Compare card machine providers and secure the lowest credit card processing fees for your business

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Compare card machine providers and secure the lowest credit card processing fees for your business

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Compare card machines and processing fees from multiple providers

Find the right credit card terminals for your business with low card processing fees and flexible contracts.

Compare payment service providers to find the most competitive fees, flexible contract terms, fast settlement times, highly rated 24/7 support, simple multichannel integration and real-time reporting.

POS Payments Payment Methods

Countertop, portable and mobile card machines from the PAX, Ingenico, Castles and Verifone

Allow your customers to pay with a single tap using any of the major card types and mobile wallets.

Ingenico-Desk5000

Countertop

Countertop card terminals connect via an ethernet cable or WiFi

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Portable

Portable card machines connect via WiFi or Bluetooth

Ingenico-Move5000

Mobile

Uses a SIM card to connect via 3G, 4G or GPRS

Why Use Us

Low card processing rates

Our buying power and relationships with acquirers enable us to secure preferential card processing rates. Save weeks of obtaining bespoke quotes and negotiating terms.

Compare multiple quotes without hassle

We don’t sell your details to any third parties. Avoid incessant call centres and spam emails that you’d receive from  ‘quick quotes’ websites that sell your details to up to 5 companies. 

Direct access to merchant acquirers

We have access to 90% of the UK’s leading acquiring banks including Worldpay, Evo, Barclaycard, Elavon, Trust Payments, Global Payments and AIB. 

Unbiased and independent quotes

Our quotes will be formatted in a way that allows easy comparison between providers. They will also be unbiased. Whilst we have our preferred payment processors, we are independent and have no allegiances or contractual restrictions. 

Payment processing expertise

Our payment consultants have years of experience negotiating fees, scrutinising contracts and dealing with merchant service providers. We’ve advised thousands of businesses with turnovers ranging from £25K to over £350 million.

Vetted providers & contract due diligence

Avoid being overcharged, rate increases mid-contract, hidden fees, poor after-sales service, punctuative exit penalties or roll-over agreements that stop you from giving 30 days notice at the end of the agreement.

Examples of some of the card machines available through our trusted partners

Features of the card machines provided

You’ll receive the following features and benefits with the card machines:

Easy integration with other systems

Connect the card machines to a range of business tools (e.g. EPOS systems, web services, accounting software).

Omni-channel solutions

Whether your business takes card payments in person, online or over the phone, you can combine data from all touchpoints to create a better multichannel shopping experience 

Real-time reporting

Secure portal providing online real-time access to all your online, mobile and point-of-sale payment transactions.

24/7 support

All providers have 24/7 support teams on hand for any assistance you may need with your card machines. We’re also available at any time during your agreement to help resolve any issues.

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Multichannel solutions

Also interested in taking payments online or by phone?

Whether you want to accept payments in person, online or over the phone we can help you find the best solution for your business and secure the lowest fees.

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In Person

Accept credit cards and digital wallets on card terminals right for your business

At the table with a portable machine connected via Wifi, Bluetooth or 3G

On the go with a mobile machine using a SIM card with 3G or GPRS

With a countertop terminal connected a phone line or broadband router

POS Payments responsive ecommerce small

Online

Browser-based checkouts for desktop, tablets and mobiles 

Hosted by the payment processor or integrated into your website via an api

Integrate with your existing payment gateway or ecommerce platform

Take international payments and process payments in local currencies

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Phone

Take payments over the phone securely via a virtual terminal

Process electronic payments via telephone, email, mail order

No website required - use the virtual terminal on a mobile, tablet or PC

Fully PCI compliant with Address Verification System (AVS)

FAQs

There are plenty of Chip and PIN machines available, and choosing the right one for your business can be a bit daunting. We can certainly help you find the best one but your first step should be to determine how many you need of each type – countertop, portable or mobile.

Here are some things you’ll need to consider when shortlisting a card machine:

  • Does it accept all major debit and credit cards?
  • Is the screen large enough for you and your customers to read easily?
  • Is the keypad easy to use and just the right size?
  • Does it have a long battery life?
  • How fast is the printer?
  • What level of security does it provide?

