How do people in the United Kingdom pay online?
Online shopping is a large part of UK retail. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that 28.8% of retail sales in Great Britain were made online in September 2026, down slightly from 28.9% in August. Online spending in July to September 2026 was 7.4% higher than a year earlier. UK Finance found that around 45.9 million people, or 80% of UK adults, bought goods or services online in 2025.
Cards come first. In its UK Payment Markets 2026 report, UK Finance counted 49.7 billion payments in 2025, excluding CHAPS. Debit cards were the most used method with 26.6 billion payments, 54% of the total, and cards overall made up 64% of payments. Online card spending grew 4% in volume and 1% in value in 2025. UK Finance describes cards as the main way people pay online, either directly or through mobile wallets.
Wallets and other options sit next to cards. About 37.6 million people were registered for at least one mobile wallet in 2025, and 58% of adults used mobile payments at least once a month. Many online shops offer Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout. UK Finance also names PayPal, buy now, pay later and pay by bank as choices online: 12.9 million adults, or 22%, used a buy now, pay later service at least once in 2025.
Pay by bank runs on open banking. Open Banking Limited reported 40.16 million open banking payments in June 2026, of which 32.43 million were single payments and 7.73 million were sweeping variable recurring payments. Since launch, open banking has passed one billion payments through the largest high street banks.
What rules shape online payments in the United Kingdom?
VAT is 20%, with a reduced rate of 5% and a zero rate for items such as most food and children’s clothing. An overseas seller that sells goods in a consignment worth £135 or less directly to UK customers charges and accounts for UK VAT at the point of sale. If a VAT-registered UK business gives its VAT number, the business accounts for the VAT instead. Consignments above £135 follow the normal import VAT and customs rules.
Shoppers can cancel within 14 days. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, the cancellation period for a sale of goods ends 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer, or of a person they name other than the carrier.
Card surcharges are banned for consumers. Since 13 January 2018, regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 stops a payee from charging a fee for payment by consumer card-based instruments, with commercial cards outside the ban. Any fee allowed for another method must not exceed the cost the payee bears for it.
Online payments need strong customer authentication. The Financial Conduct Authority explains that the rules, set in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the related technical standards, have applied since 14 September 2019. They apply when a payer starts an electronic payment, unless an exemption applies, so card payments usually include an authentication step in the banking app.
How would Omno route payments in the United Kingdom?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency, amount and customer group. In the UK:
- Card pay-ins would be routed by the merchant’s rules, for example by BIN, amount or customer group, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Apple Pay and Google Pay would be offered on the hosted checkout next to the card form and routed to providers that support them, under the same rules as cards.
- Pay by bank could be offered through a provider with open banking payment initiation, with the order pending until the provider confirms the payment.
- Saved cards would let returning customers pay without typing their card again, and each charge would follow the merchant’s routing rules.
Webhooks would report the final status of every payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for cards and wallets first. Debit cards carry most UK payments, and many shoppers expect Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout.
Plan for the authentication step. Card payments usually include strong customer authentication in the banking app, so the checkout should handle the redirect and the return cleanly.
Plan for no card surcharges. Price the cost of card acceptance into the product price rather than adding a fee at checkout.
Plan for VAT on imports. Sellers based outside the UK need to charge UK VAT at the point of sale on consignments of £135 or less.