Small businesses can define the cheapest card payment machines in a few different ways: by card reader price, subscription or monthly fees, and more.
Transaction fees can’t be forgotten here. If you process a high volume of sales, those transaction costs are going to add up. This is especially true for subscription services, digital downloads, online dropshipping and other high-volume businesses.
To help keep your costs down, here are some of the cheapest card readers on the market.
>See also: How to start a dropshipping business – What is dropshipping, what are the advantages and how do you start a dropshipping business?
Square
Transaction fee: 1.75 per cent in-person payment
Features
- Accept Apple Pay and Google Pay
- No charge for payment dispute management
- One-year warranty
- Bluetooth-enabled
The Square card reader is £19. Custom rates are available for businesses that take more than £200,000 in card sales.
SB Pro
Transaction fee: From 1.25 per cent per transaction
Small Business Pro is our monthly membership for businesses, offering a range of tools to help you run your business better. A core part of the package is our low-cost payment solution (powered by Stripe), which offers online and in-person transactions. Plus, you can track your customer history and invoices.
Features
- No minimum spend amounts
- Built-in fraud detection
- PCI compliant
- Integrated with customer management tool to monitor transactions
Our very own payment processor forms part of our Small Business Pro membership. Small Business Pro costs £39.99 per month for sole traders and £49.99 for businesses.
It comes with WisePad 3 Terminal (£49 one-off cost) or WisePOS E (£179 one-off cost), plus the monthly membership fee.
Revolut
Transaction fee: From 0.8 per cent +2p (UK consumer cards), 1 per cent +20p for in-person
Features
- Create your own catalogue, which sits in the Revolut app
- Access funds the next day
- No-fee refunds
- Fraud monitoring solution included
- Receive and settle in over 25 currencies
The Revolut reader costs £49.
MyPOS
Transaction fee: 1.10 per cent – 2.85 per cent + 7p transaction
Features
- Integrated SIM card gives you 3G/4G connectivity
- Send digital receipts – email or SMS
- Instant payment settlement
- Get e-money and IBAN account in over 14 currencies
Price of the MyPOS Go 2 card reader starts from £39. If your business takes more than £10,000 a month, you can request a quote for custom transaction fees, which could work out cheaper.
Dojo Go
Transaction fee: Fixed percentage rate of 1% or flat monthly fee from £39.99
Features
- Next working day terminal delivery
- Next-day transfers
- 24-hour card machine replacement
- 10-hour battery life
Terminal fee is from £15 per month. Flat £39.99 rate covers fees up to £3,999, with takings over this charged at 1%.
Tyl by NatWest
Transaction fee (for turnover up to £50,000): UK/Europe personal cards – 1.39 per cent + 5p; all other cards – 1.99 per cent + 5p
Features
- No charges for international card payments
- No fees on refunds
- Link with your accountancy package
Various devices starting at £9.99 per month. Your choice of device is free for first three months. If you take over £50k a month, you can request custom pricing.
Barclaycard Anywhere
Transaction fee: 1.6 per cent per transaction
Features
- No contract – pay-as-you-trade model
- Could cover up to £3,000 of your exit fees from your current provider
- Up to 700 sales a day on a full charge
- Get paid the next day
- Get a free Freshbooks account
The terminal has a one-off cost of £29.
SumUp Air
Transaction fee: From 0.99 per cent
Features
- Card machine available with a free business account as your payout account
- With this account, you’ll receive each sale within one day for a limited time
- Free bank transfers
A SumUp Air card reader costs £22 if its your first reader. Subsequent readers cost £34. You can choose either a pay-as-you-go pricing model, charged at 1.69% per transaction for in-person payments and 2.5% for online, or a subscription model (£19 per month), charged at 0.99% for both.
Zettle
Transaction fee: 1.75 per cent per transaction (including Amex)
Features
- Create and sell gift cards
- Point of sale integrations
- Use PayPal debit card anywhere that MasterCard is accepted
- Cashback on eligible purchases
The Zettle card reader starts from £29 (New business users only – £59 for each additional card reader).
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