Checkout.com
London payment gateway with a UK FCA and a French ACPR licence, quoting flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing per merchant
Quick Overview
| Company | Checkout Ltd |
|---|---|
| Category | Payment Processing |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Founded | 2012 |
| EU Presence | United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| Data Location | UK/EU |
| Open Source | No |
| Compliance | FCA e-money institution (ref. 900816); PCI DSS Level 1 |
| Pricing | Custom flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing quoted per merchant; no setup, monthly or account fee; free processing for registered charities |
| Free Option | Sales process, no self-serve trial |
| Replaces | Stripe, Adyen, Braintree |
Detailed Review
Checkout.com is a full-stack payment gateway and acquirer aimed at large online merchants that need one API for acceptance, authorisation, settlement, payouts and fraud screening across many markets and currencies.
Rather than reselling a third-party bank's acquiring licence for everything, Checkout.com holds its own principal membership with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay International and Diners Club/Discover, which keeps more of the transaction inside Checkout.com's own infrastructure. Merchants choose between a fully flat-rate plan or an interchange-plus model with scheme, processor and interchange fees broken out separately, and Checkout.com states no setup fee, no surprise fee and no account maintenance fee under either model.
Checkout Ltd is registered in England and Wales under company number 08037323, headquartered at Wenlock Works in London, and authorised by the FCA as an electronic money institution (reference 900816).
For merchants and cardholders inside the EEA, the group's Checkout SAS entity is separately authorised by France's ACPR as an electronic money institution, so European transactions can run under an EU licence rather than only a UK one — a second-jurisdiction structure the GoCardless entry in this category does not have.
Card processing is PCI DSS Level 1 certified through CKO Technology Services Ltd, a company within the Checkout.com group. The company was founded by Guillaume Pousaz in 2012 and remains under his control rather than a bank's or a card scheme's.
What Checkout.com does not offer is a way to start today. There is no self-serve signup and no published price list: onboarding runs through a sales process, and the flat-rate or interchange-plus quote depends on the merchant's risk category and volume, the same opacity as Adyen's interchange-plus model elsewhere in this category.
That makes Checkout.com a fit for a merchant already processing meaningful volume across several markets that wants one contract and one API instead of several, not a business taking its first card payment this month.
What Checkout.com does well
- Full-stack acquiring and gateway on one API, fewer intermediaries
- FCA (UK) e-money licence plus a separate ACPR (France) licence for EEA customers
- PCI DSS Level 1 certified processing
- Free processing for registered charities
- No setup, monthly or account fee on either pricing model
Where Checkout.com falls short
- No published rates; every merchant is quoted individually
- No self-serve signup — onboarding runs through a sales process
- Aimed at larger merchants rather than small businesses
- Interchange-plus pricing is harder to forecast than a flat card rate
Standout feature. Two licences, one platform: Checkout.com pairs a UK FCA e-money licence with a separate French ACPR one for its EEA customers.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Full-stack acquiring and gateway on one API, fewer intermediaries
- FCA (UK) e-money licence plus a separate ACPR (France) licence for EEA customers
- PCI DSS Level 1 certified processing
- Free processing for registered charities
- No setup, monthly or account fee on either pricing model
Cons
- No published rates; every merchant is quoted individually
- No self-serve signup — onboarding runs through a sales process
- Aimed at larger merchants rather than small businesses
- Interchange-plus pricing is harder to forecast than a flat card rate
Alternatives to Checkout.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Checkout.com?
Checkout.com is a full-stack payment gateway and acquirer aimed at large online merchants that need one API for acceptance, authorisation, settlement, payouts and fraud screening across many markets and currencies.
Rather than reselling a third-party bank's acquiring licence for everything, Checkout.com holds its own principal membership with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, UnionPay International and Diners Club/Discover, which keeps more of the transaction inside Checkout.com's own infrastructure. Merchants choose between a fully flat-rate plan or an interchange-plus model with scheme, processor and interchange fees broken out separately, and Checkout.com states no setup fee, no surprise fee and no account maintenance fee under either model.
Where is Checkout.com based?
Checkout.com operates from London, United Kingdom, which places it under United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA). Compliance: FCA e-money institution (ref. 900816); PCI DSS Level 1.
What does Checkout.com cost?
Custom flat-rate or interchange-plus pricing quoted per merchant; no setup, monthly or account fee; free processing for registered charities. Sales process, no self-serve trial.
Who is Checkout.com best for?
Large multi-market e-commerce and marketplace merchants. Two licences, one platform: Checkout.com pairs a UK FCA e-money licence with a separate French ACPR one for its EEA customers.
What are the drawbacks of Checkout.com?
No published rates; every merchant is quoted individually. No self-serve signup — onboarding runs through a sales process. Aimed at larger merchants rather than small businesses. Interchange-plus pricing is harder to forecast than a flat card rate.