DNA Payments vs Dojo Payment Processing

Verdict

• Dojo, hospitality and single-site merchants.
• DNA Payments, omnichannel businesses that need one acquiring relationship across in-store, online and mobile channels.
• The two companies are independent competitors. DNA Payments Group (FRN 806630) built its business through eight acquisitions of UK payment businesses. Dojo is a trading name of Paymentsense Limited (FRN 738728), owned by Typhoon Noteco. Neither acquired the other.

Best For

• Dojo, restaurants, pubs, and cafés using Kobas, Tevalis or another of Dojo’s 450+ EPOS integrations. Merchants where next-day settlement (including weekends and bank holidays) is operationally important. Any hospitality operator who wants built-in cashless tipping and Dojo Bookings (online reservations, virtual queue) without paying for a separate system.
• DNA Payments, multi-site businesses or ecommerce-first brands that want a single acquirer for in-person, online gateway, pay-by-link and virtual terminal. Merchants who process high enough volume to negotiate bespoke interchange-plus pricing and absorb a 2–4-year minimum term.

Not Ideal For

• Dojo, if you need an omnichannel gateway and want a single commercial relationship across online and in-store. Dojo’s online product exists but it’s secondary to its card-present offering.
• DNA Payments, if you’re a small-volume merchant who can’t absorb a long minimum term or negotiate rates from a position of strength.
• Neither, if you process under £10,000 a year. Both providers’ minimum monthly charges make them poor value at that scale. SumUp or Square will cost you less until your volume grows.

Key Facts

• Dojo Flex plan: 1.4% + 5p per consumer card transaction in person, £10/month per location, terminal rental £15–£20 + VAT/month.
• DNA Payments pricing: quote-only across all channels.
• Dojo Fix plan: £39.99/month including terminal rental, with 1.4% + 5p per consumer card transaction (sourced from independent UK aggregators May 2026).

Which Is Better for Hospitality Businesses?

If you run a restaurant, pub or café and your biggest headaches are cash flow timing, tableside tipping, and keeping your EPOS system talking to your card reader, Dojo solves all three without asking you to switch systems.

If you run a restaurant, pub or café and your biggest headaches are cash flow timing, tableside tipping, and keeping your EPOS system talking to your card reader, Dojo solves all three without asking you to switch systems. That’s the short answer.

Dojo’s built-in cashless tipping is available on every device. Customers are prompted at payment; the merchant sets the percentages. The Dojo Pocket device is designed specifically for tableside ordering and payment in full-service restaurants.

And Dojo Bookings, the online reservations and virtual queue system, integrated with Google discovery and the Dojo diner app, is included, not sold as a bolt-on.

DNA Payments has a hospitality angle: it announced a partnership with Hospitality Digital Services in November 2024. But no feature-level tipping product or bookings system sits on DNA Payments’ public website.

If cashless tipping and EPOS connectivity are your decision criteria, we rate Dojo the better-specified provider for hospitality today, on feature availability, not first-hand testing.

The main cost to watch with Dojo is the contract. The Fix plan locks you in for 12 months initially; you then roll monthly. The Flex plan (over £150k annual turnover) offers 30-day rolling terms.

DNA Payments typically runs 2–4-year minimum terms, long enough that a restaurant group with a rocky first year could face meaningful exit costs.

Take a group running three restaurant sites with 80 covers each, all on Kobas EPOS. Dojo activates its Kobas integration in minutes, next-day settlement lands by 10am every morning, and built-in tipping removes the need for a separate tipping service.

DNA Payments could technically serve this group, but it would need a custom quote, a longer sales cycle, and wouldn’t offer the same depth of hospitality tooling out of the box.

For a group like that, we would start with Dojo, and only put DNA Payments on the shortlist if one multi-site acquiring contract became the overriding priority.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Fees and Charges

Card Transaction Fees

DNA Payments does not publish a rate card. Dojo’s Flex plan charges 1.4% + 5p per consumer card transaction in person, you can model your costs before you sign. We set out both below.

