GOV.UK Goes Dutch On Payments As It Dumps Stripe (theregister.com)
(Friday June 05, 2026 @05:00PM (BeauHD)
from the locally-processed dept.)
- Reference: 0183611694
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/06/05/1839258/govuk-goes-dutch-on-payments-as-it-dumps-stripe
- Source link: https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/06/04/govuk-goes-dutch-on-payments-as-it-dumps-stripe/5250763
The UK's Government Digital Service is [1]replacing Stripe with Dutch payments provider Adyen for many GOV.UK Pay transactions, including local authorities, police forces, and armed forces units. The [2]three-year deal covers about 1,000 services and is meant to make payments more flexible while keeping the user experience largely unchanged. The Register reports:
> 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 [3]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.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/06/04/govuk-goes-dutch-on-payments-as-it-dumps-stripe/5250763
[2] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b725c8c9-e265-4f01-905c-6108313f8fef
[3] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/182de6c9-d246-421a-8204-5d50922b30de
> 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 [3]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.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/public-sector/2026/06/04/govuk-goes-dutch-on-payments-as-it-dumps-stripe/5250763
[2] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b725c8c9-e265-4f01-905c-6108313f8fef
[3] https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/182de6c9-d246-421a-8204-5d50922b30de
Cost? (Score:1)
Adyen and Stripe are both rather expensive with their normal rates... Is this just a euronationalism thing? or a way for some politician to get kickbacks? or what?
Re: (Score:3)
Well, I'm sure governments get better rates. But yes, it's likely a nationalism thing. Stripe, being American and Adyen being European. People are dropping American tech when they can switch, and I'm guessing the UK contract was up.
And while they may be expensive, it's probably cheaper since they can handle card payments online without having to do all the PCI security stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
> Adyen and Stripe are both rather expensive with their normal rates... Is this just a euronationalism thing? or a way for some politician to get kickbacks? or what?
As I recall, this was an open contract, that did not have any EU only requirement (lots of other requirements, of course). I would guess Adyen just offered a better solution (and/or price) than Stripe.
Re: (Score:3)
Generally speaking Adyen rates are not expensive per transaction at all. Just you need a certain scale to make Adyen feasible, they basically only want to work with large parties.