Taking card payments

[Craftymetal]

I’m sure this has been discussed to death before but I couldnt find anything that matches.

I currently use sumup for taking card payments has always worked really well my current percentage is 1.95%. Most of my payments are Bacs but increasingly I find customers want to pay on card.

I’m low volume but high value sales some are the odd £20-£100 but the more usual is £500-£2000 range

Just wondered if there were any better options out there that other members have used

 

[glengraving]

how much are you putting through it per month?
I used to use Sumup for my retail shop (still have it as a backup, no harm as no contract), but recently switched to a worldpay system

I always thought my card turnover (about £2k per month) was too low to make viable switching to such a system - as the rental cost would take me to near what my overall fees were for Sumup, but with the burden of a contract to boot - but one of the roaming sales guys said he could set me up with a minimal (something like £1pm) machine rental for 18 months, with processing fees of about .3% (depending on card type). I was suspicious, but it seems to be going well.
I'll see if there's a similarly good deal once the contract is up, or I'll ditch it altogether and revert to Sumup in 2027.

 

[numbersrule]

When its a reasonably small proportion of Sales then in some circumstances you may wish to consider bookkeeping costs versus % fees. A good bookkeeper - friendly system can sometimes save you more in bookkeeping costs compared with minor card fee % thingy.

 

[ZipserSir]

You may be surprised to learn that there is a payments broker out there waiting to find a better deal on your low volume high value transactions!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Sumup is 1.69% for standatd UK card - what are you paying more?

If you are taking £1-1.5k a month on cards you should get a proper merchant account as you will pay under 0.5%, however, you must be wary of hidden additional charges, which most companies will try to foist on you.

 

[bovine]

It depends on how much you're taking over a year and how you need to take the payment. We deal with teya and dojo for card integrations as part of pos solutions, and its not just the rate for the card, but terminal fees and whatever else gets added. We usually find the ones i mentioned come in cheaper than stripe, sumup etc but you need to look at whole cost and not just the headline card rate.

 

[syedsheraz]

I’m sure this has been discussed to death before but I couldnt find anything that matches.

I currently use sumup for taking card payments has always worked really well my current percentage is 1.95%. Most of my payments are Bacs but increasingly I find customers want to pay on card.

I’m low volume but high value sales some are the odd £20-£100 but the more usual is £500-£2000 range

Just wondered if there were any better options out there that other members have used

If you’re low volume but higher value, it’s definitely worth shopping around. SumUp is convenient, but the flat 1.95% can get expensive on £1k+ transactions. Providers like Square, Zettle, or a traditional merchant account (via your bank or a broker) often offer lower percentage rates for higher values, though they may have monthly fees. A merchant account with an interchange-plus model can work out cheaper if card payments are becoming more frequent. It really comes down to whether you prefer simplicity or lower fees on larger transactions.

 

[Craftymetal]

Thanks everyone for their input. Last year was around 7k on card. I can see this increasing as customers look to spread costs via interest free cards. I’m more used to b2b transactions via bank transfer.

I’ve had a brief look around and there were some options that looked great but the hidden fees seemed very high!

I will definitely look into why I’m paying 1.95%. A neighbour of mine uses square and is very happy with it so that’s another option.

 

[syedsheraz]

Thanks everyone for their input. Last year was around 7k on card. I can see this increasing as customers look to spread costs via interest free cards. I’m more used to b2b transactions via bank transfer.

I’ve had a brief look around and there were some options that looked great but the hidden fees seemed very high!

I will definitely look into why I’m paying 1.95%. A neighbour of mine uses square and is very happy with it so that’s another option.

It sounds like card payments are becoming more common, so it’s worth reviewing the full fee structure to understand where costs may be adding up. Comparing providers based on your transaction volume and average payment size should help determine whether Square or another option is the most cost-effective choice.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

To roughly calculate what your true monthly cost is, use this calculator (please ignore the rest of the website):

Calculate The True Cost of Your Merchant Account - Business Advice Centre

We have created a quick, free calculator where you just enter some basic details about your merchant account and it will show you your true average rate.

businessadvicecentre.co.uk

Then, when given a quote from a merchant account supplier, compare. People are generally surprised to find out their true costs!