For portable and mobile Chip and PIN machines, you’ll also have to consider these:

  • Is it drop and spill resistant?
  • Is it compatible with reliable mobile networks that are available in the area(s) you’ll normally be working in?
  • How heavy is it?
  • Does it come with an in-car charger?

Countertop

Often seen in retail stores with tills, fast food outlets with a fixed order desk and supermarkets with checkouts, countertop terminals are the machines of choice for many small businesses globally.

Portable

Portable card machine terminals are perfect for businesses that take payments from customers away from a till or across a number of locations. You will see restaurants and other hospitality venues using portable card machines inside and outside the venue, while a hotel may choose to take the portable route to facilitate payments anywhere on-site.

Mobile

Mobile card terminals are the best choice if you need to take card payments across a wide range of locations — think taxi drivers, mobile food retailers and trade show attendees.

If you sign up with a payment processor that provides card machines the models available will typically be made by Verifone, Ingenico, Pax Technology, Clover, Spire Payments, Datecs or Miura Systems.

They will either be classed a countertop, portable or mobile card machines (we are discounting EPOS systems as they fall into a different subset).

In most cases it is best to obtain a card terminal through your merchant account provider rather than source one from a dedicated card machine supplier. 

Before you decide on the merchant account provider to use you should decide on the type(s) of card terminal(s) you require. So in summary:

  • Assess how many countertop, portable or mobile card machines your business would require.
  • Discuss the brands and models of card machines available from your preferred merchant account provider. 
  • Sign up and order your card machines. Your terminals will usually be sent by post with everything you need to start taking payments. 

For businesses with a merchant account, countertop card machines are generally the cheapest type of card machines.

Card readers without a contract offered by payment facilitators are the cheapest in terms of hardware as they only incur a one-off upfront fee as low as £16+VAT.

However, as covered in our list of the best contactless card readers with no contract, you will incur higher transaction fees so the cost overall will be much higher.

Most merchant service providers will charge around £15-£25 per month per card machine (the amount will vary by provider, type of terminal, the number of payments you are processing and your annual card turnover).

You can see more information on our guide to card machine costs.

The short answer is, sometimes. Depending on the type of card machine you have, it may or may not use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet.

Countertop terminals typically connect directly to the internet using an ethernet cable or phone line but they may depend on the Wi-Fi connection of your router to connect.

Mobile terminals connect using mobile networks only (4G, 5G, etc), so Wi-Fi is not a consideration here.

Portable terminals can connect using Wi-Fi or mobile networks. Wi-Fi will typically provide a faster, more stable connection but the added flexibility of mobile connectivity can help offset drops in Wi-Fi signal.

This will vary depending on the make and model of your card machine.

Most commonly, the merchant number can be found on any merchant copy of receipts printed. You can also find the merchant number on the end-of-day report that most terminals are capable of generating.

Some terminals will also have the merchant number printed somewhere on the terminal itself or displayed on the screen when idle, but this differs between terminals.

Yes. Many card machines will connect seamlessly to your till or using cloud-based software. This allows you to integrate your card payments with your EPOS system ensuring all transactions are tracked and accounted for.

Yes. The machine can be used for cardholder-not-present (CNP) payments. 

The steps for doing this will vary slightly depending on your terminal but they remain more or less the same.

  1. Key in the amount of the transaction and follow the prompt to enter customer card details. Some terminals will have a dedicated CNP option usually found within the menu.
  2. Enter the following information in the order your card machine prompts
    1. Card number (the long number on the front of the card)
    2. Expiry date (MM/YY)
    3. Security code/CVV number (last three numbers on the back e.g. 123)
    4. Customer address (usually just the house number)
    5. Customer postcode (usually just the numbers e.g. 156)
    6. The terminal will connect to the provider for approval and either approve or reject the transaction.

CNP transactions are processed in essentially the same way as an online transaction. Since the cardholder is not physically present, the software on the physical terminal allows it to contact the acquiring bank and process the transaction remotely.

Here are some of our latest reviews on Trustpilot from businesses we’e helped.

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