DNA Payments does not publish a rate card. All in-person and online pricing is quoted per merchant based on volume and business type.

Third-party UK review sources (paymentmachine.co.uk, cardmachineproviders.co.uk) indicate typical debit card fees of 0.26%–0.29%, with overall transaction fees in the 1%–2% range and a fixed fee of approximately 20p per transaction. A minimum monthly transaction fee of £10 applies.

These are indicative only. If you’re comparing DNA Payments against a published rate, you need an actual quote, the third-party ranges are useful for ballpark comparisons, not contract negotiations.

Contact DNA Payments directly with your monthly volume and card mix.

Dojo’s Flex plan charges 1.4% + 5p on consumer Visa and Mastercard in-person; 1.8% + 5p on business cards.

The Fix plan for merchants under £150k annual turnover costs £39.99/month and covers up to £3,999 of card turnover per month, a 1% excess applies above that allowance. The Pro plan for merchants over £1m annual turnover is bespoke.

For online transactions, Dojo charges 1.9% + 5p on consumer cards and 2.3% + 5p on business cards. A virtual terminal attracts an additional +0.5% on top of the face-to-face rate, plus a 5p Secure Transaction Fee per authorisation.

We think quote-only pricing quietly favours the seller: it puts a time-poor owner on the back foot in a negotiation they did not ask for. Dojo’s published plans at least let you walk in already knowing the number.

Monthly, Setup and Contract Costs

DNA Payments minimum monthly fee: £10. Dojo Flex: £10/month per location plus terminal rental. The contract length difference is where the real cost lives, we explain the exit terms below.

DNA Payments levies a minimum monthly transaction fee of £10 if your transaction volume falls below that threshold.

Beyond that, there is no published monthly platform fee, your monthly cost is the sum of transaction fees on your actual volume, any add-on product fees (pay-by-link is reported as £5/month by third parties), and any hardware rental or setup costs agreed at signing.

Dojo’s Flex plan is £10/month per location plus terminal rental of £15–£20 + VAT/month.

The Fix plan bundles terminal rental into the £39.99/month fee and carries no separate setup charge. The minimum monthly charge across both plans is £24.95.

DNA Payments contracts typically run 2–4 years (set at signing). Third-party reviewers report 4-year terms as common and a termination fee of £150–£159 if you exit early, on top of the remaining contract value for some service lines.

That is a material lock-in risk for any business that isn’t confident of its volume over a long horizon.

Dojo’s Fix plan locks you in for 12 months, then rolls monthly. The Flex plan offers 30-day rolling for merchants over £150k turnover.

Dojo also covers exit fees up to £500 (Fix) or £3,000 (Flex/Pro) if you switch from a previous provider, a genuine switching incentive that DNA Payments does not currently match in published form.

Other Fees to Watch

Dojo charges £0.50 per refund. DNA Payments chargeback fees are not published, we recommend you get them in writing before signing.

Dojo charges £0.50 per refund transaction. If your business processes returns regularly, fashion retail with a high return rate, for instance, that adds up: 100 refunds a month is £50 you might not have priced in.

DNA Payments’ chargeback fee is not published on its website. Ask for this in writing before signing, particularly if you operate in a category with elevated dispute rates.

DNA Payments next-day settlement is reported as an optional add-on at £7.99/month by one independent reviewer.

Dojo includes next-day settlement (364 days a year, including weekends and bank holidays) at no additional charge. If daily cash flow matters to your business, that is a real and meaningful cost difference, though the DNA Payments figure needs primary confirmation before you treat it as definitive.

Fee Verdict: Who Costs Less

Dojo is easier to assess because its rates are published. DNA Payments may cost less if you have volume to negotiate, but you cannot know that without a sales conversation. We give the break-even logic below.

For published, comparable pricing, Dojo is easier to assess. You can model your monthly cost before you sign. DNA Payments requires you to get a quote, which means a sales conversation, and rates that depend on your volume, card mix, and negotiating position.

