By Henry Williams on Growth Business – Your gateway to entrepreneurial success
For businesses looking to scale, keeping transaction fees low is key. While upfront card reader prices and monthly fees matter, transaction costs can significantly impact profitability—especially for high-volume businesses like subscription services, digital products, and online retail.
To help you find the best value, we’ve weighed up all the associated costs and features to bring you the most cost-effective card readers available for growing businesses.
SumUp Air
Transaction fee: From 0.99%
Features:
Free business account available for payouts
Receive funds within one day for a limited time
Free bank transfers
The SumUp Air card reader costs £22 for your first device, with subsequent readers priced at £34. Choose between pay-as-you-go (1.69% per in-person transaction, 2.5% for online) or subscription pricing (£19 per month, 0.99% per transaction).
Revolut
Transaction fee: From 0.8% + 2p (UK consumer cards), 1% + 20p for in-person payments
Features:
Customisable product catalogue within the Revolut app
Next-day access to funds
No-fee refunds
Fraud monitoring included
Receive and settle payments in over 25 currencies
The Revolut reader costs £49.
MyPOS
Transaction fee: 1.10% – 2.85% + 7p per transaction
Features:
Built-in SIM card for 3G/4G connectivity
Send digital receipts via email or SMS
Instant payment settlement
E-money and IBAN account in over 14 currencies
The MyPOS Go 2 card reader starts from £39. Businesses processing over £10,000 per month can request custom rates.
Dojo Go
Transaction fee: Fixed 1% rate or flat monthly fee from £39.99
Features:
Next-day transfers
24-hour card machine replacement
10-hour battery life
Next working day terminal delivery
The terminal fee starts from £15 per month. A flat £39.99 rate covers transaction fees up to £3,999, with additional sales charged at 1%.
Tyl by NatWest
Transaction fee (up to £50,000 turnover): UK/Europe personal cards – 1.39% + 5p; all other cards – 1.99% + 5p
Features:
No international card payment fees
Free refunds
Integrates with accountancy software
Devices start at £9.99 per month, and the first three months are free. Businesses processing over £50,000 per month can request custom pricing.
Square
Transaction fee: 1.75% per in-person transaction
Features:
Accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay
No charge for payment dispute management
One-year warranty
Bluetooth-enabled
The Square card reader costs £19. Custom rates are available for businesses processing over £200,000 in annual card sales.
Zettle
Transaction fee: 1.75% per transaction (including Amex)
Features:
Create and sell gift cards
Point-of-sale integrations
Use PayPal debit card anywhere MasterCard is accepted
Cashback on eligible purchases
The Zettle card reader starts at £29 for new businesses (£59 for additional readers).
Barclaycard Anywhere
Transaction fee: 1.6% per transaction
Features:
No contract – pay-as-you-trade
Could cover up to £3,000 in exit fees from your current provider
Supports up to 700 sales per day on a full charge
Next-day payments
Free FreshBooks account
The terminal costs £29.
Need an affordable card payment solution?
Find the cheapest payment provider for your business today. Simply fill in our free merchant account quote form —it takes less than a minute.
See also: Mobile payment systems for events and festivals – A mobile payment system is a point-of-sale device that accepts payment via cards and mobile phones – here are some of the best options on the market
The post Cheapest card payment providers appeared first on Growth Business.
