BigCommerce Payments by PayPal launches in UK at 1.2% plus £0.30 card rate

BigCommerce Payments by PayPal launches in the UK with card rates from 1.2% plus £0.30

ChannelX reported on 7 October 2026 that Commerce, the parent company of BigCommerce, had announced the UK expansion of BigCommerce Payments by PayPal¹. BigCommerce’s UK blog, dated 6 October 2026, says the product is now available to UK merchants as an embedded payment option inside the BigCommerce control panel². The UK is the first market in its international rollout¹. Published UK card rates start at 1.2% plus £0.30 per transaction^2,3, but the sources disagree on which plans can use the product, so merchants should confirm their own eligibility before planning a switch.

Commerce launches BigCommerce Payments by PayPal in the UK

Commerce said it had “today announced the expansion of its embedded payment solution, BigCommerce Payments by PayPal, to the UK market”¹. BigCommerce Payments is co-branded and embedded in BigCommerce, but the merchant’s payment relationship remains directly with PayPal¹. Commerce’s own UK blog post is dated 6 October 2026².

The product brings cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Pay Later and digital wallets into one checkout¹. It also includes a “Money” dashboard in the BigCommerce Control Panel¹. The product launched for US merchants in May 2026, and international expansion is planned in phases¹. Shopifreaks describes the UK launch as coming “five months after the US debut”⁵.

BigCommerce says the product is available “for UK and EMEA customers on Core, Growth, and Scale plans”². The UK product page and the ChannelX report describe a narrower rollout, as set out below.

Who is eligible: the sources do not match on plan access

The eligibility wording differs between BigCommerce’s own pages. The UK product page says: “Initially, BigCommerce Payments is available only to US- and UK-based merchants with self-serve and retail plans. Additional regions and countries will be launching soon”³. The same page tells merchants to check BigCommerce documentation or contact support to confirm whether their account qualifies³.

The blog’s headline refers to “UK and EMEA”², and the blog says the product is available for customers on Core, Growth and Scale plans². The product page’s fee table lists Core, Growth, and “Scale & Performance”³. The two pages therefore name different plan sets, and only the product page mentions Performance by name.

The BigCommerce Help Center article on connecting BigCommerce Payments could not be read for this report. The retrieved copy showed only a loading error⁴, so it cannot confirm whether Performance plan stores are eligible.

Merchants should not assume eligibility from marketing copy. Check the payments settings in your control panel against the plan you are on before you plan a switch.

What UK merchants will pay

BigCommerce’s product page lists these card processing rates: Core at 1.4% plus £0.30, Growth at 1.4% plus £0.30, and “Scale & Performance” at 1.2% plus £0.30³. Shopifreaks reports the same rates for Core, Growth and Scale⁵.

The product page also lists PayPal Pay Later and Checkout at 2.9% plus £0.30, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) through Klarna and Clearpay at 4.99% plus £0.30³. Shopifreaks gives the same Klarna and Clearpay rate⁵. The page describes its rates as “indicative, not guaranteed,” and says availability and features “may vary by region and merchant eligibility”³.

Shopifreaks reports an extra 1.5% on cross-border sales, without tying it to a specific plan⁵. Confirm the cross-border rate for your plan with BigCommerce.

The launch includes seven local European payment methods: Bancontact, iDEAL, MyBank, SEPA Direct Debit, EPS, BLIK and Przelewy24². BigCommerce says each method “appears automatically at checkout for eligible shoppers paying in their local currency”².

One dashboard for balances and payouts

BigCommerce says the Money dashboard gives merchants “real-time access to balance insights, top-ups, payouts, bank connections, and currency management - including multi-currency balances in GBP, EUR, and more”². Shopifreaks says merchants manage balances, payouts and GBP and EUR holdings from one dashboard⁵.

Payments are still processed through PayPal. BigCommerce says “PayPal powers the payment processing behind the scenes through your linked PayPal account, but all transactions made through BigCommerce Payments flow through your new BigCommerce Payments account”². Shopifreaks notes that the payment account “still sits with PayPal”⁵.

The product also keeps PCI compliance and risk controls with PayPal. BigCommerce says it “is built with PayPal’s infrastructure, which manages PCI compliance and risk controls at the platform level”³.

What UK merchants should check before switching

BigCommerce describes the setup as four steps: “Activate”, “Configure”, “Verify” and “Go live”³. Under “Verify”, it says merchants should “Complete verification and run a test order”³. BigCommerce adds that “most merchants are approved and ready to go live the same day”³. Its FAQ says the product “is designed to reduce cutover risk” and that “some custom payment setups may require additional review”³.

Our recommended checks are:

• Confirm your plan in the control panel. The product page and the blog name different plans, so do not rely on either alone.
• Check the PayPal link. Connecting creates a new BigCommerce Payments account, and processing runs through a linked PayPal account². Confirm which account holds your funds and who you contact for disputes before you accept the terms.
• Model your costs. Work out the blended cost using the card rate for your plan, the Klarna or Clearpay rate if you offer BNPL, and the extra 1.5% on cross-border orders^3,5.
• Test before going live. Run a small number of test transactions, including a cross-border order and one of the local European methods, before moving all checkout traffic.
• Reconcile from day one. Map the new payouts to your accounting in the Money dashboard and compare the first settlements with your order records.
• Keep your current gateway active until you have confirmed settlement timings and how refunds are handled.
• Plan the cutover. BigCommerce’s FAQ says it “recommend[s] activating during lower-traffic windows as a precaution”³.

What is not yet known

• The announcement date. This report did not find a Commerce press release. The 7 October 2026 date comes from the ChannelX report¹. Shopifreaks, dated 9 October 2026, also reports the launch⁵.
• The scope of the rollout. The blog refers to “UK and EMEA”², while ChannelX says the UK is the first market in the rollout¹. Other European markets have not been confirmed in these sources.
• Plan eligibility. The product page, the blog and the Help Center give different answers, as set out above^2,3,4.
• Performance plan terms. The product page lists Performance with Scale³, but none of the sources gives a separate Performance cross-border rate.

The rates and eligibility in this article were checked on 10 October 2026. Confirm them with BigCommerce directly, or in the BigCommerce documentation linked from its UK payments page³, before you switch.