Europe: The Cheapest Card Market on Earth (2026)
Regulated interchange caps made EEA card processing the world's bargain: 1.5% + €0.25 is the standard Stripe rate for EEA cards, roughly half of US pricing. And for recurring payments, SEPA direct debit runs under 1% with a hard cap. Europe is also where the enterprise processors live, Adyen (Amsterdam) and Checkout.com (London HQ'd, Dubai founded) are both homegrown.
Pan-European providers compared
| Provider | Type | EEA / Euro Rate | UK (GBP) Rate | Intl. Card Surcharge | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Card & Multi-Rail Gateway | 1.5% + €0.25 (EEA cards) | 1.5% + £0.20 (UK cards) | +1.5% (+1.75% non-EEA) | All-in-one cards + local European rails across 30+ countries |
| Square | Card Gateway & POS | 1.4% + €0.25 (IE/FR/ES) | 1.4% + £0.25 (UK cards) | +1.5% (non-EEA: 2.9%) | Omnichannel retail + online checkout in UK, IE, FR, ES, DE |
| Mollie | European Gateway | 1.8% + €0.25 (EEA consumer cards) | 1.8% + £0.20 | 2.8%–3.25% (commercial/intl) | iDEAL (€0.29 flat), Bancontact (€0.39), Wero & SEPA |
| GoCardless | Bank Debit (SEPA / Bacs) | 1.0% + €0.20 (capped at €4) | 1.0% + £0.20 (capped at £4) | 2.0% + €0.20 (intl debit) | Subscriptions, B2B invoices & large recurring collections |
| Viva.com / SumUp / myPOS | Acquirer & POS/Online | 1.69%–1.99% + €0.20 | 1.69% + £0.20 | +1.5% | Instant payout to merchant IBAN/card across EEA & Balkans |
| Adyen / Checkout.com / Nuvei | Enterprise Acquirers | Interchange++ (custom) | Interchange++ (custom) | Scheme pass-through | High-volume platforms & marketplaces |
Gateway landscape by currency
Below is the European currency landscape separated into card gateways & bank acquirers first, followed by digital wallets, SEPA/Bacs bank debit & national instant rails.
1. Card gateways & bank acquirers by currency
| Currency | Markets | Card Gateways (Published Rates) | Local Acquirers & Enterprise Gateways |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | Eurozone (20+ countries) | Stripe (1.5% + €0.25), Mollie (1.8% + €0.25), SumUp (1.95%), Viva.com (1.99% + €0.24), Braintree (1.9% + €0.30) | Adyen, Checkout.com, Nuvei, Airwallex (1.3% + €0.20 EEA), Worldline |
| GBP | United Kingdom | Square (1.4% + £0.25), Stripe (1.5% + £0.20), Airwallex (1.3% + £0.20), Mollie (1.8% + £0.20), SumUp (1.95%) | Adyen, Checkout.com, Nuvei, Braintree |
| CHF | Switzerland & Liechtenstein | Payrexx (2.2% + CHF 0.30), Stripe (2.9% + CHF 0.30), Mollie (2.8% + CHF 0.30) | Worldline Switzerland, Adyen, Airwallex |
| SEK / NOK / DKK / ISK | Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland | PensoPay (1.45% DKK), Stripe (1.5% SEK/DKK, 2.4% NOK), Teya & Rapyd Valitor (1.95%–2.2% ISK) | Nets / Nexi Nordic, Adyen, Mollie |
| PLN / CZK / HUF | Poland, Czechia, Hungary | Comgate (0.99% CZK), Barion (1.0%–1.5% HUF), Tpay (1.59% PLN), Stripe (1.5%–1.6%), Przelewy24 (1.9% PLN), PayU | Mollie, Viva.com, Adyen |
| RON / BGN | Romania, Bulgaria | Netopia Payments (0.99% + 0.30 RON), myPOS (1.4% BGN), Stripe (1.5%), PayU (1.8% RON) | Viva.com, SumUp |
| RSD / BAM / ALL / MKD | Western Balkans (Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, N. Macedonia) | CaSys cPay (2.2% MKD), Monri / WSPay / PikPay (2.5% RSD & BAM), 2Checkout (3.5% + $0.35) | Raiffeisen / Intesa / UniCredit regional bank acquiring via Monri |
| MDL / UAH / GEL | Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia | LiqPay by PrivatBank (1.5% UAH), WayForPay (2.0% UAH), BOG Pay / TBC Bank (2.0% GEL), Flitt (2.3% GEL), maib e-Commerce (2.5% MDL) | Paynet (Moldova), Fondy |
| TRY | Türkiye | PayTR (2.49%), iyzico (2.99% + 0.25 ₺) | Garanti BBVA / İşbank / Akbank virtual POS |
2. Wallets, SEPA debit & local A2A rails by currency
| Currency | Markets | Wallets, Bank Debit & National Instant Rails | Published Merchant Rate & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | Eurozone | GoCardless (SEPA Debit), iDEAL / Wero, Bancontact, PayPal | GoCardless: 1.0% + €0.20 (capped €4) · iDEAL via Mollie: €0.29 flat · PayPal: 2.49% + €0.35 |
| GBP | United Kingdom | GoCardless (Bacs & Faster Payments), PayPal UK | GoCardless: 1.0% + £0.20 (capped £4) · PayPal UK: 2.9% + £0.30 |
| CHF | Switzerland | TWINT (national mobile wallet), PayPal | TWINT: ~1.3% standard merchant QR & online checkout |
| SEK / NOK / DKK | Sweden, Norway, Denmark | Swish (Sweden), Vipps MobilePay (Norway & Denmark), GoCardless | Swish: ~1.5–3 SEK flat per payment via bank · Vipps MobilePay: 1.75%–2.29% |
| PLN / CZK | Poland, Czechia | BLIK (via Tpay / P24), GoPay (Czech wallet & bank buttons) | GoPay: 1.5% + 2 Kč · BLIK instant 6-digit code dominates Polish checkout |
| ALL / MDL / UAH | Albania, Moldova, Ukraine | POK (Albania), MIA Instant QR (Moldova via maib), MonoPay (Ukraine) | POK: 1.5% + 10 ALL · Moldova MIA QR: capped at 0.8% · MonoPay (Monobank): 1.3% |
What to watch
- Local methods beat cards on cost. iDEAL (€0.29 flat), Bancontact (€0.39), BLIK, Swish, TWINT (1.3%) and Moldova's MIA QR (0.8% cap) settle cheaper than cards; Mollie and Stripe both price them separately.
- The UK is not the EEA. Domestic UK rates look similar (1.5% + £0.20), but cross-border EEA-to-UK transactions now trigger international card surcharges (~2.5%–3.25%).
- PSD2/SCA is table stakes: every European gateway handles 3D Secure 2 / Strong Customer Authentication natively.
Currencies in this region
EUR fees
GBP fees
CHF fees
SEK fees
NOK fees
DKK fees
ISK fees
PLN fees
CZK fees
HUF fees
RON fees
BGN fees
RSD fees
BAM fees
ALL fees
MKD fees
MDL fees
TRY fees
UAH fees
GEL fees
Run your own numbers in the fee calculator across all 20 European currencies, or start from the EUR and GBP comparison tables.