Overview
In brief
What is it?
Our opinion
In detail
Card machines
Fees and pricing
Reporting
POS integration
Remote payments
Service and reviews
Who is it for?
MobileTransaction has tested Worldpay’s card machines for an honest review of the product and service. Photos and opinions are the editor’s own.
What is Worldpay?
Worldpay is a decades-old, multinational card machine provider and payment processor for businesses of all sizes.
Although we will focus on the terminal solutions for brick and mortar merchants in the UK, the breadth of services handled by Worldpay means you can use it as a single provider for online, remote and face-to-face payments.
Accepted cards
With their card terminals, you can accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, UnionPay, Diners Club, Discover, JCB and American Express. Card payments normally settle in your business bank account the next working day.
Businesses are offered a price plan that suits their card turnover. Those who opt for Worldpay typically accept at least £100k annually in card payments, but Worldpay would also consider businesses with a lower turnover.
Our opinion: robust card machines, fair custom fees
Many merchants trust Worldpay to handle everything card-related for their business, and for good reason: payment security is at its strictest, card processing is handled in-house, and they have been experts in card payments for decades internationally.
“Worldpay’s card machines are some of the best I’ve tested. They’re ergonomic or at least accessible for all users, look very professional, and the payment process is easy to follow. If I had a retail business, I’d feel safe using them.”
– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, MobileTransaction
Furthermore, it is important for many established businesses to have a good-quality terminal, such as those from Ingenico, that usually last for years. We had no issues with the card machines, but the online features could do with more flexibility like the ability to integrate with more accounting software than Xero.
| Worldpay criteria | Rating | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Product | 4.4 | Good/Excellent |
| Costs and fees | 4.1 | Good |
| Transparency and sign-up | 3 | Passable |
| Value-added services | 3.8 | Good |
| Service and reviews | 4 | Good |
| Contract | 3.6 | Passable/Good |
| OVERALL SCORE | 3.9 | Good |
We didn’t like the fact that fees are not transparent, so you have to contact Worldpay for even bits of pricing. Clear information about packages, contract and costs are important for many, and the sales pressure of a phone call is not ideal for the less confident who don’t know their sales figures yet.
Small businesses prioritising low costs can find decent card machines elsewhere that are also highly secure and come with free extras. It used to be the case that good models had to come from traditional payment providers like Worldpay, but faster-growing fintechs like Square and SumUp are often better at catering to the needs of cost-sensitive merchants.
Conclusion: If you have a steady turnover above £10k monthly, need a traditional card machine package and are willing to lock in to a long-term contract, Worldpay is worth contacting for a quote.
Card machines
Worldpay offers two card machine models: stationary Ingenico Desk/5000 and mobile Ingenico Axium DX8000.
Both have a built-in receipt printer and accept chip and PIN and contactless payments including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Alipay. They also process tips and refunds.
Their software is quite basic, mainly just accepting card payments and printing X or Z reports. If card-not-present transactions are activated, you can use the card machines for manual card entry too, most commonly used for telephone payments.
“It was pretty straightforward for me to set up the Axium DX8000 and Desk/5000 card machines out of the box and start transacting. With my retail experience, they make sense at an intuitive level, and the card processing was quick.”
– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, MobileTransaction
The most versatile card machine is the Android terminal Axium DX8000 with a 6″ touchscreen, used either as a portable terminal around your premises (through WiFi) or on the go as a mobile terminal (through 4G). It is powered by a rechargeable, long-life battery, covering hours of transactions from a full charge.
If it’s used as a mobile card machine, the Axium will come with a SIM card connecting with any available EE, O2 or Vodafone network. It should therefore work anywhere with mobile coverage, with WiFi acting as a backup connection if the mobile network fails.
Photo: Emily Sorensen (ES), MobileTransaction
Worldpay’s package containing an Ingenico Axium DX8000 card machine.
If you just need a portable card machine with WiFi only, it’ll be Axium DX8000 you get as well. In fact, it’s well-suited for table service and taking payments away from the till at restaurants, pubs and cafés especially. During quiet times, you can just rest it on the counter in the little stand included.
Since Axium has a large touchscreen, PIN codes are entered on a very visible virtual PIN pad with big-size buttons. We can’t fault Axium’s design of the payment interface with its bright colours, and you can adjust screen settings such as brightness or dark-versus-white theme in a settings menu. There’s also a camera at the rear and front, which could be used for scanning QR codes.
Photo: ES, MobileTransaction
The Axium card machine uses ‘PIN on glass’ technology to accept chip and PIN.