At face value, Dojo’s Flex 1.4% + 5p in-person rate for consumer cards is competitive for the mid-market. If DNA Payments quotes you below that for your actual volume, you have a better deal, but you can’t assume it will.

High-volume merchants (£1m+) will likely find DNA Payments interchange-plus pricing more cost-effective. Smaller operators are usually better served by Dojo’s published plans.

Our take: under roughly £1m turnover we rate Dojo the safer call, because you can price it before you commit. We only steer omnichannel sellers with real volume toward DNA Payments’ negotiated rates.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Payment Methods and Checkout Options

Cards, Wallets and Alternative Payment Methods

Both accept Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The difference is channel depth: Dojo leads on EPOS breadth, DNA Payments leads on channel breadth.

Both providers accept Visa, Mastercard, and Amex. Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported on both. That covers the vast majority of UK consumer card payments.

Dojo’s online checkout handles consumer and business cards, digital wallets, and standard card-present acceptance on its terminals.

Its Pay at Table and Pay at Counter modes integrate via EPOS, so your front-of-house flow and your card acceptance flow don’t run separately.

DNA Payments’ omnichannel stack covers in-person, online gateway, virtual terminal, pay-by-link, mobile, and unattended payments under one commercial relationship.

If you run petrol station forecourts, car parks, or vending machines alongside a physical shop, that breadth is a genuine advantage. Dojo does not publish an unattended payment product.

Checkout Experience

Dojo’s hosted checkout handles SCA automatically and reduces PCI scope. DNA Payments’ axept® POS gives you more custom logic if you need it.

Dojo’s online checkout is a hosted page handling 3DS/SCA automatically. For merchants without developer resource, it reduces your PCI compliance scope to the lightest SAQ A tier.

The virtual terminal lets you take card-not-present payments over the phone, useful for bookings and deposits in hospitality.

DNA Payments offers a hosted checkout, payment links, and a gateway API for custom integrations.

Its axept® POS software runs on Android smartPOS terminals and brings custom receipt templates, loyalty, and multi-operator modes. If your business needs bespoke POS logic, the axept® ecosystem gives you more flexibility than Dojo’s hosted checkout-first approach.

Neither provider currently offers the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) or Open Banking pay-by-bank integrations that Stripe and some newer providers carry.

If alternative payment methods beyond cards and digital wallets are central to your checkout conversion, both are a weaker fit than a method-led processor.

Methods Verdict

Dojo wins on EPOS integration breadth. DNA Payments wins on channel breadth for omnichannel and unattended payments.

Dojo wins on EPOS breadth for in-person payments, 450+ integration partners means you can almost certainly keep your existing EPOS system.

DNA Payments wins if you need a unified acquiring relationship that spans channels you can’t find on Dojo’s product page: unattended, mobile-first, or high-complexity gateway builds.

Where the channels split, we side with Dojo for EPOS-led counter trade and DNA Payments for estates that genuinely run unattended or mobile payments too.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Hardware, POS and In-Person Payments

Card Readers and Terminals

Dojo Go is a PAX A920 smartPOS on a simple rental model. DNA Payments offers a wider range of terminal form factors, all on quote pricing.

Dojo’s primary device is the Dojo Go, a PAX A920 smartPOS with a 5-inch touchscreen, built-in receipt printer, WiFi/3G/4G connectivity, and a 10+ hour battery.

It is rental-only at £15–£20 + VAT/month with no purchase option and £0 setup. The Dojo Pocket is a handheld ordering and payment device aimed at full-service restaurant tableside workflows. The Dojo Wired is the countertop option.

DNA Payments offers a wider hardware range: PAX A920 Pro, PAX Q25, PAX A35, Nexgo N86, SUNMI P2 Lite SE, SUNMI P2 Pro, and its own axept® PRO terminals covering mobile, countertop, unattended and SmartPOS form factors. Pricing is quote-only.

Third-party sources suggest terminals are provided free on sign-up for qualifying merchants, with a reported replacement fee of around £250.

