Merchant Services Ireland: Costs & Providers Compared
"Merchant services" covers everything a business needs to accept card payments - the merchant account, the processing rate and the terminal or gateway. In Ireland that ranges from traditional bank acquirers like AIB Merchant Services and BOI Payment Acceptance, which price by quote, to flat-rate providers such as Stripe, Square, SumUp and Revolut that publish their rates. This guide estimates the flat-rate options and shows how to weigh them against a quoted merchant account.
Short answer
For the sample scenario on this page, Revolut Business has the lowest estimate at €364.17/month. The gap to SumUp is about €700 per year.
Treat that as a starting point, not a final recommendation. The result can move when average sale value, international cards, in-person share, VAT treatment or hardware costs change.
Fee estimate for this scenario
Public standard rates only. Open each row to inspect the fee components.
€364.17/mo
1.46% effective rate
Baseline
vs lowest
Annual €4,370.00
| Provider | Monthly | Annual | Rate | vs lowest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €364.17 | €4,370.00 | 1.46% | Baseline | Visit provider | |
| €422.50 | €5,070.00 | 1.69% | +€58.33/mo+€700/yr | Visit provider | |
| €464.04 | €5,568.50 | 1.86% | +€99.88/mo+€1,199/yr | Visit provider | |
| €485.08 | €5,821.00 | 1.94% | +€120.92/mo+€1,451/yr | Visit provider | |
| €513.42 | €6,161.00 | 2.05% | +€149.25/mo+€1,791/yr | Visit provider | |
| €523.33 | €6,280.00 | 2.09% | +€159.17/mo+€1,910/yr | Visit provider | |
| €531.58 | €6,379.00 | 2.13% | +€167.42/mo+€2,009/yr | Visit provider |
Providers worth checking
The right list depends on price, how you take payments and whether the provider supports the channels you actually use.
StripeDeveloper-friendly payments with strong API tooling, subscriptions and marketplace support.Details
Revolut BusinessAppeals to businesses already using Revolut banking, with competitive EEA card rates.Details
SquareSimple point-of-sale focus with predictable blended in-person pricing.Details
SumUpSimple card readers and pay-as-you-go pricing for market stalls, mobile sellers and micro-businesses.Details
DojoCard-machine provider focused on fast in-person payments and next-day payouts.Details
myPOSCard machines, online payments and merchant account services with published pay-per-transaction pricing.Details
MollieEuropean e-commerce focus with straightforward per-transaction pricing.Details
PayPalWidely recognised by customers, useful as a familiar checkout option.DetailsTraditional acquirers vs flat-rate providers
Irish merchant services split into two models: bank-backed merchant accounts priced by quote, and flat-rate providers that publish one simple rate and bundle the account in.
Checks to make
- Traditional acquirers (AIB Merchant Services, BOI Payment Acceptance, Elavon, Worldpay) give you a dedicated merchant account, usually on interchange-plus or blended pricing set by quote.
- Flat-rate providers (Stripe, Square, SumUp, Revolut) bundle the merchant account and publish one rate, so there is no separate quote to negotiate.
- Quote-based pricing can beat flat rates at high, steady volume; flat rates are usually cheaper and simpler below that.
What makes up a merchant services fee
The advertised percentage is only part of the cost. Compare the full stack before deciding, because monthly and minimum charges can outweigh a lower rate at modest volume.
Checks to make
- Card processing rate, often split between in-person and online and by card type.
- Monthly service or terminal fees, plus any minimum monthly processing charge.
- One-off hardware, gateway, PCI and settlement-timing costs that sit outside the headline rate.
How to compare a quote against flat-rate pricing
Use the public flat-rate estimate as a benchmark, then judge any quoted merchant account against it on your own numbers.
Checks to make
- Estimate your real monthly cost on flat-rate providers first to set a baseline.
- Ask any quoted provider for the all-in effective rate on your actual card mix, not just the headline percentage.
- Weigh contract length, cancellation terms and settlement speed alongside the rate.
Source-backed estimate
Praghas can estimate 7 of 10public-rate providers for this scenario. The calculator shows source links, review dates and notes for unsupported providers.