Worldpay’s countertop terminal is an Ingenico Desk 5000. It has to be plugged into a power socket at all times and uses a LAN cable to connect to your router or telephone line for an internet connection. It’s only suited for a till point at a fixed location on your sales premises.
Although the lightweight Desk 5000 has a touchscreen, all the actions can be navigated with the push buttons below. From an accessibility point of view, this makes it better for blind people and others who need tactile cues for entering their PIN or using the features.
Photo: ES, MobileTransaction
The desktop model Ingenico Desk/5000 and its included accessories.
Each terminal comes with cables, decals showing accepted card brands and a receipt roll. Axium also comes with a charging plug, cable and terminal cradle that fits neatly on a table.
Desk/5000 has bigger and longer cables because it needs a power socket and connects with wired broadband.
Photo: ES, MobileTransaction
Desk 5000 has an ergonomic keypad.
You should order extra receipt rolls right from the start if you plan on using the terminal immediately, because they (especially Desk/5000) print receipts for various little actions when you get started with the terminals and learn how to use them. Sometimes, you get a choice to skip the printing, but not always.
Worldpay used to offer their own PAX A920 smartPOS terminal, but this was recently replaced with the Axium model above. You can get an upgraded version of this (PAX A920Pro) with an Epos Now integration, but only in that package deal.
Worldpay fees and costs
To get a Worldpay card machine, you need to sign up for an 18-month contract with monthly charges and tailored card fees.
The fees are partly negotiable (get a quote here), but certain costs are the same for everyone.
The more you know about your sales volume, distribution of cards accepted and overall requirements, the easier it will be to reach a fair quote. And the higher your transaction volume, the better are your transaction fees. Otherwise, you may end up paying more than if you went with Takepayments or SumUp.
What draws new customers to Worldpay is the Custom plan with tailored fees for debit, credit and business cards. This used to be restricted to businesses with an annual card turnover of at least £100k, or typically above £250k. But Worldpay can now also offer custom rates for merchants transacting for less, making it an option to consider for sole traders too.
Debit card fees can get as low as 0.3%, but are typically 0.6% for lower-volume sellers transacting for less than £90k annually. Credit cards issued in the UK would typically be in the 0.7-1% range, with the option to negotiate even lower fees for merchants making over £2 million per year. Business and non-European card rates would be above 2.2%, nearly 3% for smaller businesses. An custom authorisation charge may be added.
“Overall, Worldpay gets bonus points from us for their transaction fees, as long as you are able to hold your own when negotiating the contract.”
– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, MobileTransaction
There’s a monthly minimum charge (from £15/month) if transaction fees do not reach the agreed minimum that month.
You also pay from £17.50 + VAT for the desktop terminal or £23 + VAT monthly for the mobile terminal to rent, with merchant account costs added on top. PCI-DSS management requires a monthly fee of £5.
Businesses accepting less than £300,000 are recommended the Simplicity plan. This has one fixed monthly fee covering terminal hire, the merchant account and PCI-DSS compliance.
It has no monthly minimum service charge, but that’s because you’re paying a higher fixed monthly fee covering everything except for transactions, which have a rate of 1.5% for all cards without an authorisation fee.
We think that you are better served by the Custom plan, though, especially if you accept mostly UK debit and credit cards.
| Custom | Simplicity | |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | 18 months | 18 months |
| Setup fee | ||
| Monthly fee | £17.50-£23*/mo terminal rental + merchant account fee |
One fee for rental, merchant account and PCI compliance |
| Transaction fees | Debit: 0.3-0.6% Credit: 0.7-1% Business: 2.2-3% + fixed authorisation fee |
1.5% |
| Min. charge/mo | From £15*/mo | |
| PCI compliance | £5*/mo | |
| Reports and analytics | Free | Free |
| Early exit fee |
*Excluding VAT.
Merchants now also accept American Express without a separate contract, which is usually required by other providers. It’s just added to the same Worldpay agreement for an easier overview of all transaction fees. The base rate of Amex transactions is 2.9%, with a possible reduction to 2.4% if the merchant accepts high transaction amounts.
All pricing plans have free access to the online Worldpay Dashboard where you can view, export and print sales analytics and reports. Worldpay used to charge £4.99 + VAT a month for this service, but it’s now free unless you need multi-user access and remote payments too. For £10 + VAT monthly, you can upgrade to a premium version with a virtual terminal.
With an ecommerce add-on, payment link transactions cost 1.3% + 20p for consumer cards and 2.9% + 20p for commercial cards on a pay-as-you-go plan. This includes foreign cards for up to 25% of the online transaction turnover.
PCI-DSS non-compliance fees also apply if you don’t complete the required PCI paperwork through the Worldpay SaferPayments programme.