POS Software and Hardware Add-ons

Dojo plugs into your existing EPOS, it does not push its own POS. DNA Payments’ axept® POS is proprietary and runs on its own terminals.

Dojo does not push its own POS software. Instead it plugs into your existing EPOS system via a credentials handshake that takes minutes. That is a structural advantage over providers like Square or SumUp that require you to adopt their POS alongside their reader.

If you already have a EPOS setup you trust, Dojo leaves it alone.

DNA Payments’ axept® POS is an Android-based proprietary system that runs on its smartPOS terminals.

It supports custom receipt templates, multi-operator logins, loyalty card scanning, and integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce (via MWC Partners, June 2025) and ETABS (retail/trade/warehouse platform, May 2026).

If you run a specialist platform already aligned to these ecosystems, DNA Payments may remove integration work you would otherwise have to build.

In-Person Verdict

Dojo wins for simplicity and hospitality. DNA Payments wins for terminal range and specialist POS ecosystems.

Dojo wins for simplicity and hospitality specificity. The Dojo Go is one well-specified device with a clear rental model, and Dojo Pocket adds genuine tableside functionality for full-service restaurants.

If you want minimal hardware decisions and deep EPOS compatibility, this is the default choice.

DNA Payments wins if you need a wider range of terminal form factors, particularly unattended and mobile, or if you’re building within an axept® or Dynamics 365 ecosystem.

The hardware range is broader; the lack of published pricing means you need a quote before you can compare costs.

On hardware we call it for Dojo on simplicity, and reach for DNA Payments only when you need a terminal form factor Dojo does not make, such as unattended.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Online Payments and Integrations

Hosted Checkout, Payment Links and APIs

Both offer hosted checkouts, but neither is built for ecommerce-first businesses. If online is your primary channel, shortlist Stripe or GoCardless instead.

DNA Payments’ online offering covers a hosted payment page, pay-by-link, virtual terminal, and a gateway API for custom checkouts. All pricing is custom.

If your business processes online payments at meaningful volume, you can negotiate rates, but you cannot model costs in advance without going through a sales process.

Dojo’s online checkout is a hosted page with SCA handled automatically. It is designed to be fast to deploy, not deeply customisable.

The virtual terminal is available at an additional +0.5% on the face-to-face rate plus a 5p Secure Transaction Fee per authorisation. Pay-by-link is not separately advertised as a product on the Dojo site as of May 2026.

If your business lives primarily online and in-person payment is secondary, you should also look at Stripe or Worldpay before committing to either of these two providers.

Both DNA Payments and Dojo are primarily built around in-person acquiring, with online as an extension of that relationship.

Platform Integrations

Dojo integrates with 450+ EPOS systems but has limited ecommerce platform presence. DNA Payments connects to Microsoft Dynamics 365 and ETABS.

Dojo’s EPOS integrations (450+ partners) are its clearest competitive advantage. Lightspeed, Tevalis, Epos Now, and Kobas are named partners.

Dojo does not publish a Shopify or WooCommerce ecommerce integration as of May 2026, its integration story is primarily about connecting your card reader to your existing hospitality EPOS, not plugging into an online store.

If Shopify is your primary sales channel, Dojo is not the right fit and DNA Payments, or a Shopify-native processor, will serve you better.

DNA Payments’ integration highlights include Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce (via MWC Partners, June 2025), ETABS retail/trade platform (announced May 2026), and its own axept® POS ecosystem.

It acquired EFT Solutions to extend its portfolio. No confirmed Shopify or WooCommerce native integration was found in research.

Dojo integrates with QuickBooks natively for accounting. DNA Payments’ accounting integrations are not published on its website. If accounting reconciliation is a priority, ask both providers for their current integration list before signing.

Online Verdict

Neither provider is the right choice if online is your primary channel. For omnichannel businesses, DNA Payments’ unified acquiring is the stronger offer.

Neither provider is optimised for ecommerce-first businesses. If your primary channel is an online store and card-present payments are secondary, Stripe or GoCardless (for recurring billing) will serve you better.

