

How to get a card terminal for your businessĬard terminals are linked to a bank account - that's something that's pretty non-negotiable.Īfter that, your options are considerable.įor £30 you can pick up a small hand-held terminal that works with an app on your phone to accept payments, you'll lose a percentage of every sale ( 1.75% with Zettle or 1.6% with Barclays, for example), but there are no other ongoing costs and you're not tied in to a contract. More and more, card readers are being employed in those areas where cash has continued to be used, such as vending machines, gym and sports centre lockers, public transport and parking meters.Įven pop-up stalls, street traders, buskers and Big Issue sellers are now sometimes equipped with the devices - in fact the technology is versatile and easy enough to apply to all manner of applications that it’s hard to imagine where it won’t work. Basically, anywhere you might not want to get out of your seat to pay.įixed, counter-top devices have been a mainstay of supermarkets, stores and petrol stations for years and it was their take-up that encouraged the rest of us to trust the technology. Handheld payment readers have proved a big hit in restaurants, on airplanes and at sports or leisure venues. For the retailer it’s safe and secure, as they have an audit trail of what money they’ve taken, plus they don’t have to work with so much cash on site.įor customers, it’s also convenient as queue times are shorter. Most retailers, restaurants and other goods and service providers now take card payments via card machines.
#Credit card terminal no monthly fee portable#
They can be fixed in place on or near the till, a portable handheld device, which uses Bluetooth technology, or even a mobile phone with a reader app installed.Īside from contactless payments, they can also accept four-digit PIN codes - and this is a must if a customer's asked for cashback or buying something worth more than £100 with a standard card - although some phones and other devices will let you pay more wirelessly if you authenticate the transaction.

These are devices used to pay for something, typically with a debit or credit card. What is a card payment machine?Ĭard payment machines, card readers, Chip and PIN readers, PDQs or simply card terminals – however they're referred to – are pretty much everywhere, so it makes sense to understand them. Of these, contactless payments accounted for about 1.2 billion transactions. These days phones, watches, apps and devices are also used to make payments.Īnd card use is still rising - some 1.7 billion debit and credit card transactions were made by UK cardholders in January 2022, almost 10% more than in January 2020. Cash hasn’t dominated transactions in the UK for several years, as credit card and debit card use rose to replace it.
