Q&A: Mark Andreev, COO, Exactly.com
Exactly.com is a UK-based direct card acquirer and payment provider built for online businesses with big plans, helping you scale faster and convert more without scaling costs.
From Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay to proactive transaction analysis and custom-built anti-fraud, they deliver the full stack of tools you need to grow.
They’re tearing up the old fintech playbook. No faceless ticket systems. Just real human support from experts who know your business and stay with you long after integration. Sharp tech. Proactive insight. Payment solutions that stop revenue leaks before they happen.
Their mission is simple: empower ambitious online businesses, and the people behind them, with payment solutions that drive sustainable growth.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Subscribe to TRBI began my career in 2002 in a bank’s card-payments division, where I was part of the team that launched some of the first chip-and-PIN programmes. Moving from magnetic stripes to chips was a major shift; we spent months educating customers on why entering a PIN was critical for security.
Fraud prevention quickly became one of my specialisms. In those early days it was not unusual to discover fake PIN pads placed on top of real ones at ATMs. I personally identified several during audits and trained staff to spot them — a very hands-on education in risk from both the issuing and acquiring sides.
Later, as Head of Acquiring, I was among the first in my bank to build out online acquiring when e-commerce was still seen as a “side project”. I took it from a small, loss-making experiment into a stand-alone business line capable of competing with the bank’s core products.
Cross-border trade was the real locomotive of that growth: international merchants were the first to demand reliable online payments, and we built the systems to serve them. Many large-market retailers tried opening physical shops in smaller countries but found them unprofitable or unpredictable; instead, they encouraged customers to buy online. That shift accelerated the development of cross-border e-commerce and, later, the fintech infrastructure to support it. As neobanks and fintechs gained credibility, local businesses also began to migrate their payments to these newer platforms.
Today I’m responsible for Exactly.com’s overall business strategy and its execution, strengthening our payment solutions for UK businesses that want to scale locally and globally without scaling their costs.
Those experiences, launching card payments and standing at the origins of online and cross-border acquiring, shaped my belief that every business deserves fair treatment, transparent pricing, robust infrastructure, and reliable human support. That principle still drives my work today.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
We’re a UK-based direct card acquirer and payment provider for online businesses with big plans. From card payments (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay) to alternative global and local methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Open Banking (Pay by Bank), plus full payment infrastructure, from in-house built payment gateway, antifraud, and chargeback management to simple to use merchant dashboard.
Our edge? We’re rewriting the fintech rulebook. Sharp technology meets real human support. No “pay-more, get-more” nonsense. Whether you’re a micro, SME, or enterprise, you get proactive, named experts and insights. Same level of service for all.
Too often, smaller merchants are hit with higher fees and little-to-no support, draining revenue and crushing margins. We’re here to flip that script: fair pricing, high-level support, and smarter payments as standard.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
What’s special about Exactly.com is our human-first, end-to-end approach to payments. We build everything in-house. Gateway, antifraud, chargeback management, and direct integrations with payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, and local options, so merchants get fast, reliable transactions without unnecessary intermediaries,extra costs or extra technical problems.
But technology alone isn’t enough. Speed and automation must be paired with proactive human guidance. Every client, from microbusiness to enterprise, has a named expert assisting them step by step, from onboarding to issue resolution.
Our philosophy comes from solving the real challenges SMEs face: high fees, cart abandonment, lack of support, and sometimes limited knowledge. By combining sharp technology with dedicated business and IT support, we empower businesses with transparency, stability, and simplicity, making fair pricing the standard so e-tailers can scale without scaling costs.
What advantage does it add?
Businesses benefit from lower payment costs, higher approval rates, and fewer chargebacks or fraud losses, plus the confidence of having a payments partner who won’t penalise or ignore them. We go beyond simple payment processing: every business and checkout is proactively analysed. You don’t need to guess which tactics reduce cart abandonment or how to slash cross-border fees. We advise, implement, and monitor. For example, when conversion levels drop, our experts receive immediate alerts and provide hands-on support to fix issues quickly.
The fintech world is moving towards AI, but technology alone isn’t enough. Human judgement remains critical: our team ensures every recommendation is practical, effective, and tailored to the business, not just following buzz or trends.
With Exactly.com, everything becomes simple. Merchants never navigate payments alone. Any request, any time, any day, is met with expert guidance, actionable advice, and tangible results.
How does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
Our implementation process is designed to be seamless and straightforward. From the very first conversation through to go-live, clients are supported by a dedicated specialist who guides them at every stage, ensuring integration is smooth and efficient.
Success is measured across three critical dimensions. First, fees must be fair and transparent for all clients, regardless of their turnover. Second, conversion rates are closely monitored to optimise transaction outcomes, while fraud levels are carefully assessed to ensure suspicious activity is correctly evaluated.
The goal is simple: block fraudulent transactions while allowing legitimate ones to flow freely. Achieving this balance is not always obvious and cannot always be fully automated, which is why human oversight remains essential.
Finally, operational excellence underpins everything we do. Uptime is continuously monitored, and support is held to the highest standard. Our clients can expect timely, expert responses; simply providing a link to instructions is never acceptable. We are fully committed to being there for our clients 24/7, without exception.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
At Exactly.com we position ourselves as a single, flexible payment partner covering every payment need – cards, wallets, local methods – all within one integration. That breadth, combined with bespoke support, gives e-commerce businesses a genuine edge. They can offer more ways to pay, reduce costs, and scale internationally without juggling multiple providers.
