Paying for games in the UK

Buying a game in the UK is rarely the expensive part. The cost creeps in around the edges: a price charged in dollars, a voucher that quietly loses value, a gift card bought for the wrong region. This guide covers the five big stores and the six ways of paying people actually use.

Which store takes what

“Yes” means the store lists the method on its own UK help page. “Not listed” means the store publishes a list and the method is not on it. “Unconfirmed” means the store only shows its methods at checkout, so we could not verify it from a public page — check the payment screen for your own account.

Debit and credit cards

Every store on this page takes Visa and Mastercard, and none of them may charge you extra for it: UK law has banned surcharges on consumer card payments since 13 January 2018. The fee that does catch people out comes from their own bank. If a price is charged in another currency, many UK cards add a non-sterling transaction fee — the percentage is set by your bank and shown in your card's terms, and some cards charge nothing at all.

The fix is simple: make sure your account's store region is the UK and the price shows in pounds before you pay. On a credit card, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the card provider jointly responsible with the seller for any single item priced over £100 and up to £30,000 — rare for one game, relevant for a console. Below £100, and on debit cards, the card scheme's chargeback process is the route to a refund instead.

One caution with credit cards specifically: some card providers treat buying prepaid vouchers as a cash transaction, which can mean an extra fee and interest from the day you buy. Check your card's terms before putting a voucher such as paysafecard on a credit card.

PayPal

PayPal is accepted by Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store, Epic and Nintendo. Paying a UK store in pounds from a PayPal account in pounds is the ordinary, fee-free case.

The cost arrives when currencies differ. PayPal's UK fee page sets its currency conversion at 3% above the base exchange rate. On a $5 monthly membership that is small; on a $50 bundle it is worth paying by a card with no foreign-currency fee instead.

Know what you give up. If you pay through your PayPal account — even with a credit card saved behind it — the purchase is usually no longer covered by Section 75, because PayPal sits between you and the seller. Your route becomes PayPal's own dispute process, which you have 180 days from payment to open.

Apple Pay and Google Pay

Phone wallets are a card in a different coat: the card behind them is charged, with the same protections and the same currency rules. Their real advantage is that the store never sees your card number.

Nintendo accepts both. The PlayStation Store accepts Apple Pay but does not list Google Pay. Microsoft's UK list includes neither. Steam and Epic show their methods at checkout, so check the payment screen for your account.

paysafecard

paysafecard is a prepaid voucher: you buy a printed code at a shop till and type it in at checkout. For games it is mainly useful for buying something without putting a card on the account — a teenager's birthday money, for example. The PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store and Xbox, and Epic accept it. Nintendo's UK list does not include it, and Steam does not publish a UK list we could check.

The catch is the fees. paysafecard's UK fee page lists a £5 monthly charge from the thirteenth month once a balance has gone twelve months without a transaction, and it also lists a £3 monthly service fee, a £6 refund fee and a conversion fee on payments in another currency. A voucher left in a drawer slowly empties itself. Spend it soon, pay in pounds, and only buy the amount you mean to spend.

• Monthly fee after 12 months of no use: £5, from the 13th month.
• Also listed on the same page: a £3 monthly service fee, a £6 refund fee, and a currency conversion fee.
• Buy vouchers at the till, never from somebody who contacts you — see the gift card checks below.

Store gift cards and wallet codes

Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo all sell their own gift cards, and they are the cleanest way to give someone a budget: the money can only be spent in that store, and the account never needs a card. Nintendo publishes its UK values (£15, £25, £50, £75 and £100); Microsoft sells digital Xbox cards from £10.

Two things matter more than the value. Codes are tied to a country or currency — Steam says plainly that a code only redeems in the currency of your wallet — so buy UK cards for UK accounts. And Valve is withdrawing physical Steam cards from UK shops by the end of 2026 precisely because gift cards are a favourite tool of scammers.

Paying by mobile

The PlayStation Store lets you charge a purchase to your phone bill on O2, Three and EE, and the Microsoft Store and Xbox accept mobile billing on EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Nintendo does not offer it. It is convenient and easy to forget about, which is exactly why your network may apply its own spending limit. If a phone belongs to a child, ask the network to block third-party charges altogether.

