Xero's own UK invoice payment pages name Stripe and GoCardless, and its guide for small businesses adds PayPal. Adfin is also an approved Xero payment partner, appearing on Xero invoices as a payment method and posting payments back automatically. Beyond the partner label, compare which payment methods each provider covers, when you're paid and what happens when a customer doesn't pay.
In this article
The short version
- Xero's UK pages name Stripe and GoCardless for invoice payments
- Adfin is an approved Xero payment partner, shown on invoices as a payment method
- Stripe and GoCardless don't chase; GoCardless doesn't take cards
- Compare methods, payout timing, failed-payment fees and chasing, not just the label
- Remove an old payment service from your branding themes before switching
What a Xero payment partner does
Xero doesn't take payments itself. Once you connect a payment partner to your Xero organisation, your invoices carry a pay now option, and when your customer pays, the payment is recorded against the invoice in Xero without anyone keying it in.
There isn't one public register of approved payment partners. In practice there are two routes in. Stripe and GoCardless are built into Xero's own online payment settings and appear on Xero's UK pages about invoice payments. Other providers, Adfin among them, connect through the Xero App Store, where payment apps are listed by function. You can check any provider the same way: connect it to your Xero organisation and see whether it appears as a payment option on an invoice and marks the invoice as paid when the money arrives.
Xero doesn't charge for online invoice payments. The provider charges you per transaction.
If you're switching from one partner to another, remove the old payment service from the branding themes you use before the new one goes live. Otherwise your customers can see two pay now options on the same invoice, and a customer who uses both leaves you with a duplicate payment to refund.
The main payment partners for UK invoices
| Provider | How your customer can pay | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Adfin | Direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay by bank, bank transfer | Pays out in full every weekday with its fee invoiced separately; chasing by email, SMS and WhatsApp included |
| Stripe | Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, direct debit | Pays out daily lump sums with fees deducted; doesn't chase your Xero invoices |
| GoCardless | Direct debit and bank payments | No card payments; charges its fee on failed submissions; deducts fees before paying out; doesn't chase |
| PayPal | PayPal balance and cards | No UK Bacs direct debit; payments land in a PayPal account first |
Adfin covers every method from a single account and includes chasing, so you don't need a second provider for cards or a separate app for reminders. Customers with a direct debit mandate are collected on the due date; anyone else gets a payment link on the invoice and can pay by card, pay by bank or bank transfer. Adfin's Customer Agents follow up unsigned mandates and overdue invoices on a schedule you set, from your own email domain, and retry failed direct debits for free before asking the customer to pay another way.
With the others, businesses tend to combine two or three tools: GoCardless for direct debit, Stripe for cards, and a separate chasing app on top, each with its own fees, payouts and logins.
How to choose between them
The partner label tells you a provider connects to Xero, but not how well it fits the way you get paid. To judge that, work through these questions:
- Does it take every method your customers use? A client on direct debit may want to settle a one-off bill by card.
- Does the money arrive in full? A provider that deducts fees leaves you a net lump sum to split into invoices and fees at month end. Adfin's payouts match the payments behind them, so reconciliation in Xero is a straight match.
- What does a failed payment cost? GoCardless charges for failed submissions; Adfin charges nothing for a failed payment and retries for free.
- Who chases? Xero's own reminders go by email on one schedule for every customer. If that isn't enough, check whether chasing is included or a separate subscription.
- Can you leave without your customers re-signing? With 10 or more mandates, Adfin moves them from another provider through the Bacs bulk change process, and customers don't sign anything new.
If you're running several of these side by side today, it's worth pricing what you pay across all of them, including failed payment fees and any chasing tool, against one provider that covers the lot.
Common questions
Is Adfin an approved Xero payment partner? Yes. Adfin connects to Xero as a payment method on your invoices and posts payments back against them automatically.
Which payment providers does Xero name for UK invoices? Xero's UK invoice payment pages name Stripe and GoCardless, and its small business guide to online payments also covers PayPal.
Does Xero charge for taking payments? No. Xero charges nothing for online invoice payments; you pay the provider's transaction fee.
Can I use more than one payment partner in Xero? Yes. You can connect several and choose which appear on which invoices using branding themes.
Which Xero payment partner collects direct debit? Adfin, GoCardless and Stripe all collect UK direct debit through Xero. GoCardless doesn't take cards, and neither GoCardless nor Stripe chases your unpaid Xero invoices.
Do I need a payment partner to get paid through Xero? Only if you want customers to pay from the invoice. Without one, customers pay by bank transfer and you reconcile the payment from your bank feed.
Sources
- Xero - Invoice payments: give your customers more ways to pay (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.xero.com/uk/campaign/invoice-payments/
- Xero - Online payment services for UK small businesses (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.xero.com/uk/guides/online-payment-services-get-you-paid-faster/
- Xero App Store - Adfin (accurate as of October 2026) https://apps.xero.com/uk/app/adfin
- Adfin - Pricing (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.adfin.com/pricing
- GoCardless - Pricing (accurate as of October 2026) https://gocardless.com/pricing/
