Payment Links and Invoicing: Stripe vs SumUp vs PayPal vs Bank Transfer

Payment Links and Invoicing: Stripe vs SumUp vs PayPal vs Bank Transfer

The deposit that never arrives is rarely about the client. It's about the paying being awkward: an email with sort codes to copy, a reference to type, a banking app to open on a train. Make paying a single tap and the money moves the same evening. This guide compares the four ways UK vendors take remote payments (Stripe, SumUp, PayPal, plain bank transfer) with the fees checked this month and the maths done on a real deposit.

The Job to Be Done

Remote money for a vendor is mostly two things: deposits that lock a date in the diary and balances due before the event. Both reward speed. Every hour between "yes please" and "paid" is an hour for cold feet, and a deposit policy only works if paying the deposit is effortless. That's the lens for everything below: not just what each option costs but how fast it turns a yes into cleared funds.

Stripe

Stripe is the plumbing behind half the internet's checkouts. Its payment links are the polished option. Create a link (no code, free), send it in an email or WhatsApp, the client pays by card or Apple Pay or Google Pay on a clean branded page. The fee for UK consumer cards is 1.5% + 20p, rising to 1.9% + 20p for premium and commercial cards.

That's the lowest card rate of the three processors here. The checkout experience is the most professional-looking too. The trade-off is that Stripe is a bigger system than a small vendor strictly needs: the dashboard assumes some comfort with settings, and payouts land in a couple of working days rather than instantly. Once set up, though, it quietly does everything.

SumUp

If a SumUp reader already lives in your cash box, the same account sends payment links and invoices at 2.5% for online payments. In-person stays at 1.69% (or 0.99% on their paid plan), so the online premium is real. What you're buying with it is simplicity: one account, one payout stream, one app for the Saturday market and the Tuesday deposit.

Invoicing is included free, which suits vendors who need a proper invoice trail without buying software. For food traders who already run SumUp hardware, the convenience usually beats the extra percentage on the modest sums involved.

PayPal

PayPal charges 2.9% + 30p for domestic commercial payments, the dearest option here. What it has is ubiquity: nearly every client has an account, trusts the brand, can pay in three taps without typing a card number.

The flip side is that PayPal sits between you and the money more actively than a card processor. Disputes and holds favour the buyer, and a new seller taking large event payments can find funds held while checks happen. For small deposits from nervous first-time clients, the trust factor genuinely converts. For four-figure balances the fee and the hold risk both argue for another route.

Bank Transfer

Free. No percentage, no fixed fee, no middleman. Once it lands it can't be pulled back the way a card payment can be disputed. For big balances that's a feature, not just a saving.

The cost is friction and chasing. The client has to copy details, get the reference right, remember to actually do it. Reconciliation is you, squinting at your banking app, matching "J SMITH" against three enquiries called Smith. Transfers work best where the relationship is already warm and the sum justifies the faff, which is why plenty of vendors run a hybrid: card link for the deposit, transfer invited for the balance.

Side by Side

The £200 Deposit, Worked Through

A wedding client agrees a £200 booking deposit. What each route costs you:

• Bank transfer: £0, if they actually do it tonight
• Stripe: £3.20
• SumUp: £5.00
• PayPal: £6.10

Across a season of, say, £5,000 in deposits and balances taken remotely, the spread runs from £0 (all transfers) to about £152 (all PayPal), with Stripe near £80. Real money, but keep it in proportion: one deposit that arrives instantly instead of drifting for a week of cold feet pays for a year of card fees. Fee-free is only cheaper when the payment actually happens.

Chargebacks Cut Both Ways

Card payments and PayPal can be disputed months later. Bank transfers effectively can't. For deposits, that means your paperwork matters as much as your payment route: a clear cancellation and refund policy agreed in writing is what wins a card dispute and what makes keeping a deposit defensible at all. Take the deposit however converts best. Keep the terms tight regardless.

Which to Use When

Wedding and event suppliers. Invoice with a payment link on it. Stripe if you want the lowest fees and the smartest-looking checkout, SumUp if the reader's already in your world. Offer bank transfer on the balance invoice for clients who prefer it. Let the deposit go by card so the date locks in tonight.

Food traders taking event balances. You're already carrying card hardware, so the marginal move is turning the same account's links on. The occasional big catering balance can go by transfer once the relationship's established.

Anyone chasing late money. A reminder that contains a pay-now link gets settled faster than a reminder that contains a sort code. Our payment reminder templates are built to carry one.

Questions Vendors Actually Ask

Can I add the card fee onto the client's bill?

Not for consumer cards. UK law banned surcharging personal debit and credit cards back in 2018. You can price the cost in generally (everyone does) but a visible "2% card fee" line for a consumer client is unlawful. Offering a small discount for bank transfer on large balances achieves the same steer legitimately.

Do payment links look unprofessional?

The opposite these days. A branded checkout page reads as more established than "here's my account number". The unprofessional version is the payment that takes three chasing emails. Clients remember friction, not plumbing.

What about Square or GoCardless?

Square's online rates are competitive and it makes sense if you're already in their till ecosystem (see our EPOS comparison). GoCardless does Direct Debit, which shines for repeat billing rather than one-off event payments. The four in this guide cover the realistic shortlist for deposit-and-balance work.

How fast does the money actually land?

Bank transfers are near-instant. SumUp and Stripe pay out within a couple of working days, with new Stripe accounts waiting about a week for the first payout while checks run. PayPal credits your PayPal balance immediately, then withdrawal to the bank takes a day or so. None of it is slow enough to matter for a deposit taken weeks ahead. It matters plenty for money you're counting on this week.

Do I still need proper invoices?

Yes: for your records, for your tax return, for your client's paper trail. A payment link settles the bill. It doesn't replace the document. SumUp and PayPal include invoicing, Stripe's link can ride on an invoice from any template, and our free invoice template does the job if you don't want more software.

The Bottom Line

Stripe for the cheapest cards and the smartest checkout. SumUp for one-account simplicity if their reader's already yours. PayPal where client trust beats fee maths on small sums. Bank transfer for big balances between people who already trust each other. Whatever you pick, the rule that actually moves your cash flow is the same: never send a request for money without a way to pay it inside the message.

Last updated: August 2026. Fees checked against provider pricing pages at publication and they do move, so confirm before switching.