If you need reminding of the importance of sumup card payment machines for any small business, know this: according to UK Finance, cash accounted for just 17 per cent of all payments in 2020.

In an increasingly cashless society, if you don’t have a card payment machine, you risk losing out on sales.

There are countless card machines aimed at small businesses on the market today, and most enable you to take chip & pin, contactless, and mobile payments.

But there are differences in features, fees and upfront costs that will make some more or less suitable for your business than others.

This article will break down the hardware and functionality of the 10 best card payment machines for small business to help you choose the one that’s right for you.

>See also: 40% of the UK’s micro businesses do not accept card payments

Card payment machines
SumUp Air
Zettle Reader 2
Square Reader
MyPOS Go
Dojo Go
Barclaycard Anywhere
TakePayments
Tyl (by Natwest)
Paymentsense
Shopify WisePad Reader 3
How much does a typical card payment machine cost?
Card payment machine costs are made up of the cost of the device and the cost of payment processing fees.

Device cost
Mobile card readers generally cost between £15 and £30, countertop card machines cost between £150 and £200.

You can either buy the device outright or rent the device for a monthly cost. This changes from provider to provider.

>See also: How to optimise cash flow with cashless payments

Fees
Transaction fees are taken by your card payment provider as a percentage of every payment made through your card machine. They’re typically between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent of the value of the transaction.

So, if the customer buys an item costing £25, and your transaction fee is 1.75%, you’ll be charged around 43p by your card payment provider.

Card payment providers will also advertise a card not present (CNP) transaction. A CNP transaction occurs when neither the cardholder or their card are present for the transaction – in other words, an online or phone payment, or a recurring payment.

CNP fees are usually around 2.5%. They’re higher for the simple reason that there’s a greater risk of fraud during these kinds of payments.

Countertop vs portable vs mobile card readers
There are three types of card payment machine: countertop, portable, and mobile.

Countertop card machines are designed to be used at designated till points in your store. Although they don’t offer any portability, they’re usually very reliable in terms of their connectivity. They’re best for businesses with a fixed payment point such as a grocery or small retailer.

Portable card machines are battery-powered devices that use Wifi to take card payments anywhere on your site. They’re best for cafes and restaurants.

Mobile card readers are even more compact, battery-powered devices that use a GPRS (3G or 4G) signal to take card payments wherever you are. They also usually have Wifi functionality as well. They’re great for pop up shops, markets, festivals, street food vans – anywhere really.

This article will predominantly focus on mobile card readers, as they’re the most affordable and offer the most flexibility to growing small businesses.

Most of the providers below also sell other hardware such as charging docks, receipt printers, countertop systems and tills.

You only need the card payment device to start taking payments, but these items allow you to enhance your POS system as your business grows.