The best card machine and online payment services 2023 UK

Payments made in cash now only account for 14% of all total payments made in the UK. Data from trade body UK Finance shows that the number of people choosing cash for payments has declined since 2014 from just under half to now less than a quarter. 62% of all card payments are made using contactless debit and credit cards.

As paying by card and shopping online becomes more and more popular, small businesses need to find easy to use and low-cost options to accept card and online payments. Our guide reviews some of the best and most well-known companies offering card machines and online payment services.

Square offers businesses the ability to accept card payments including contactless cards for purchases made in store and online. They also offer point of sales (POS) systems.

Payment services from Square include hardware and software to process your payments both in store and online or in App. Hardware options include terminals to accept chip and PIN card payments and to print and email receipts.

The software from Square processes your business payments going through the relevant networks and acquirers. They are accountable for making sure all these payments are processed to the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance standards, removing the burden from you and your business. They also complete anti-money laundering and know your customer (KYC) checks on all transactions too - free of charge. Payments made through Square are data encrypted for security processes.

Square also offers businesses the option to key in card details of their customers (useful for purchases made outside of an ecommerce site or remotely) and for sending digital invoices.

Point of sales services include the Square Stand that transforms an iPad into a point of sale system and can be used in conjunction with a reader to accept card payments. Businesses that have a point of sale system already can also integrate Square with systems including vend, Woo, Wix and Go Daddy.

Square has a team of fraud experts as well as sophisticated systems to monitor and identify suspicious payments. Square alerts their customers to any suspicious activity. Their platform is fully encrypted, and it operates to PCI compliance standards, meaning they do the hard work to keep your customers’ data away from hackers and fraudsters. Square also has 2-Step Verification to help keep your account safe too.

Any payment disputes are managed on your behalf by Square, that deals with your customer’s bank to resolve the issue. Square does not charge its customers for any disputed payments.

The firm is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under E Money regulations.

SumUp offers payments services to help businesses receive payments in store, online and on the go. It is probably best known for its card reader devices, but it can also help with businesses needing to create ecommerce sites, manage invoices and with a business payment card.

SumUp offer three card reader devices to help your business accept credit card and contactless payments. SumUp Air connects to your smartphone or tablet through Wifi and you can use a free App to manage your payments. This device can make up to 500 transactions on a single charge. Businesses can also add a cradle to the SumUp Air that will show your customers that you are ready to accept card payments.

SumUp 3G works standalone and comes with an in-built SIM card with free and unlimited mobile data and Wifi connectivity. However, it is designed for fewer transactions, with one charge being able to make up to 50 payments. Businesses can also choose to upgrade this to include a printer. There is free access to a dashboard and reporting of your transactions plus telephone and email support. Payouts to your bank account will take between one to three days.

The Starter Plan from SumUp is an easy wat to get selling products online. Simply load up images and details of your products plus your shipping details to create an online store. The Starter plan is free of charge to use but all transactions made within will have the 1.69% transaction fee applied.

Businesses can have any funds received through SumUp devices or online stores paid into their bank account, taking between one and three days or into a SumUp Card and receive the money the next day.
The SumUp App allows you to create invoices easily and quickly. You can create new invoice templates and the system automatically allocates your invoice numbers and calculates prices and VAT. Your customers can pay their invoices to you easily and securely. All payments are then tracked and matched to your invoices automatically and any late invoices can be followed up.

The SumUp Air Card Reader has received full certification from a range of regulatory bodies for its security of processing payments. These include meeting the required standards of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, Mastercard and Visa accreditations.

SumUp is a brand of SumUp Payments Limited which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK under the Electronic Money regulations 2011.

1. The Store Kit – Mobile is small and aimed at businesses potentially with a limited or no premises designed for customers.
2. The Mini kit aimed at small businesses that are customer facing and where space is at a premium and simplicity is essential.
3. The Food and Drink kit aimed at the hospitality sector
4. The Retail kit for retail stores using barcode scanning
5. The Full configuration kit for larger retailers and businesses
6. The Ocean Reader and Dock Set – made with recycled plastic fishing nets and ropes

No card details are ever stored on the smart phone or tablet using the Zettle Go App or on the Zettle card reader. All data sent from and to the devices is encrypted. In the event of a reader or device being stolen Zettle claim that individual card details and money remains 100% safe.

Zettle is a part of PayPal (Europe) and is a licensed credit institution in Luxembourg.

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