What Does Independent Really Mean?
In the payment consultancy industry, many firms claim to be independent while maintaining hidden relationships with payment providers. These relationships often involve referral fees, commissions, or preferred partner arrangements that create conflicts of interest and bias recommendations.
At Payment Lynk, we maintain complete independence from all payment providers. We don't receive commissions, referral fees, or any form of compensation from the providers we evaluate. This means our advice is genuinely unbiased and focussed entirely on your business needs.
The Provider-Agnostic Approach
Being provider-agnostic means we evaluate all payment solutions objectively, without favouring any particular provider or technology. We assess providers based on:
- Cost Structure: Transaction fees, monthly charges, setup costs and hidden fees
- Performance Metrics: Acceptance rates, transaction success rates and uptime reliability
- Technical Capabilities: Integration options, API quality and feature sets
- Support Quality: Response times, technical expertise and account management
- Business Fit: Industry specialisation, transaction volume suitability and growth scalability
Which Payment Provider is Best for Your Business?
The answer depends entirely on your specific business needs. Here's a comparison of major UK payment brands across core features:
| Payment Brand | Card Payments | Ecommerce | In-Person | International Payments | FX Handling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worldpay | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟠|
| Stripe | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Adyen | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 |
| PayPal | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🟠|
| Checkout.com | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟢 | 🟢 |
| Square | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟠|
| Barclaycard Payments | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟠|
| Global Payments | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟠|
| Elavon | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟢 | 🟠| 🟠|
| Klarna | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 | 🟢 | 🔴 |
Key to Ratings
As you can see, there's no single "best" provider. The right choice depends on your specific requirements, transaction patterns, and business model. This is where independent, provider-agnostic advice becomes invaluable - we help you navigate these options based on your unique needs, not on which provider pays us the highest commission.
How Independence Benefits Your Business
Unbiased Recommendations
We recommend providers based purely on merit and suitability for your specific business requirements, not on who pays us the highest commission.
Cost Transparency
Without commission incentives, we can negotiate the best possible rates for you and identify hidden costs that others might overlook.
Long-Term Partnership
Our success is measured by your payment performance improvements, not by provider referrals, creating a true partnership focussed on your goals.
Objective Analysis
We provide honest assessments of your current provider and alternatives, including when staying with your existing provider is the best option.
Our Evaluation Process
When evaluating payment providers for your business, we follow a rigorous, data-driven process that ensures objectivity and thoroughness:
Business Requirements Analysis
We start by understanding your business model, transaction patterns, customer demographics and growth plans to establish clear evaluation criteria.
Market Research
We research all suitable providers in the UK market, including established players and emerging solutions, without any pre-existing bias.
Comparative Analysis
We create detailed comparisons of costs, features, performance metrics and support quality across all viable options.
Recommendation & Rationale
We present our findings with clear reasoning, showing why specific providers are recommended and how they meet your requirements.
Questions to Ask Any Payment Consultant
When choosing a payment consultancy, it's important to understand their relationships and incentives. Here are key questions to ask:
- Do you receive commissions or referral fees from payment providers?
- Do you have preferred partner arrangements with any providers?
- How do you get compensated for your services?
- Can you provide references from clients in similar industries?
- What happens if you recommend staying with my current provider?