public sector

GOV.UK goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe

Means residents can skip the credit card and use 'pay by bank' for local authorities and services

The UK’s Government Digital Service (GDS) has replaced Stripe with Dutch provider Adyen as its processor for many payments made through its GOV.UK Pay service.

Adyen will take over GOV.UK Pay card payments for local authorities, police forces and armed forces units from Stripe, as well as pay by bank services, under a three-year contract worth up to £25.3 million.

According to the tender notice published in February 2025, the contract covers around 17 percent of payments made through GOV.UK Pay but more than 70 percent of its organizations and includes the only option allowing users to start taking payments within one working day. At that point the contract had an estimated maximum value of £49 million, although with no guarantees over volume. 

In a blogpost about the contract award on 2 June, GDS said it will migrate around 1,000 services to the new supplier. “We will make migration as straightforward as possible while complying with Know Your Customer legislation that protects everyone from fraud,” wrote Alan Maddrell, senior content designer for the service. “Most importantly, there will be no discernible difference for paying users and no loss in functionality.”

He added that the change of supplier will help introduce new options including pay by bank, which transfers money directly between bank accounts using open banking services and avoids the need to type in card details. GDS will continue to use WorldPay to process payments for central government, linked organizations and NHS bodies.

GDS established GOV.UK Pay to save public services the effort and cost of setting up online payments themselves. It doesn’t charge organizations for the service beyond passing on transaction fees.

According to its performance data page, GOV.UK Pay has processed 137.5 million transactions since it was set up in 2016, worth around £9.2 billion. It currently provides 1,718 services, including 662 for local government and 256 for police forces, to 608 organisations ranging from 1079 (Tiverton) Squadron RAF Air Cadets to Yeovil Town Council. ®