Pinned to the ledger
Direct Debit and card fees for UK gyms: what it costs to collect a membership
On the fees published on 11 November 2026, collecting a £45 monthly gym membership costs 45p by Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe, 65p plus VAT on GoCardless's Standard plan, and 87.5p by a standard UK card through Stripe. Failed payments, disputes and add-ons cost extra. The arithmetic is shown below.
What does it cost a gym to collect one membership payment?
The table takes three monthly membership prices and works out the fee on one successful payment, from the fee schedules that Stripe and GoCardless publish. Under each fee is its share of the payment. These are the providers' standard published rates for a UK business collecting from a UK member. They are not quotes, and a gym on negotiated terms will pay something different.
| How the member pays | £30 a month | £45 a month | £70 a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe | 30p 1.00% of the payment | 45p 1.00% of the payment | 70p 1.00% of the payment |
| Bacs Direct Debit through GoCardless, Standard plan | 50p plus VAT 1.67% of the payment. With VAT: 60p | 65p plus VAT 1.44% of the payment. With VAT: 78p | 90p plus VAT 1.29% of the payment. With VAT: £1.08 |
| Standard UK card through Stripe | 65p 2.17% of the payment | 87.5p 1.94% of the payment | £1.25 1.79% of the payment |
| Premium UK card through Stripe | £1.04 3.47% of the payment | £1.46 3.24% of the payment | £2.16 3.09% of the payment |
A gym cannot choose which card a member uses. Stripe prices standard and premium UK cards differently, so a gym that collects by card pays somewhere between those two rows on average, and more for a card issued outside the UK.
What does that come to in a month at 100, 300 and 1,000 members?
Each table below takes one membership price and multiplies the fee on one payment by the number of members. It assumes every member pays once in the month and every payment succeeds. The last row is what those members pay the gym in total, so the fees can be read against it.
| How the members pay | 100 members | 300 members | 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe | £30.00 | £90.00 | £300.00 |
| Bacs Direct Debit through GoCardless, Standard plan | £50.00 plus VAT With VAT: £60.00 | £150.00 plus VAT With VAT: £180.00 | £500.00 plus VAT With VAT: £600.00 |
| Standard UK card through Stripe | £65.00 | £195.00 | £650.00 |
| Premium UK card through Stripe | £104.00 | £312.00 | £1,040.00 |
| What the members pay in total | £3,000 | £9,000 | £30,000 |
| How the members pay | 100 members | 300 members | 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe | £45.00 | £135.00 | £450.00 |
| Bacs Direct Debit through GoCardless, Standard plan | £65.00 plus VAT With VAT: £78.00 | £195.00 plus VAT With VAT: £234.00 | £650.00 plus VAT With VAT: £780.00 |
| Standard UK card through Stripe | £87.50 | £262.50 | £875.00 |
| Premium UK card through Stripe | £146.00 | £438.00 | £1,460.00 |
| What the members pay in total | £4,500 | £13,500 | £45,000 |
| How the members pay | 100 members | 300 members | 1,000 members |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe | £70.00 | £210.00 | £700.00 |
| Bacs Direct Debit through GoCardless, Standard plan | £90.00 plus VAT With VAT: £108.00 | £270.00 plus VAT With VAT: £324.00 | £900.00 plus VAT With VAT: £1,080.00 |
| Standard UK card through Stripe | £125.00 | £375.00 | £1,250.00 |
| Premium UK card through Stripe | £216.00 | £648.00 | £2,160.00 |
| What the members pay in total | £7,000 | £21,000 | £70,000 |
How is each figure worked out?
Every fee is a percentage of the payment, plus a fixed amount where the provider charges one, held between a minimum and a cap where the provider sets them. Here is the working for a £45 payment.
- Bacs Direct Debit through Stripe: 1% of £45 is 45p; that is above the 20p minimum; that is under the £4.00 cap. Fee: 45p.
- Bacs Direct Debit through GoCardless, Standard plan: 1% of £45 is 45p; add the 20p fixed fee to reach 65p; that is under the £4.00 cap. Fee: 65p plus VAT, which is 78p with VAT at 20%.
- Standard UK card through Stripe: 1.5% of £45 is 67.5p; add the 20p fixed fee to reach 87.5p. Fee: 87.5p.
- Premium UK card through Stripe: 2.8% of £45 is £1.26; add the 20p fixed fee to reach £1.46. Fee: £1.46.