Store by store

Steam

• PayPal works for accounts in pounds: Valve only blocks PayPal for currencies outside its main list, and GBP is on it.
• The payment methods available to your account are listed at checkout; Valve does not publish a separate UK list.
• Steam Wallet funds cannot be gifted, withdrawn or moved to another account. Unused funds added in the last 14 days can be refunded.
• Valve is withdrawing physical Steam gift cards from UK shops as an anti-scam measure, with stock expected to be gone by the end of 2026. Digital gift cards bought on Steam itself carry on.
• Gift card and wallet codes can only be redeemed in the currency of your Steam Wallet — buy pound cards for a pound account.

PlayStation Store

• Sony's UK list for digital purchases: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, paysafecard, Apple Pay and pay-by-mobile. Google Pay is not on it.
• Pay by mobile works on O2, Three and EE only. The SIM and the PlayStation account must be registered in the same country, and your network may set its own limit.
• Your wallet can be topped up from a saved payment method or with a PlayStation gift card.
• A child account spends from the family manager's wallet, up to a monthly limit that starts at £0 until an adult changes it.

Xbox / Microsoft Store

• Microsoft's UK payment page lists credit and debit cards, bank accounts, PayPal and mobile phone billing. Apple Pay and Google Pay are not on the list.
• Mobile billing works with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone in the UK.
• paysafecard's own UK site confirms its vouchers can be used on the Microsoft Store, Xbox.com and the Xbox console.
• Digital Xbox gift cards are sold on the UK Microsoft Store in pound values from £10 upwards.
• Money added to a Microsoft account can be spent on Xbox, Windows and the Microsoft Store — it is one balance, not a separate Xbox wallet.

Epic Games Store

• Epic lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal, and says the full set of methods varies by country and is shown at checkout. Pounds are a supported store currency.
• Epic's own support centre handles paysafecard purchases, so vouchers are an accepted way to pay.
• Fortnite gift cards can add funds to an Epic account balance, spendable on Epic Games Store games too. We could not confirm on an official page which of them are sold in UK shops.
• Epic's spending controls for under-13s apply to purchases made with Epic's own payment system, not to anything bought through a console store.

Nintendo eShop

• Nintendo UK lists debit and credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout, and funds can be added with a card, PayPal or a Nintendo eShop Card.
• The card must be issued in the same country or region as the Nintendo Account.
• UK Nintendo eShop Cards come in £15, £25, £50, £75 and £100.

Your rights when you pay

UK consumer law sits underneath every one of these stores. The short version, with the legislation linked below — this is general information, not legal advice:

No card surcharges

Since 13 January 2018 a UK seller cannot charge a consumer extra for paying by debit card, credit card or services such as PayPal. If a fee is added, it must be refunded.

Section 75 on credit cards

For a single item priced over £100 and up to £30,000, bought on a credit card, the card provider is jointly liable with the seller if it is faulty, not delivered or misdescribed. Paying through a PayPal account usually breaks this protection.

Chargeback on any card

Chargeback is a card-scheme rule rather than a law. It covers debit, credit and charge cards, and it is the route for purchases under £100 or where Section 75 does not apply.

Digital content must work

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a game or in-game item you pay for must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If it is not, you can ask for a repair or replacement, then a price reduction or refund; if faulty content damages your device, the seller must fix it or compensate you.

The 14-day cancellation right ends at download

You normally have 14 days to cancel an online purchase, but for digital content that right ends once the download or stream starts — provided you agreed to that and acknowledged losing the right at checkout. Store refund policies can still be more generous than the law.

Gift cards: the four checks before you buy one

1. Right region. A UK account needs a UK card in pounds. A cheaper card from another country usually will not redeem at all.
2. Right seller. Buy from the store itself or a high-street retailer. Codes sold on marketplaces and in social media posts are a common source of used or stolen codes.
3. Right reason. No bank, tax office, delivery firm or tech-support line ever asks to be paid in gift cards. If anyone does, it is a scam — stop and report it to Action Fraud.
4. Keep the receipt until the code is redeemed and the money shows in the account.

Questions we get asked