Overview

Opayo, formerly Sage Pay, was founded in 1998 and headquartered in Newcastle, UK, and is a leading payment gateway in the UK and Irish markets. Opayo provides e-commerce acquiring, recurring billing and fraud services to 100,000+ merchants, and is now part of Elavon (the payment company of U.S. Bank), letting merchants extend business through Elavon's global acquiring network.

Opayo has long been one of the leading payment gateways in the UK market, especially suited to merchants integrating quickly with mainstream e-commerce platforms such as WooCommerce, Magento and BigCommerce. Compared with newer platforms such as Stripe, Opayo emphasizes UK local banking channels and mature recurring billing, making it a common choice for traditional UK e-commerce and subscription businesses. See payment gateway rate comparison.

Key Strengths

  • Long-Established UK Gateway: Formerly Sage Pay, founded in 1998 and serving the UK market for 25+ years, with mature local acquiring and banking channel resources.
  • 100,000+ Merchant Base: Processes payments for over 100,000 merchants across the UK and Irish markets, with proven long-term experience and stability.
  • Mainstream E-commerce Plugins: Ready-made plugins for WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce and 5+ major platforms enable fast payment launch.
  • Mature Recurring Billing: Native support for recurring billing and subscriptions across 4 cycle types (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly) suits SaaS, membership and recurring invoice businesses. See subscription billing best practices.
  • Fraud Tools & Hosted Pages: Built-in fraud tools plus 2 integration options (hosted payment pages and API) reduce merchant PCI compliance burden.

Product Ecosystem

E-commerce Payment Gateway

Opayo's core is an e-commerce payment gateway supporting Visa, Mastercard and Amex, with hosted payment pages and API integration, compatible with WooCommerce, Magento and BigCommerce.

Recurring Billing & Subscriptions

Recurring Billing capability for subscription businesses, supporting scheduled debits, cycle management and refunds for SaaS and membership products.

Fraud Screening

Built-in Fraud Screening with rule configuration and manual review helps merchants reduce chargebacks and fraud losses. See payment risk strategies.

Limitations

  • Limited Market Coverage: Mainly serves the UK and Irish markets with limited international acquiring and global payment methods.
  • Frequent Brand Changes: From Sage Pay to Opayo and then into Elavon, the brand has changed multiple times and awareness takes time to rebuild.
  • Traditional Pricing: The rate structure is relatively traditional, less attractive to new merchants than the transparent pricing of Stripe and similar platforms.

Use Cases

  • UK E-commerce Collection (★★★★★): A long-established UK gateway suiting e-commerce targeting UK consumers.
  • Subscriptions & Recurring Billing （★★★★☆）: Mature recurring billing suits SaaS, membership and recurring invoice businesses. See subscription billing best practices.
  • Fast E-commerce Platform Integration （★★★★☆）: Out-of-the-box plugins for major platforms suit WooCommerce, Magento and other merchants.
  • Global Acquiring （★★★☆☆）: International coverage is limited; global businesses should choose Stripe and similar platforms.

Pricing

Service Reference Rate Notes
Standard Card Transaction ~1.5%-2.5% + fixed fee UK local cards
Recurring Billing Same as above Scheduled debits
Monthly Fee ~GBP 20-25 Some plans include a monthly fee
Fraud Tools Surcharge Billed by rule count

Note: Reference rates only; actual quotes prevail. For more comparisons see payment gateway rate comparison.

FAQ

  • What is Opayo? Opayo, formerly Sage Pay, was founded in 1998 and headquartered in Newcastle, UK, and is a leading payment gateway in the UK and Irish markets, now part of Elavon (a U.S. Bank company), serving 100,000+ merchants; see Cross-Border Payment Platform Comparison.

  • What is the relationship between Opayo and Elavon? Elavon completed its acquisition of Opayo (formerly Sage Pay) in 2022, making Opayo Elavon's payment gateway brand for UK and Irish merchants, who can extend through Elavon's global acquiring network; see Cross-Border Payment Trends.

  • Opayo vs Stripe - which to choose? If your business focuses on the UK market and needs mature recurring billing and e-commerce plugins, Opayo fits well; for global payment method coverage and a developer ecosystem, Stripe is usually superior. See cross-border payment platform comparison.

  • Does Opayo support subscriptions? Yes. Opayo provides mature recurring billing capability, suiting SaaS and membership subscription businesses. See subscription billing best practices.