A month is the fee on one payment multiplied by the number of payments. For standard UK cards at £45: 300 payments of 87.5p is £262.50. The tables do not round a fee to a whole penny before multiplying, so a provider's own statement can differ by a few pence.
The caps do not come into play at gym membership prices. Stripe's £4.00 cap on Bacs Direct Debit is reached only on a payment of £400.00.
What do Stripe and GoCardless publish as their fees?
These are the lines of each provider's own schedule that a gym collecting memberships is likely to meet, in the provider's words. The worked tables above use only four of them: Stripe's two UK card rates, Stripe's Bacs Direct Debit rate and GoCardless's Standard plan.
| What the fee is for | Published fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard UK cards | 1.5% + 20p | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Premium UK cards | 2.8% + 20p | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| European Economic Area cards | 2.5% + 20p, and + 2% if currency conversion is required | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| International cards | 3.15% + 20p, and + 2% if currency conversion is required | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Card dispute (chargeback) received | £20.00 for each dispute you receive | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Bacs Direct Debit | 1%, minimum fee of 20p, £4.00 cap | Stripe: local payment methods pricing (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Disputed Bacs Direct Debit payment | £5.00 for disputed payments | Stripe: local payment methods pricing (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| The gym's own name on Direct Debit mandates and statements (Custom Branding) | £50 per active month | Stripe documentation: Bacs Direct Debit payments (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Stripe Billing, pay as you go (only if the subscription is run on Stripe Billing) | 0.7% of Billing volume | Stripe Billing pricing (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Set-up or monthly fee | None on standard pricing | Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026) |
| What the fee is for | Published fee | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard plan, UK payments | 1% + 20p, capped at £4. Prices exclude VAT | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Advanced plan, UK payments | 1.25% + 20p, capped at £5. Prices exclude VAT | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Pro plan, UK payments | 1.4% + 20p, capped at £5.60. Prices exclude VAT | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Large Direct Debit payments | +0.3% on a transaction amount over £2,000, on every plan | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| The gym's own name on members' bank statements | +£50 per month | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Fully custom checkout | +£150 per month | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
| Set-up or monthly fee | None for most users on the Standard, Advanced and Pro plans | GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026) |
- Stripe's published UK fee for Bacs Direct Debit is 1% of the payment, with a minimum fee of 20p and a cap of £4.00.
- GoCardless's published fee for a UK Direct Debit on its Standard plan is 1% plus 20p, capped at £4.00, before VAT.
- Stripe's published fee for a standard UK card is 1.5% plus 20p, and for a premium UK card 2.8% plus 20p.
Stripe's pricing page links to its own account of which cards count as premium. This guide does not restate it.
Is VAT charged on the fees?
The two providers say different things, and the difference matters to a gym that cannot reclaim VAT.
- GoCardless charges VAT on its fees. Its pricing page says "Prices exclude VAT" and that it charges "VAT on all transaction fees invoiced to UK merchants". The standard rate of VAT is 20%, so the tables show the GoCardless fee both ways. Source for the rate: GOV.UK: VAT rates (checked 11 November 2026).
- Stripe says it does not charge VAT on its fees to UK accounts. Its support page says that for European account holders it "does not charge VAT on Stripe fees", except in a short list of countries that does not include the United Kingdom. The same page says a business may need to account for VAT itself under the reverse charge, and to ask a tax adviser. Source: Stripe support: global taxation of Stripe fees (checked 11 November 2026).
A VAT-registered gym may be able to reclaim the VAT that GoCardless charges, in which case the figure before VAT is the one to compare. For a gym that cannot reclaim it, the fee with VAT is the real cost. On that basis GoCardless's Standard plan costs more than a standard UK card through Stripe on any payment under £13.33, and less on any payment above it. That affects drop-in classes more than monthly memberships.
This is general information, not tax advice. Ask your accountant how VAT on payment fees applies to your gym.
What costs are not in the tables?
- Disputes. Stripe publishes a fee of £5.00 for disputed payments on Bacs Direct Debit, and £20.00 for each dispute you receive on cards.
- Failed payments. The tables assume every payment succeeds. Stripe says it can retry a failed Direct Debit up to 2 times within 30 days. GoCardless includes its payment recovery tool only in the Advanced and Pro plans, which carry a higher rate.
- Refunds. Stripe says the processing fee on the original payment is not returned when a payment is refunded.
- Subscription billing. If the recurring payment is run on Stripe Billing, Stripe publishes a further 0.7% of Billing volume on its pay as you go plan. Whether a gym pays this depends on how its software is built.
