Opayo is the payment gateway brand of Elavon, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. It’s used mainly by merchants in the UK and Ireland for online, phone, and in-person card payments. Opayo started as Protx in 2001, traded as Sage Pay under Sage Group from 2009, and was renamed Opayo in July 2020 after Elavon completed its acquisition of the business.
From Sage Pay to Opayo
Sage Pay traded under Sage Group from 2009. Before that, it was called Protx, founded in 2001 and bought by Sage in 2006. In November 2019, Sage announced it was selling the Sage Pay business in the UK and Ireland to Elavon. The deal was completed on 11 March 2020. Elavon rebranded the business as Opayo in July 2020.
Elavon retired Opayo as its customer-facing trading name from 2022 to 2023. As of September 2026, Opayo still names the underlying gateway product, like MyOpayo, Opayo Direct/Form/iFrame, and Opayo product support.
How Opayo works
Opayo is a payment gateway. During a transaction, it takes the customer’s card details, encrypts them, and sends an authorization request to the card scheme and the merchant’s acquiring bank. If the card needs Strong Customer Authentication under PSD2, Opayo handles that step through 3-D Secure 2. The card issuer approves or declines the payment, and Opayo passes that result back to the merchant so the order can be marked paid or declined. Approved payments then settle into the merchant’s bank account.
Merchant requirements and setup basics
- Business onboarding and underwriting for both an Elavon merchant account and a separate Opayo gateway account, since the two are billed independently
- MyOpayo API credentials (Vendor Name, Integration Key, and Integration Password), generated separately in the test and live MyOpayo environments
- Selection of an integration method (Form, Direct, or iFrame) to match how card details will be collected
- Notification URL configuration so Opayo can post transaction results back to the merchant’s order system
- Return/redirect handling for successful and failed payments, so orders aren’t marked paid before the result is confirmed
- Test MyOpayo validation before going live, including test cards, declines, and refunds
Where Opayo is used
Today, Opayon is the payment gateway product within Elavon’s UK and Ireland business. It mainly serves SMBs and mid-market merchants, primarily in e-commerce.
Merchants comparing options for UK shoppers can see how Opayo compares with other providers in Akurateco’s guide to UK payment methods.
Fees, refunds, and settlement
Transaction fees start at 0.99% for personal UK debit cards on the entry-level plan. Most merchants are quoted a higher blended rate depending on card mix and volume, alongside a monthly gateway subscription starting at £25 (checked in September 2026).
If you’re still looking for how much Sage Pay costs, the legacy website now redirects to Elavon after the acquisition, so there’s no separate Sage Pay pricing.
Merchants can refund a transaction, in full or in part, directly through MyOpayo.
Each day’s transactions are collected into a nightly batch and sent to the merchant’s bank for settlement. Once settled, funds clear into the merchant’s business bank account according to the timeline agreed with their merchant bank.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Well-known to UK developers and widely supported by e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, and OpenCart
- PCI DSS Level 1 certified, and its hosted-page option keeps card data off the merchant’s servers, reducing PCI scope
- Flexible integration options, including hosted page (Form), API (Direct), or iFrame, plus a virtual terminal for MOTO (phone/mail-order) payments, which suits service businesses that key in card details manually
- Built-in Transaction Risk Analysis and enhanced fraud screening, generally rated more thorough than entry-level gateways
- Multi-currency processing and pay-by-link functionality
Cons:
- Separate gateway fee plus a distinct Elavon merchant-account fee, harder to compare against all-in-one providers
- Backend interfaces and APIs can feel dated next to newer competitors
- Contract terms are fairly rigid, offering less flexibility for growing businesses
- Support response times can lag on more complex issues
Using Opayo in a multi-method checkout
Opayo covers Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, but it doesn’t offer bank transfer, buy-now-pay-later, or other alternative payment methods that shoppers at the same checkout might also expect.
A payment orchestration platform lets PSPs and merchants add Opayo alongside other rails through a single integration, routing each transaction to the best-fit provider based on cost, region, or card type, rather than maintaining a separate connection for each method.
Integration via Akurateco
Akurateco brings multiple payment methods and providers under a single orchestration layer, so teams can manage performance, approval rates, and reporting consistently as the stack grows. If you need a specific payment option enabled for your checkout, you can submit a custom request. Use Contact Us or the form on this page to discuss scope and availability.
Note: Akurateco provides the gateway and orchestration layer on top of acquirers and does not process transactions itself.
FAQs about Opayo
What is Opayo?
Opayo is Elavon’s payment gateway brand for UK and Irish merchants, covering online, phone, and in-person card payments. It was previously called Sage Pay before Elavon renamed it Opayo in July 2020 after acquiring the business.
Is Opayo safe?
Opayo holds PCI DSS Level 1 accreditation, the highest tier of card data security certification. It supports 3-D Secure 2 for PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication. Elavon operates it and is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland (checked in September 2026).
What is Sage Pay?
Sage Pay was the former name of the payment gateway now called Opayo. Elavon renamed it in July 2020 after acquiring the business from Sage Group.
What is happening to Opayo?
Opayo was acquired by Elavon in 2020 and subsequently rebranded fully to Elavon in 2022-2023. Opayo still exists as a product name (for the gateway and POS solutions) under Elavon, but it’s no longer a separate company brand.