For omnichannel businesses where in-person is the primary channel and online is a secondary channel you want under the same contract, DNA Payments’ unified acquiring relationship is the more capable offer.

For hospitality businesses using an EPOS already integrated with Dojo, Dojo’s connectivity removes integration overhead and keeps your flow simple.

Online is where we are most cautious about both. If a website is your main till, we would shortlist Stripe before either of these card-present-first acquirers.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Payouts, Contract Terms and Account Risk

Settlement Speed and Payout Schedule

Dojo settles next business day, 364 days a year, including weekends. DNA Payments does not publish a settlement timeline on standard terms.

Dojo settles next business day, 364 days a year, including weekends and bank holidays. Funds are dispatched by 10am via Faster Payments.

If your bank processes Faster Payments seven days a week, you’ll have the money in your account before your morning briefing. For a restaurant group managing weekly payroll from card takings, this is not a minor detail.

DNA Payments’ standard terms do not commit to a settlement timeline. Schedule 1 (clause 3.4.1) states DNA Payments is not obliged to settle before it receives funds from the card schemes.

Next-day settlement is reported as an optional add-on at £7.99/month by one third-party reviewer, but this has not been confirmed on DNA Payments’ primary website.

If settlement speed matters to your business, we rate Dojo the clearer, more evidence-backed choice here, because its 364-day timeline is published and DNA Payments’ is not.

Contract Length and Exit Terms

Dojo Flex: 30-day rolling contract. DNA Payments: typically 2–4 years. That is the single most important difference for most merchants.

DNA Payments contracts run 2–4 years, set in the merchant application form. If you cancel within 6 months of signing, the exit fee is 6x the monthly fees paid to date.

Third-party reviewers report a separate termination fee of £150–£159. For axept® services cancelled after the minimum term, the fee is the full remaining contract value. One month’s notice is required by the merchant after the minimum term.

Dojo Fix (under £150k turnover) requires a 12-month initial commitment, then rolls monthly. Dojo Flex (over £150k) is a 30-day rolling contract. You have a 30-day window to exit with no fee after sign-up.

Dojo covers competitor exit fees up to £500 (Fix) or £3,000 (Flex/Pro) when you switch, a meaningful incentive if you’re currently locked into another provider.

Early exit fees after the minimum term on Dojo are not published. Get the exit-fee schedule in writing from both providers before you sign anything.

We treat contract length as the decisive line here: a 30-day rolling exit is worth more to most merchants than any rate DNA Payments is likely to quote for a two-to-four-year tie-in.

Reserves, Holds and Account Stability

Neither provider is known for aggressive account holds. The operational risk is contract lock-in, not reserve freezes.

DNA Payments has drawn contract-dispute complaints on Trustpilot, including reports of debt recovery actions on disputed terminations. If you’re signing a 3-year term, understand that the exit costs are enforceable, the contract is detailed and the early termination clauses are not soft.

Dojo complaints tend to focus on unexpected fee changes and cold-calling sales tactics rather than account holds.

The business is FCA-authorised under Paymentsense Limited (FRN 738728) and is regulated under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. No FCA enforcement actions were found during research.

On both providers, the risk most likely to cause operational pain is contract lock-in rather than reserve holds. Neither is known for the aggressive account freezing that affects some newer payment platforms.

We have not seen the sudden account-freezing here that dogs some newer platforms. On both, we judge contract lock-in the bigger risk to plan around.

DNA Payments vs Dojo Customer Reviews and Reputation

Trustpilot and Independent Review Themes

DNA Payments reports a 5.0 Trustpilot score that needs primary verification. Dojo reports 4.4 stars across 5,200+ reviews, a larger, more credible base.

DNA Payments reports approximately 5.0 stars across around 1,542 reviews on Trustpilot, based on third-party aggregation. A 5.0 score across a multi-year merchant base is statistically unusual, and we treat that rating with scepticism until it is verified directly.

Positive themes in aggregated DNA Payments reviews: friendly staff, smooth terminal setup, responsive sales support.

