You do not need a registered company to get paid by card. As a freelancer or sole trader you have four real options for taking client payments - each with a different trade-off on fees, speed and who owns the money. Here is what each is, when it fits, and how to start charging today.
Get your own merchant account as an individual and charge clients by card - you stay the merchant, and you can send a hosted checkout or payment link without a website. paas.build runs on UniPaaS (an FCA-authorised payment institution, No. 929994): live the same session via progressive KYB, 3.9% flat, no company needed, capped until verified. Best if you want the lowest fees and full ownership of the payment.
Send a branded invoice with a pay-by-card button. Good for one-off project billing, but the card processor behind it often wants a registered company or holds newer accounts, and fees are percentage-plus-fixed. Fine once you are established; frustrating at the start.
Fast to switch on and trusted by clients worldwide, especially for cross-border work. But fees add up on larger invoices, currency conversion has a margin, and control over branding and payouts is limited. A solid secondary option or for occasional invoices.
The provider becomes the legal seller and handles your VAT and sales tax worldwide - useful if you sell digital products or templates internationally. The trade-off: higher fees (around 5% + $0.50) and you do not own the transaction. Overkill for straightforward client services, worth it if global tax is your headache.
If you just want to invoice a client and get paid this week without registering a company, a real merchant account as an individual is the quickest and cheapest route. You go live the same day, generate a payable checkout link, and send it - no website, no company, no week-long review. The US is serviceable too: as a Merchant of Record under the UK entity if you have no US company, or on your own J.P. Morgan acquiring account if you do.
No. As an individual or sole trader you can accept card payments without registering a company. paas.build opens a real account the same session with no company, capped until you are verified, so you can invoice and charge clients today. Available in the UK, EU and US.
It depends on your invoice size. Flat 3.9% with no fixed fee (paas.build) beats percentage-plus-fixed models on small invoices, and beats Merchant of Record rates (Paddle, Lemon Squeezy at 5% + $0.50) on most. If you need worldwide tax handled for you, an MoR may still be worth the higher rate.
Yes. You can create a hosted checkout link and send it to a client directly - no website required. On paas.build you go live the same day and generate a payable link, as an individual, no company needed.
A real merchant account on card rails lets you charge clients in the UK, EU and US. paas.build runs on UniPaaS (an FCA-authorised payment institution) with settlement on J.P. Morgan rails, so cross-border card payments work out of the box - you just keep the tax yourself, unlike a Merchant of Record.
As a sole trader · Without a company · Payment link, no business · Without Stripe · What is a merchant account?