the US, and APAC that want high acceptance, like-for-like settlement, and fewer systems to run finance.

Key capabilities

• 160+ payment methods and accept 130+ currencies. 

• Multi-currency checkout and like-for-like settlement

• Fast payouts, often next business day in supported currencies

• Direct plugins for Shopify and major carts, clean REST APIs and webhooks for custom SaaS billing flows

• Built-in fraud tools, 3DS2 with exemptions, network tokenisation

• Unified finance stack: receive, hold, convert, pay, and issue cards from one dashboard

UK pricing

• UK cards from 1.30% + £0.20

• EEA cards from 2.40% + £0.20

• International cards from 3.15% + £0.20

• Transparent FX with like-for-like settlement to avoid conversion where viable

• Full fees here.

Stripe

Developer-first payments infrastructure with strong subscription tooling. It’s good for product-led, engineering-heavy SaaS that wants to custom-build checkout and billing logic.

Key capabilities

• Subscriptions, usage-based billing, and invoicing

• 135+ currencies, Apple Pay and Google Pay

• Stripe Radar for risk, card updater, network tokens

• Large ecosystem and extensive APIs

UK pricing

• From 1.5% + £0.20 for UK consumer cards

• Around 3.25% + £0.20 for international, plus conversion fees where applicable

Paddle

A merchant-of-record platform for SaaS. Paddle handles payments, tax, and compliance on your behalf, making it work for lean SaaS teams that want tax and compliance outsourced while scaling globally.

Key capabilities

• Global VAT and sales tax management

• Subscriptions, trials, and entitlements

• Reduced compliance lift for small teams

UK pricing

• 5% + $0.50 per transaction

Chargebee

This subscription and revenue management plugs into your gateway is good for mid-market and enterprise SaaS with sophisticated pricing and finance workflows.

Key capabilities

• Complex billing models, dunning, revenue recognition

• Deep CRM and ERP integrations

• Rich catalog and lifecycle controls

UK pricing 

• Free until £200,000 cumulative billing, then 0.75% on billing, plus gateway fees

Recurly

Subscription management focused on lifecycle optimisation suited to SaaS teams prioritising subscriber lifecycle and analytics across multiple processors.

Key capabilities

• Flexible billing, churn-reduction tooling, analytics

• Works with multiple gateways and methods

UK Pricing

• From £189 per month plus transaction and revenue-share components

Honorable mentions:

• Adyen for enterprises needing unified online and in-store acquiring at global scale

• GoCardless for Direct Debit and instant bank pay in the UK and Europe

• Braintree for developer control with PayPal ecosystem reach

How to choose the right SaaS payment solution

Here are the key areas to focus on:

1. Match your revenue model

Decide whether you need support for seats, usage-based pricing, hybrid models, or enterprise contracts. Your payment solution should handle trials, upgrades, downgrades, and proration without manual workarounds.

2. Understand the true cost

Look beyond the headline “percent plus pence” to cross-border fees, FX spreads, chargebacks, refunds, subscription platform charges, and the engineering effort needed to maintain the system.

3. Maximise acceptance

High approval rates protect revenue. Ask providers about local acquiring in your key markets, how they handle SCA exemptions, support for network tokens and card updater services, and what dispute tools they offer to deflect chargebacks.

4. Plan your currency strategy

Present prices in the customer’s local currency and, where possible, settle funds in that same currency. Like-for-like settlement avoids hidden FX conversions and protects your margin. Use transparent FX when you do need to convert.

5. Test the tech

Check the reliability of APIs, webhooks, and reporting. A good provider should offer sandbox parity with production, strong uptime, and responsive support for live issues.

By stage of growth

Startups: Focus on fast setup and low complexity. Choose a platform that gets you live quickly, keeps costs predictable, and gives you room to test pricing models.

Airwallex gives startups plug-and-play integrations, simple pricing, and room to expand without rebuilding payments later.

Scale-ups: Prioritise higher acceptance, adding bank payments as a backup for dunning, and reducing FX costs with like-for-like settlement. Margins and authorisation rates matter more as volume grows.

Airwallex helps scale-ups improve acceptance with local acquiring, reduce churn with retries and account updater, and protect margin with transparent FX.

Enterprises: Look for multi-acquirer setups, orchestration tools, tax automation, and built-in compliance across markets. Granular reporting and revenue recognition become important at this stage.

Airwallex supports enterprise needs with global coverage, multi-currency accounts, compliance built in, and the ability to consolidate payments, FX, and treasury in one platform.

Why use Airwallex for SaaS payments

If you want higher acceptance, lower FX drag, faster access to cash, and one place to run global money, Airwallex has you covered.

• Accept in 180+ countries across 160+ payment methods and 130+ currencies

• Present prices in the customer’s currency and settle like for like to protect margin

• Get payouts in as little as one business day in the UK for supported currencies

• Tap interbank-based FX when you choose to convert, or lock rates ahead of time

• Use clean APIs and plugins to launch quickly and automate lifecycles with webhooks

• Run collections, global accounts, FX, payouts, corporate cards, and expenses from one dashboard

It’s a combination that turns payments from a cost centre into a growth lever.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is based on our own online research in Q3 2025. Airwallex was not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed annually. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. 

FAQs

How fast can I get paid?

Most providers pay out in one to three business days. Airwallex commonly pays out next business day in supported currencies.

Can I reduce SCA friction on renewals?

Yes. Flag subsequent renewals correctly as merchant-initiated transactions, use risk-based exemptions where permitted, and fall back to 3DS2 challenges when needed.

What lifts authorisation rates the most?

Local acquiring in customer markets, network tokens and account updater, smart routing, and well-tuned 3DS2 policies. Clear descriptors also reduce post-purchase disputes.

Should I add bank-to-bank payments?

Yes for B2B or high average order value. Use Bacs or SEPA Direct Debit for predictability and Pay by Bank for instant settlement and dunning recovery.

How do I avoid FX leak?

Price in local currencies and settle in those same currencies, then convert only when you need to pay expenses or repatriate. Use transparent FX with no hidden spreads.

• stripe.com/connect/pricing

• paddle.com/pricing

• chargebee.com/pricing

• recurly.com/plans

• adyen.com/subscription

• gocardless.com/pricing

• paypal.com/uk/enterprise/paypal-braintree-fees