As micro businesses strive to remain competitive, it is important to have efficient, streamlined, dependable, and secure payment options in a fast-paced economy with much speed in the UK.
Card readers improve customer satisfaction, enhance transactions, and generally promote better business operations.
Market inundation has complicated the selection process of the best card reader for business.
This guide will give you an overview of some of the best card payment machines for small enterprises to choose from.
Top 7 Card Readers for Small Businesses in the UK
1. Square Reader
Overview: Square Reader is available to small entrepreneurs at a very low cost.
The Free Pos system allows for sales and admin functions, as well as taking appointments and managing inventories, or just tracking top-selling items, among many other functions.
Key Features:
- Very lightweight (56g)
- Portable benefits
- Free POS system with inventory management, sales analytics, and appointment booking
- All-day battery
Pricing: €19 inc. VAT & transaction fee, 1.75%
2. TakePayments
Overview: TakePayments works wonderfully for small businesses that are quickly growing or really in transition.
The short contracts for the card reader provide the flexibility to grow or shrink without getting tied up to a long-term commitment.
This makes it easy to manage and track sales data, customer insights, and staff performance all from one card reader.
Key Features:
- Real-time tracking of inventory
- Short term contracts
- Dashboards for sales customizable
- Payments are settled the next day.
Pricing: Customer pricing may vary. The transaction fee ranges between 0.3% and 2.5%.
3. Tide Smart Card Reader
Overview: Tide Smart Card Reader is applicable for small businesses that require regular features for example mobility and flexibility.
It has 4G connectivity which takes the services to a whole new level by enabling businesses to pay without relying on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
It is the perfect match for businesses that operate from various venues, for example, pop-up shops, market stalls, events, food trucks and so on, where getting access to the Internet may not be possible.
It’s a reliable option for businesses scouting to scale while still keeping costs down and offering scalable flexible mobile payments.
Key Features:
- No monthly contract
- Diminished dependency upon Bluetooth connectivity via unlimited 4G data
- Has much contactless payment acceptance
- Lifetime free 4G connect
- Usual rental-free, one-off payment only
- Streamlined portable design for mobile payment and in-store payment
Pricing: €49, including VAT and transaction fee of 1%.
4. Zettle Reader 2
Overview: Zettle Reader 2 is an excellent option for small businesses in terms of safety, security, and lower costs.
An extremely high level of industry security standards, such as PCI compliance, are also included with the anti-tampering technology.
One of the great advantages that small growing businesses can access on one platform is the POS system integration.
Payments get into your bank account within one or two business days so that you can quickly have access to revenue for meeting operational costs.
Key Features:
- Accepts major payments such as Google Pay, Amex, Apple Pay, Diners Club, etc.
- Payments are settled in one or two business days.
- Tamper-proof design along with built-in fraud protection.
Pricing: €59, including VAT and transaction fee of 1.75%
5. Barclaycard Smartpay Anywhere
Overview: Barclay Smartpay Anywhere, is a perfect solution for those businesses who require strong features for invoicing as well as cash flow management.
In addition, it has a free account integration with FreshBooks which allows the entrepreneur to facilitate accounting and tracking invoices without extra software costs at the same time.
Key Features:
- No extra cost PCI compliance
- Free FreshBooks account where invoices can be created
- Capability of accepting every payment method
- Detailed real-time sales report.
Pricing: €29, including VAT and transaction fee of 1.6%.
6. Clover Flex
Overview: Clover Flex can be ideal for scaling small businesses with a basic card reader.
It comes with a whole POS system under which entrepreneurs can track multiple facets of relying on customer and sales data through to inventory management from one platform.
Key Features:
- Track business with more than 150 apps
- Seamless integration with an all-in-one POS system
- Manage customers and inventory
- Payment settlement within one business day.
Pricing: €16.99 per month, including VAT. The transaction fee is somewhere 1.39% to 1.99%.
7. myPOS Go 2
Overview: myPOS Go 2 is an excellent option designed for small businesses that want to access their funds quickly.
The free Visa business card is provided so that you can access your business earnings to withdraw funds or purchase from an ATM and manage your daily expenses.
It also has one of the lowest transaction fees on the market so you can save on your transaction. This is a fantastic option for small businesses like restaurants, retail stores, or cafés.
Key Features:
- Instant access to business funds without additional charges
- Free Visa business card for accessing payments
- Accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, JCB Amex, Band Contact, Union Pay, and many more options.
Pricing: €39, including VAT and transaction fee up to 1.1%.
How to Select The Right Card Reader for Your Business?
These are all things to explore in your research on business credit card processing needs:
- Security Features: Current studies show that 80% of customers will look at security features before choosing a particular credit card. Choose a card reader that adheres to the very last and latest prescribed security requirements of the payment card industry data security standard PCI DSS.
- Uptime and Reliability: Select a card reader with a high uptime percentage, preferably 99%.
- Payment Methods Consideration: Always choose a card reader that can accept all types of payments which include cash, digital wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay, and major credit cards.
- Check for Essential Features: Consider features such as contactless payments, user-friendly interface, multi-payments, mobile integrations, uptime, battery life customisable auction receipts PCI compliance, multi-payment supports, mobile integrations etc.
- Amount of Device Cost: Make an informed decision by estimating the average monthly income, processing costs, card reader hardware costs, contract terms, monthly charges, and hidden charges.
Conclusion
Here are a few card readers for small businesses based in the UK. With just too many options available on the market,
It is important to take your time to find the card reader that best suits your budget criteria as well as other business criteria such as its ease of use, safety features, contactless payments, portability, and more.
As you scale up, choosing the right payment machine for your small business will help serve more sophisticated transactions and volumes while making business more efficient.
