Accepting card payments means four decisions: which provider holds your account, which terminal presents the card, how that terminal connects, and what you are charged. Most buyers spend their time on the third and least on the first, which is the reverse of where the money is.
The provider decision is the expensive one
Published in-person rates run from 0.79% to 1.75%, which is a spread of nearly a percentage point on everything you will take. Hardware spans 11 to 179 pounds once. On any realistic turnover the account outweighs the machine within a quarter, so choose the provider first and let the terminal follow from where you trade.
Wireless, and what it actually requires
Wireless can mean Bluetooth to a phone, wifi to a network or a mobile SIM. Only the last works without something else being present and connected. If you take payments away from a fixed counter, that is the specification word to look for, and it costs more in hardware rather than in rate.
The charges to write into your comparison
The in-person rate, the rate for commercial and non UK cards, any fixed pence element, the authorisation fee, the minimum monthly charge, the term and the early termination charge. Providers publish these in different places: a pricing page, a legal fee schedule, or a support article. Ask for the fee schedule by name if you cannot find it.
Questions people ask about accepting card payments
What do I need to accept card payments in the UK?
An account with a card acceptance provider, a terminal or a supported phone, a connection, and somewhere for the money to settle. Identity checks apply everywhere.
What are card payment processors?
The firms that route your transactions to the card schemes and settle the proceeds. Some are acquirers in their own right, some are payment institutions aggregating merchants, and some resell another firm's acquiring.
Is wireless card payment less reliable?
It depends on the connection type. A machine with its own SIM is generally the most reliable away from a counter; Bluetooth readers inherit every problem the paired phone has.