Best practice isn’t about a one-size-fits-all template; it’s about tailoring the payment experience to the business model and growth plans. A good illustration is our client Cards2Cash, a UK-based online platform for selling unused gift cards. We onboarded the business quickly and smoothly, taking care of all compliance requirements. From day one we added Apple Pay and Google Pay to improve the checkout experience, and we helped the company set up an EU entity to support expansion. Those relatively small but strategic changes cut processing fees by 30–40% and reduced overall costs by 27% – a tangible competitive advantage.
This is where Exactly.com differs from most off-the-shelf providers, which typically offer a fixed “take it or leave it” package with little flexibility or personal support. With us, e-commerce businesses can sit down with a dedicated specialist, design the right set-up from the ground up, and receive direct, expert support rather than a generic help desk.
The lesson from Cards2Cash is clear: even modest adjustments to payment flows, pricing and support can deliver a dramatic impact on growth and profitability.
Are there other companies you partner with?
We work closely with leading e-commerce platforms including WordPress, Magento, Wix and others to deliver seamless integrations for our clients. As a direct card acquirer we partner with Visa and Mastercard, are a direct member of UnionPay, and support a wide range of local payment methods – from Bizum in Spain to Multibanco and MB WAY in Portugal, among many others. We also offer full compatibility with Apple Pay and Google Pay to give customers maximum flexibility at checkout.
We’re proud to be a member of the UK’s most respected fintech body, The Payment Association, and a core participant in its Merchants Payments Working Group, which is dedicated to shaping a fintech market that genuinely meets the needs of e-commerce and other business segments.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for 2025
UK retailers are entering 2025 under significant pressure to protect already thin margins. Labour costs are rising, driven by higher minimum wages and increased National Insurance contributions, while energy, rent, rates and supply-chain costs continue to climb.
At the same time, customer acquisition is becoming more expensive. With consumer confidence fragile and the cost-of-living top of mind, retailers are spending more on advertising, promotions and discounts just to capture attention. It is no longer enough to attract customers; e-commerce businesses must retain them and maximise lifetime value.
Consumer behaviour is evolving. British shoppers are increasingly cautious, prioritising value over brand and price over prestige. At the same time they also expect convenience, seamless experiences on checkout, and flexible payment methods.
For many micro and SME merchants, delivering this convenience comes at a high cost. According to a recent Payments Association survey, 72% of UK merchants report high transaction fees as a major challenge. In our experience, clients coming from legacy providers have often been overcharged by 30–40%.
Cart abandonment remains a key issue, often caused by the absence of preferred payment methods, poor redirect flows, or overly restrictive fraud prevention.
Switching providers is often perceived as daunting, which can leave businesses stuck with high fees, limited support, and slower growth.
Support, or the lack of it, is another critical challenge. SMEs frequently face opaque compliance or KYC assessments, little proactive guidance, and limited technical or business support, all of which can impact performance.
Finally, over-complexity adds further cost and friction: too many unnecessary payment options, misaligned legal entities, slow settlements, and lack of transparency create risk and inefficiency.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
Despite the challenges, 2025 presents clear opportunities for UK retailers who adopt a strategic, customer-focused approach. Optimising payment flows and offering the right mix of payment options, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Buy Now Pay Later, and local methods, can boost conversion rates, reduce cart abandonment, and enhance the overall shopping experience. That said, it’s important to be cautious and ensure the choices reflect your customers’ needs. We’ve seen many examples where payment methods were added simply because they were trendy, wasting valuable resources. The right provider will have conducted the research and recommend only what truly benefits you.
Subscription models and loyalty programmes offer another significant opportunity. They not only increase customer lifetime value but also provide predictable cash flow and allow eTailers to introduce targeted offers or upsell complementary products. Flexible billing cycles, the ability to pause or adjust orders, and personalised options make subscriptions far more appealing and sustainable.
Simplifying payment complexity, ensuring on-time settlements, reducing unnecessary fees, and providing tailored support further strengthen operational efficiency.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
Looking ahead, we are focused on strengthening our presence in the UK e-commerce space and driving positive change in the fintech ecosystem. Currently, many micro and SME businesses face high payment fees and limited support from fintech providers, which constrains growth and adds unnecessary complexity. Our goal is to help set new standards, ensuring fair fees and accessible, expert support for businesses of all sizes, so that SMEs can scale efficiently without inflating costs.
We also plan to expand the portfolio of payment methods we offer, with direct integrations wherever possible. Reducing intermediaries helps lower fees, simplify payment flows, and deliver a smoother experience for both merchants and their customers.
Ultimately, our focus is on creating an environment where e-commerce businesses have the tools, flexibility, and support they need to grow sustainably, while keeping operations cost-effective and customer-focused.
Any final thoughts?
If there’s one takeaway for 2025, it’s that payments have moved from being a back-end cost centre to a front-line growth driver. UK e-commerce businesses, especially micro and SME merchants, are operating in a high-cost, high-expectation environment, but that also opens the door to smarter strategies.
The real wins this year will come from doing a few things very well: making checkout as seamless as possible, aligning payment methods with customer behaviour instead of trends, reducing unnecessary fees and friction, and using data to fine-tune fraud controls and conversion. Small, strategic changes to payment flows or support can unlock major savings and higher customer lifetime value.
Whether retailers work with Exactly.com or another provider, the principles are the same: prioritise transparency, simplicity and proactive support; choose partners who give you both technology and human insight; and treat payments as part of the customer experience, not just a cost of doing business. Those who take that approach will be best placed to turn today’s challenges into sustainable growth and a real competitive edge.
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To find out how Exactly can help your retail operation, visit them online here.