Receipt rolls are paid for separately, either through Worldpay or an online store selling compatible receipt rolls.
There is an optional next-day terminal replacement service, except when you request a replacement on a Saturday which will give you a terminal the following Monday. This service costs extra.
Significant early termination fees apply if ending the Worldpay contract sooner than you signed up for. If you don’t end the contract within 18 months, it automatically rolls into a monthly contract cancellable any month without an exit fee.
Is Worldpay Rewards any good?
Worldpay offers a benefits program for businesses with a certain number of staff. Key perks include discounted gift cards for high street stores and supermarkets, plus a prepaid Mastercard with 15% cashback.
Another service, Worldpay Advantage, offers potential savings on mobile plans with Vodafone and insurance with AXA. The programme is marketed as offering significant savings, but our research found that similar deals can be negotiated directly with the promo partners.
While Worldpay has strong negotiating power, the rewards are not the main reason to choose their service – it’s more about whether Worldpay is a good fit for your business overall.
Reporting and the dashboard
So where do you view transaction details and sales reports? All packages have a free version of Worldpay Dashboard, which is the backend account showing transaction information on all payments received through the card machine. For £10 per month, you can upgrade it to a premium version that essentially just adds multi-user access and a virtual terminal for remote payments.
The Dashboard is accessible in any internet browser and on phones. In the last 18 months, it’s been launched as an app for iPhone and Android so it’s finally more accessible on small screens.
With the full membership comes detailed analyses of sales, and the ability to export transaction information or print end-of-day reports.
Another improvement to previously: Worldpay integrates with Xero, though not other accounting software. You can otherwise manually upload exported sales data into your preferred bookkeeping software such as QuickBooks or Sage.
Integration with the point of sale
The card machines work as standalone terminals for card payments with transactions and payment data viewable in Worldpay Dashboard. This data is separate from cash transactions.
It is, however, possible to integrate the terminals with EPOS systems to allow automatic communication between the POS software and card machine, and to gather all payment types into the same sales reports. Worldpay can refer you to specific partner POS providers.
The sales team will offer you a package deal called Worldpay EPOS; a collaboration with Epos Now. The software is not unique – it’s basically the Epos Now till system with a PAX A920Pro card terminal that’s integrated out-of-the-box with Worldpay.
Some technical help may be required to set up other POS integrations.
Photo: ES, MobileTransaction
The Worldpay countertop terminal is ideal for connecting with POS systems.
Remote and online payments
A great thing about Worldpay is its add-on payment methods for remote transactions.
Apart from the card machines, you can add Worldpay’s ecommerce solution, which includes a Premium Dashboard, virtual terminal for over-the-phone payments, and Pay by Link for payment links to add in email invoices or communications with customers. This contract costs a monthly rolling fee of £10 + VAT and can be cancelled any time with 30 days’ notice.
There is also a Worldpay online gateway, which is basically an online checkout for your ecommerce business. This may require technical know-how to install on a website, but some website builders – like Shopify, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce (Magento) and OpenCart – already have a preconfigured setup to ease implementation.
Customer support and Worldpay reviews
Round the clock, 365 days of the year, you can call customer support for help with the card machine. The next-day terminal replacement service is a great service as well, provided you can afford it.
Just a few years ago, we saw many customer reviews expressing grief from their experience with Worldpay. If you consider their vast number of users, it is natural to also see more reviews (negative ones included) compared with less popular providers. However, some valid concerns are repeated:
The website has become more confusing (sometimes inaccessible due to errors) in the last several years, so it can be hard to find the right information. It’s therefore important to close-read any new contract or agreement given to you by Worldpay and ask for clarification about charges before committing to anything.
The quality of customer service has improved significantly over the past couple of years, though. If Trustpilot reviews are to be trusted, the overall satisfaction has gone up to an “Excellent” rating. It seems the majority of users get sufficient support and are happy with their fees and products.
Photo: ES, MobileTransaction
The mobile card machine looks great on a counter, not just on the go.
Who is it best for?
Worldpay is most popular for businesses that want to get good card rates on a Custom plan. Those with a monthly card sales volume below £100,000 a year may consider the Simplicity plan, but there are few instances where we would recommend this option over the Custom plan.
There are cheaper and perfectly viable solutions for less money and no commitment if your business takings are unpredictable or below the £100k mark. That being said, Worldpay is a trusted acquirer in the payments industry – undoubtedly a draw for merchants skeptical of newer, more techy payment solutions.
Multichannel businesses may prefer the versatility provided by Worldpay, as well as the trust consumers have in the brand.
