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Revolut Pay and SumUp both target small and growing merchants in the UK and Europe with no monthly fee on the entry plan and same-day onboarding. They are not, however, the same product. SumUp is a card-acceptance specialist anchored in cheap hardware and pay-as-you-go pricing. Revolut Pay is a checkout product inside the wider Revolut Business stack, with an account-to-account flow, multi-currency holding, and a loyalty engine. The choice usually comes down to monthly volume, settlement speed, and whether the loyalty layer matters.
At a Glance
SumUp has built its reputation on simplicity for the smallest sellers: a £25 reader, no contract, and a single rate. Revolut Pay sits in a more ambitious product, designed to compete with Stripe and Adyen on per-transaction cost while reusing Revolut's 70M+ customer base as a built-in conversion channel. For more on Revolut Pay specifically, see the full Revolut Pay review.
Fee Comparison
UK GBP pricing as of April 2026. Custom rates are available from Revolut at higher volumes.
| Channel | Revolut Pay | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| Online (consumer card) | 1% + £0.20 | 2.5% on payment links |
| In-person, pay-as-you-go | 0.8% + £0.02 (cards) / 0.5% + £0.02 (Revolut Pay) | 1.69% |
| In-person, subscription | Custom at volume | 0.99% on £19/mo plan |
| International / commercial cards | 2.8% + £0.20 | 2.95% |
| Hardware entry | Tap to Pay on iPhone or higher-tier reader | From £25 |
| Monthly fee | None on standard plan | None on PAYG; £19/mo for cheaper rate |
At very low volume the SumUp pay-as-you-go model can be cheaper in absolute terms because there is nothing to commit to. Once monthly card volume passes roughly £2,000–£3,000, the per-transaction gap turns clearly in Revolut's favour, especially on the in-person rate. For more context on how to read these numbers, see the payment fee structure guide.
Settlement and Cash Flow
Revolut Pay settles to the merchant's Revolut Business account within roughly 24 hours, including weekends. SumUp typically pays out in one to two business days on the standard banking calendar, which means a Friday transaction often arrives on Tuesday. For high-margin retail this is a non-issue. For thin-margin operations or merchants relying on float to fund inventory, the difference compounds quickly.
Hardware and POS
SumUp's hardware story is its strongest selling point. The Air reader from £25, the SumUp Solo with a built-in screen, and the printer add-on cover most physical retail and hospitality scenarios at a lower entry cost than any acquirer. Revolut offers Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android with no terminal, plus higher-spec terminals for fixed counters, but does not undercut SumUp at the £25 price point.
Online Checkout
This is where the two products diverge most. SumUp's online product is built around hosted payment links and a lightweight invoice flow. There is no full hosted checkout with cart, no native A2A button, and no app marketplace integration with Shopify, WooCommerce, or Magento at parity with Revolut. Revolut Pay covers all of this plus a Merchant API and 1-click activation inside the Stripe dashboard.
Loyalty and Customer Reach
SumUp does not offer a customer-facing loyalty engine. Revolut Pay, by contrast, plugs merchants into RevPoints, where Revolut customers earn points on every purchase. Merchants can run double-points campaigns at no extra cost, and Revolut reports a 12% spend lift on participating brands. The mechanic only works on Revolut customers, so its impact depends on how heavily your buyer base overlaps with Revolut's 70M+ users in supported markets. See the section on customer reach in alternative payment methods for context.
Who Should Pick Which
Pick SumUp if: you are a sole trader, market stall, weekend pop-up, or low-volume hospitality operator who values cheap hardware and zero commitment more than per-transaction cost. SumUp is also a sensible secondary terminal for businesses that already run a primary acquirer.
Pick Revolut Pay if: you process more than a few thousand pounds a month, sell online as well as in-person, want 24-hour settlement including weekends, or want to reach Revolut's customer base through the loyalty engine. The break-even against SumUp pay-as-you-go arrives quickly once monthly volume scales.
Verdict
SumUp is the right answer for the smallest in-person sellers, where a £25 reader and a single rate beat any other consideration. Revolut Pay is the better answer for almost everyone else, including merchants moving from SumUp once volume scales. For a richer comparison across the whole market, see the PSP Comparisons Hub.