Opayo (formerly Sage Pay) Merchant Services Review

Opayo is a relatively new name in the payment processing scene. It was formally Sage Pay and rebranded in July 2020 after Elevon acquired the UK and Irish Sage Pay business for £232 million in November 2019.

It is a payment service provider (PSP) that serves over 50,000 customers UK and Ireland. It processed over £40 billion worth of card payments in 2019.

It’s parent company, Elevon Inc is a giant in the industry and at the time of purchasing Sage Pay was the 4th largest merchant acquirer in Europe.

Opayo’s customers range from startups to major corporations. Its services range from simple payment solutions for SMEs to tailored packages for enterprise level clients.

Products & Services

Their products and services can be split into 3 main categories

Online payments
Mail and telephone payments
Face to face payments

Online Payments

The key features of Opayo’s online payments suite include:

Card payments: With support for all the major credit and debit card providers: MasterCard, Maestro, Visa, American Express etc.
Alternative payments: Including PayPal in 25+ currencies.
Payment gateway: Fully customisable with checkout pages to match the look and feel of your website.
Fraud prevention: Tools to protect your business at no extra cost.
Quick payment processing: Funds in your account within two business days.
Analytics: A cloud portal where you can view all of your customer data and insights into your business’ performance.
Platform integration: Including Shopify, WooCommerce, Opencart, Prestashop and other major eCommerce and POS platforms.
Online Invoicing: E-Invoicing for payment collection at the click of a button (online or over the phone), reducing the number of outstanding invoices. Also comes with 24/7 support.

Opayo’s online payments system comes with three pricing tiers: Flex, Plus and Corporate/Bespoke (you can read more about this and what each entails in the “Fees” section below).

Face to Face Payments

Opayo’s Face to Face payment services are divided into two categories: POS terminals and integrated EPOS solutions.

Point Of Sale (POS) Terminals

Countertop Card Machine: Verifone Engage V400c with a 3.5’ display, ethernet connectivity and 600MHz Cortez A9 Processor.
Portable Card Machine: Verifone Engage V240m with a 3.5’ colour touchscreen, point-to-point encryption, dual WiFi and GPRS connectivity and 600MHz Cortez A9 Processor

EPOS Solutions

Ensuring frictionless and secure payments, Opayo’s EPOS systems can connect to a Pin Entry Device (PED) or terminal software.

Virtual Terminals

For merchants accepting card payments virtually or over the phone, Opayo has Virtual Terminal solutions that enable card-not-present transactions.

	MOTO Pan Key Entry	MOTO Virtual Terminal
Online payments portal	N/A	Y
Manual PAN Key Entry	Y	Y
Accept card payments	Y	Y
PCI Compliance	Y	Y
Fraud Screening tools	N/A	Y
Transaction reporting	N/A	Y
Returns and refunds	N/A	Y
Customer receipt	Y	N/A
24/7 UK based support	Y	Y

Opayo Virtual Terminals come with two pricing plans – Small Business and Corporate (more about them in the “Fees” section)

Large Business Solutions

Multi-channel tracking: So you can see the journey your customers take through the buying process.
Fraud and risk management: For firms that take large, high-risk or international payments on a wide scale.
Priority support service: To help keep the many wheels of your large business moving in the right direction.
Dedicated account manager: So you always have someone on call who understands the individual needs of you and your business.
Custom reporting: Giving you access to the information you need most, when you need it.
Partner directory: To help you choose from a library of third-party service providers for specialist business needs.
Business growth features: A number of advanced payment features to help you expand your business and reach a wider audience.