Negative themes: contract disputes, exit fees higher than expected at signing, card machines requiring password resets mid-transaction, and debt recovery actions on disputed contracts.

If you’re considering a 4-year term, read a spread of the negative reviews before signing.

Dojo reports approximately 4.4 stars across 5,200+ reviews, based on third-party aggregation. The Dojo Go device scores 4.8/5 in hardware-focused review subsets. Positive themes: smooth installation, reliable next-day settlement, easy switching from previous providers.

The most common negative theme is persistent cold-calling sales tactics , the most frequently reported complaint by volume.

Support Channels and Response Times

Both offer phone and email support. Response time SLAs are not published by either provider.

DNA Payments offers UK-based telephone and email support. Specific response time commitments are not published on its website. Given the contract-length risks, it’s worth asking your account manager for an SLA in writing before you sign.

Dojo’s support channels include telephone and online. Aggregated review data shows after-sales support quality is inconsistent.

Installation tends to go smoothly, but follow-on support has drawn lower ratings from a subset of merchants. The most consistent praise is for the settlement reliability, not the support team.

Reputation Verdict

Dojo has the more credible reputation base. We suggest reading DNA Payments’ contract-dispute reviews before signing a long-term agreement.

Dojo has a larger verified review base and a cleaner reputation on the dimensions that matter most to operational merchants: settlement reliability and smooth hardware setup. The cold-calling complaints are a nuisance, not a financial risk.

DNA Payments’ 5.0 Trustpilot score needs primary verification. The pattern of contract-dispute reviews, exit fees higher than expected, debt recovery on disputed terms, is a signal worth taking seriously if you’re being asked to sign a 3–4-year contract. Go in with your eyes open on the terms.

On balance we lean Dojo on reputation, on the strength of a larger review base and fewer money-at-risk complaints. We would still read DNA Payments’ contract-dispute reviews in full before committing to a multi-year term.

DNA Payments vs Dojo for Rolling-Contract Hospitality

Rolling-contract hospitality is where the difference between these two providers is sharpest. Dojo’s 30-day Flex contract vs DNA Payments’ 2–4-year minimum, here is what that means in practice.

Rolling-contract hospitality is where Dojo’s commercial model most clearly outperforms DNA Payments. Dojo’s Flex plan (for merchants over £150k annual turnover) runs on a 30-day rolling contract.

If the relationship stops working, the integration breaks, fees increase without notice, you change EPOS systems, you can exit within a month.

DNA Payments’ standard minimum term of 2–4 years means you’re making a long commitment in an industry where circumstances change fast.

The practical difference: a restaurant group that takes on Dojo Flex today and decides in 18 months it wants to change direction can do so at 30 days’ notice.

A restaurant group that signs DNA Payments into a 4-year term faces exit costs that could run to several thousand pounds depending on the remaining contract value.

There is one scenario where DNA Payments wins even for hospitality: a multi-site group (£5m+ annual card volume) that wants a bespoke interchange-plus rate, unified reporting across sites, and is large enough to negotiate contract terms from a position of strength.

At that scale, a 3-year commitment at a significantly lower blended rate could well save more than the flexibility premium of a rolling contract.

Below that scale, we judge the rolling contract worth more than the rate-negotiation headroom DNA Payments theoretically offers.

Downsides of DNA Payments and Dojo

Downsides of DNA Payments

Long minimum terms and no published pricing are the two biggest drawbacks. Read the exit-fee clauses before signing.

Long minimum terms. Most merchants sign 2–4-year contracts, and exit costs are material, reported at 6x monthly fees if you leave within 6 months, plus a termination fee of £150–£159.

For axept® services: the full remaining contract value. This is the single biggest operational risk for smaller businesses.

No published pricing. You cannot model your costs before entering a sales process. For time-poor business owners who want to compare options quickly, the lack of a rate card is a friction that Dojo and most other card reader providers don’t impose.

DNA Payments’ reported Trustpilot score (5.0 across 1,542 reviews in May 2026) is statistically unusual at this volume. Before signing a long-term contract, read the negative reviews carefully and weight them against the headline number.

