Any ranking of card readers that ignores monthly takings is a ranking of adverts. The honest version says which reader is cheapest at which volume, and names the providers that publish enough for the sum to be done at all. Eleven of the thirty two providers read for this index print an in-person rate; the ranking below is drawn only from those.
Best card reader uk: the ranking, and the criterion
- myPOS Go 2: a standalone reader with its own connectivity at a printed 39 pounds excluding VAT, on an account printing 1.10% plus 7p and zero fixed monthly costs below 10,000 pounds monthly card turnover
- Tide Nano: the lowest printed hardware price in this index at 11 pounds plus VAT, with both the subscription and pay as you go rates published side by side so the crossover is visible
- Zettle Reader: one flat published rate for every major card including American Express, which removes the surcharge arithmetic that catches out businesses with mixed card traffic
- Lopay: the lowest printed transaction rate on this shelf at 0.79% on its Essential account, with no monthly fee and a published add-on schedule rather than a headline alone
Cheapest to buy is rarely cheapest to run
An 11 pound reader on a 1.5% account costs more over a year than a 39 pound reader on a 1.10% account for any business taking more than about 1,200 pounds a month on cards. Hardware is a one-off and the rate is forever, so rank on the rate and treat the device price as a tie breaker unless you need several machines at once.
Flat rate versus card-type pricing
Zettle prints one rate for every major card including American Express. myPOS prints four rows by card origin. Neither is better in the abstract: a business whose customers all pay with UK debit cards is better off on the split pricing, because the domestic row is the cheapest number on this shelf, and a business with heavy Amex or overseas traffic is usually better off on the flat rate.
What a ranking cannot include
takepayments, UTP Group, Nexi, Global Payments and Dojo cannot be placed in a price ranking, because four of them publish no figure and the fifth refuses to be read. That is not a judgement on their product. It does mean a buyer who wants to compare them must give each one a phone call and a set of turnover figures first.
Questions people ask about best card reader uk
How much is a card reader in the UK?
Published prices in this index run from 11 pounds plus VAT for Tide's Nano to 179 pounds excluding VAT for the myPOS Ultra, with most Bluetooth readers between 29 and 69 pounds. Delivery and VAT are usually extra and the provider pages say so.
What does a card reader do that my phone cannot?
Modern phones can accept contactless payments directly through tap to pay, so for small contactless sales a reader is optional. A reader still matters where a customer needs a chip and PIN fallback, where the phone battery is a risk, or where staff should not be handling the owner's phone.
Which card reader is cheapest for a market stall?
One with its own mobile connectivity, because a Bluetooth reader inherits the phone's signal. On published prices that points at myPOS's standalone range or a 4G terminal from Zettle rather than the cheapest Bluetooth device.