Accepted Payment Methods

Visa and Mastercard are pre-integrated into Opayo’s eCommerce pages. Other global payment options for Opayo’s merchant services include:

- PayPal
- American Express
- Maestro
- Discover Global Network
- Sofort
- Giropay
- iDeal
- eps
- JCB

Fees

The basic structure for online payment products is as follows:

Opayo Payment Gateway Fees

Online Flex	Online Plus	Online Corporate
From £25/month	From £45/month	POA
Up to 350 transactions per month	Up to 500 “Single Click” (tokens) purchases per month	Up to 3,000+ transactions per month
Free a fraud screening tools	Free fraud screening tools	Custom fraud screening tools
24/7 telephone, email and Twitter support	Fast-Pass support	Priority support.
		Dedicated account manager

Single Click / Token functionalities will be priced to reflect the volume of tokens stored on a monthly basis. Sage Pay pricing from March 2020 is below:

Number of tokens	Price Per Month
0-999	£20
1,000-1,999	£40
2,000-2,999	£60
3,000 +	Variable

Invoice Payment Fees

Pay As You Go	Standard	Extra
Best for < £500 per month	Best < £1000 pm	Best for > £1000 pm
2.5% charge for every payment you take	Credit Cards: 2.2%	Credit Cards: 1.7%
Only pay for what you use	Debit Cards: 1.2%	Debit Cards: 0.59%

Virtual Terminal Fees

Small Business	Corporate
100 transactions per month	1500+ transactions per month
Free anti-fraud tools	Bespoke anti-fraud tools
24/7 support	Dedicated account manager
£15 /month	Bespoke pricing

See how Opayo compares with other UK payment processing companies.

Reviews

Trustpilot rating: 4.8 / 2970 reviews

Opayo has a very positive score on Trustpilot and is currently ranked:

2 out of 26 companies in the card processing service category
3 out of 51 companies in the eCommerce solution provider category
3 out of 63 companies in the payment service category

Positive Reviews

You’ll find positive Opayo reviews of Opayo on a range of review sites including Trustpilot, G2, and FeaturedCustomers.com.

Positive reviews are commonly about their helpful customer support and issue ownership.

A few examples of customers’ positive experiences:

“I had a small technical problem, rang the helpline and the man I spoke to you immediately knew what I was talking about and we got it resolved within a couple of minutes. Perfect.” – Juliette, August 10th 2021

“Excellent service from Stuart! Called to discuss some terminal security features which he explained carefully and fully and then proceeded to walk me through setting up each feature individually along with solving another unrelated issue. Superb!” – Liz Anson, July 16th 2021

Negative Reviews

To be fair there are relatively few complaints for a company of this size. There is no one category that is consistent amongst the complaints although it is evident that they don’t always get their customer service right.

They have also got some kickback on fees since the rebrand. For example,

“18% Price rises since taking over from SagePay and a telephone system that now sounds like it was made on a speak’n’spell. Service and support has definitely got a LOT worse and having telephoned twice and sent them a lengthy email, 11 days later, they have still not replied.

They are definitely NOT a customer orientated company and are trying to bring their acquired customers in line with how THEY do things instead of trying to align themselves with their customer’s needs. Congratulations Opayo, you are 100% successful in finding new innovative ways to get rid of customers.” Rich on Trustpilot, July 2021

Opayo reviews during the September 2020 – August 2021 period:

It should be noted that the Trustpilot reviews they receive organically and not via automatic invitations have a much higher proportion of negative reviews (although there are significantly less unprompted organic reviews than automated ones).

Customer Service & Technical Support

24/7 support phone line
Twitter (@OpayoSupport)
Online form
FAQ page
Learning centre

Contracts & Early Termination Fees

Their payment gateways have a rolling contract and 3 month cancellation period.

As always, we recommend you discuss terms with their sales team directly and get everything in writing so you know where you stand.

We’re happy to help if you’d like another set of eyes to review the small print of the contract they’ve sent you or you’d like us to negotiate fees and contract terms on your behalf (with them or other providers).

Verdict

Opayo is consistently rated as one of the most trusted payment providers in the UK. However, their fees are not the most competitive.

Please fill in this short form if you would like us to negotiate the best rates from them or get like for like quotes from their main competitors.