No published settlement timeline on standard terms. Next-day settlement is reportedly available as an add-on, but not confirmed on the primary website.

Taken together, we would not put DNA Payments in front of a small merchant who cannot model costs up front or absorb a long tie-in.

Downsides of Dojo

Cold-calling sales and limited accounting integrations. Online payments are a secondary product, not the core offering.

Cold-calling sales. The most common complaint in Dojo’s Trustpilot reviews is persistent outbound sales calls. Not a financial risk, but an operational irritant, register with the Telephone Preference Service if you’re not already on it.

Fee changes without sufficient notice. A subset of Dojo reviewers report fee increases that felt unexpected. Read the T&Cs on price-change notice periods before signing, and ask Dojo to confirm the pricing-change mechanism in writing.

Limited accounting integrations. Dojo integrates natively with QuickBooks but not other major accounting platforms as of May 2026. If you use Xero or FreeAgent, check whether a third-party connector exists before assuming Dojo will reconcile cleanly.

Online secondary to in-person. If you need a full-featured online checkout or ecommerce integration as your primary payment channel, Dojo is not built for that use case. Its online product exists, but the product depth is weaker than dedicated online-first processors.

None of these are dealbreakers in our view, but we would pin down Dojo’s price-change notice period in writing before signing.

Alternatives to DNA Payments and Dojo

If neither provider fits your volume or contract appetite, three alternatives are worth shortlisting.

If neither DNA Payments nor Dojo fits your business, three alternatives are worth shortlisting, particularly if you process under £50k a year or want a no-contract option.

SumUp

SumUp One charges £19.99/month and 0.99% per transaction, with no contract and no minimum volume. If you process under £50k a year in cards, SumUp will almost certainly cost you less than either Dojo or DNA Payments.

Visit SumUp →

Square

Square charges 1.75% per transaction with no monthly fee and a free first reader. Its built-in POS is stronger than either competitor here. If you want a no-contract option with a capable POS and ecommerce integration, Square is the better-rounded choice for small retailers.

Visit Square →

Worldpay

Worldpay is a full-service acquirer with published pricing and a large UK merchant base. If you want a traditional acquiring relationship with more market experience than DNA Payments and more online depth than Dojo, Worldpay is the default benchmark to compare against.

Visit Worldpay →

Final Verdict: DNA Payments or Dojo?

Dojo for hospitality merchants who need rolling contracts and daily settlement. DNA Payments for omnichannel businesses who can negotiate rates and absorb a longer term. For most small-to-mid-size merchants, the contract terms are the deciding factor.

Dojo for hospitality and mid-market merchants who value contract flexibility, next-day settlement every day of the year, and built-in tipping.

DNA Payments for multi-site businesses and omnichannel operators who want one commercial relationship across in-store, online, and mobile channels, and who have enough volume to negotiate a meaningful rate.

The tie-breaker for most businesses reading this will be contract terms. Dojo offers a 30-day rolling contract on its Flex plan. DNA Payments typically asks for 2–4 years.

Unless you have the volume to negotiate out of that or the confidence in your business trajectory over the full term, that asymmetry is worth more than any rate difference the sales team quotes you.

For the independent restaurant group on three sites: Dojo, almost certainly. Pay at Table, built-in tipping, Dojo Bookings, and Kobas/Tevalis integration are features you’d otherwise have to stitch together.

For the omnichannel fashion brand running stores and a Shopify site at £800k combined turnover: DNA Payments is the stronger fit because it unifies in-store and online acquiring under one contract, provided the Shopify gateway compatibility lands in the proposal.

For the market trader doing £200 on a Saturday: neither. SumUp One at £19.99/month and 0.99% per transaction costs less and asks for nothing in writing.

Our overall call: we recommend Dojo for most hospitality and mid-market merchants, and reserve DNA Payments for high-volume omnichannel operators who can negotiate the rate and live with the term.

Frequently Asked Questions