- The gym's name on the bank statement. By default the member sees the provider's name. Stripe publishes £50 per active month to show the gym's own name, and GoCardless publishes +£50 per month.
- Your gym software's own charges. Some gym systems add their own fee for each collection, or use a Direct Debit bureau with its own price list. Those are not Stripe's or GoCardless's fees and are not covered here. Monthly software prices are in the UK gym software price index.
Does Bacs charge the gym a fee?
Bacs's own guide gives no price. Bacs runs the Direct Debit scheme, and the guide says a business reaches it either directly or through a bank or bureau, and that indirect access "is often the most suitable method for smaller organisations". The price a gym sees is the one set by whoever submits its collections: a provider such as Stripe or GoCardless, a bureau or its bank. Source: Bacs: getting started with Direct Debit (checked 11 November 2026).
How long does a Direct Debit take to reach the gym?
Several working days. Bacs describes a three-day cycle: the file goes in on day one, the banks process it on day two, and the money moves on day three. A provider adds its own time on top. Stripe says it "typically takes 4 working days to confirm the success or failure of a payment when a mandate is already in place, or up to 7 working days when collecting a new mandate". A gym that moves members onto Direct Debit should plan for that gap in the first month. Source: Stripe documentation: Bacs Direct Debit payments (checked 11 November 2026).
What does the Direct Debit Guarantee mean for a gym?
Every Direct Debit is covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee. If an error is made in a payment, the member is "entitled to a full and immediate refund" from their bank, and a member can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by contacting their bank. The same page says this does not change the contract between the member and the business: a member who cancels the Direct Debit may still owe what they agreed to pay. It also says the business gives advance notice, normally 10 working days or as otherwise agreed, of any change to the amount, date or frequency. Source: Direct Debit (Pay.UK): the Direct Debit Guarantee (checked 11 November 2026).
For the gym, the cost is the dispute. Stripe says there is no set time limit for a member to dispute a Bacs Direct Debit payment, that the gym cannot submit evidence against it, and that the dispute fee is not refunded.
Does ZXN Fitness collect Direct Debit?
Yes, on the gym's own payment accounts, so the gym pays the provider's published fees directly and nothing is added by us. The front desk at 07:10 shows how a failed collection is taken again, and card payment works the same way. This guide is about the providers' fees, not ours.
How was this guide made, and what are its sources?
On 11 November 2026 we opened each page below once, from a UK connection, with no login and no form filled in, and kept a dated copy of the text it showed. Every published fee on this page is copied from that copy. Every other figure is arithmetic on those fees, and the working is shown above.
- Stripe: pricing and fees (UK) (checked 11 November 2026)
- Stripe: local payment methods pricing (UK) (checked 11 November 2026)
- Stripe documentation: Bacs Direct Debit payments (checked 11 November 2026)
- Stripe Billing pricing (UK) (checked 11 November 2026)
- Stripe support: global taxation of Stripe fees (checked 11 November 2026)
- GoCardless: pricing (checked 11 November 2026)
- Bacs: getting started with Direct Debit (checked 11 November 2026)
- Direct Debit (Pay.UK): the Direct Debit Guarantee (checked 11 November 2026)
- GOV.UK: VAT rates (checked 11 November 2026)
- Only the provider's own page. No comparison sites, no resellers and no figures passed on by customers.
- Standard published rates only. No negotiated, volume or charity pricing.
- UK business, UK member, pounds. No currency conversion and no cards issued abroad in the worked tables.
- One successful payment for each member each month. No failures, retries, refunds or disputes.
- VAT shown as the provider states it. Where a provider adds VAT to its fee, the figure appears before and after VAT.
- No ranking. The rows are in the same order in every table, and no method is recommended.
What are the limits of this guide?
- It is one read of each page on one day. Providers change their fees.
- It covers two providers. Banks, Direct Debit bureaus and other card processors publish their own prices, or none.
- It leaves out what gym software adds on top.
- It compares fees, not service. Reliability, support, payout speed and how failed payments are handled all differ.
- The split between standard and premium cards among a gym's members is not known, so no blended card figure is given.
Check the provider's own page before you rely on any figure here. Each source link shows the date we read it.
What has changed, and when?
The fees are read again at least every three months. Each edition is listed here, newest first, with what changed.
- : First edition. Fees read from the Stripe, GoCardless and Bacs pages listed under sources.
How do you report an error?
If a figure is wrong or out of date, tell us by the route on the contact page, with the address of the page that shows the right figure. We will read it again and correct this page, and the change will be listed above.