Card machine rates for small business
What a small UK business should expect to pay for a card machine — rental, card rates, PCI and authorisation — set out plainly, with published prices you can check against your own statement.
What a card machine should cost
A countertop or portable terminal for a small UK business typically rents for £15 to £30 a month plus VAT. Anything much above that is usually a long contract with the hardware cost buried in it.
Open Rates publishes card machine rental at £15 a month + VAT, with no exit fee. The terminal, the rates and the contract terms are all visible before you speak to anyone.
Typical small business rates, side by side
The rates below are the published Open Rates prices against the kind of figures small businesses commonly find on an older statement.
| Cost | Often seen | Open Rates |
|---|---|---|
| Card machine | £25–£35/mo | £15/mo + VAT |
| Debit card | 0.60%–1.20% | 0.32% |
| Credit card | 0.90%–1.80% | 0.62% |
| Business card | 2.50%–3.20% | 2.20% |
| PCI compliance | £10–£20/mo | £5/mo + VAT |
| Authorisation | 5p–20p | 2p |
A worked example
A shop turning over £4,000 a month with a £10 average sale takes about 400 card payments. With a mix of 75% debit, 23% credit and 2% business cards, the difference between a typical older package and published rates is usually well over £100 a month — most of it coming from the auth fee and the machine rental rather than the headline percentage.
Your own figures will differ, which is exactly why the calculator lets you change turnover and average transaction and watch the saving move.
What to watch for on a small business quote
- A 48-month contract with an early exit fee running into hundreds
- A low debit rate paired with a high authorisation fee
- A minimum monthly service charge that applies in quiet months
- Rates described as 'from' — those are the best case, not your case
- A separate gateway or settlement fee not mentioned in the quote
Which terminal suits which business
- Countertop — fixed till point in a shop, salon or takeaway
- Portable — table service, where the terminal stays on the premises
- Mobile — market stalls, mobile trades and deliveries, using a SIM