Card Machines for Restaurants : 6 Best Available in UK Market

Compact and easy – these are some of the descriptions for the newly introduced card machines in the market. As the technology continues to set trends to make our life less complicated, one of the most used machines would be a credit card machine.

It is hard to imagine living today without using a credit card. This observation should be carried with a plan especially those who are in businesses. 

There are two main reasons why having the best card machine is important :

1. People tend to spend more if they’re doing it with a credit card rather than cash.
2. It increases the capacity of the business to cope with the customers, especially during peak season.

Competition is tough for the best card machines, but with this article you’ll be able to distinguish what’s best for your business. Before that, we have to see the features to consider when picking the best for your business. Here are some to consider :

• Battery life
• Cost
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi)
• Fixed rate (per transaction)
• App-based 
• Customer-support
• Money back Guarantee
• Warranty

Types of Card Machines :

• Mobile Card Readers are battery-powered, directed to your merchant via GPRS or Wi-Fi. Businesses like market traders usually use this type of machine.
• Portable Card Readers are battery-powered that communicate with a base station via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Businesses like restaurants, cafes, and so on use this machine as this often has a built-in receipt printer.
• Countertop Card Readers, as the name implies, are physically located to countertops and usually powered via Ethernet or linked by USB. This type is best used by traditional working environment businesses such as supermarkets.

We’ve gathered the top 6 most used card machines and conducted a fair study to check what’s best suited for a restaurant business :

1. iZettle Reader is considered the safest choice for a card machine. It’s stylish, comes in black or white, tamper-proof and no set-up or shipping fee. Also has the widest range of accepted cards. Deposits money within 1-2 banking days. They’re also taking part with the community support for Covid-19, as they are now charging reduced fees for online payments.

• Battery life – lasts 30% longer than others (roughly 8 hours of active use from a single charge).
• Cost – £19 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Bluetooth
• Fixed Rate – 1.75%
• App-based – Yes (Key-in charge for iZettle app to send invoices to clients is 2.5%)
• Customer-support – 9am – 5pm (Mon-Fri)
• Money back Guarantee – None found
• Warranty – 12 months

2. SumUp Air is known to be the most economical card machine that is app based. It offers a friendly-user interface that is good for small businesses that want to start accepting card payments. It accepts major credit cards and it deposits money within 2-3 banking days. As part of their support for the campaign against Covid-19, they have published general guidance and resources to their hub.

• Battery life – built-in Li-ion battery for longer operating hours
• Cost  – £29 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Bluetooth
• Fixed rate (per transaction) – 1.69%
• App-based – Yes
• Customer-support – 9am – 5pm (Mon-Fri)
• Money back Guarantee – 30 days
• Warranty – 12 months

3. Square Reader is the most compact card machine on the list. Accepts Visa, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Contactless. Deposits the money within 3-5 banking days but takes only 20 minutes if upgraded. They have offered to cancel subscriptions to those who have existing businesses who are not using the machine, they also have reduced fee for online payment features as their campaign against Covid-19.  

• Battery life – has a heavy-duty battery inside that enables it to last a day but always charge upon closing the shop.
• Cost  – £19 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Bluetooth
• Fixed rate (per transaction) – 1.75%
• App-based – Yes (2.5% charge for transactions done over the phone)
• Customer-support – 9am – 5pm (Mon-Fri)
• Money back Guarantee – 30 days
• Warranty – 12 months

4. Worldpay Zinc reader is available in sleek black style. A card machine that accepts all major debit and credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, China Union Pay, Diners Club International and Discover. American Express can be added on request. Settlements take up to three days.

• Battery life – Not published
• Cost  – £69 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Connects both with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
• Fixed rate (per transaction) – Transaction fees varies.
• App-based – Yes 
• Customer-support – 24/7
• Money back Guarantee – Not published
• Warranty – Not published

5. Shopify is best suited for businesses running online. This card machine offers a mobile payment solution for Shopify owners who want to do a face-to-face transaction. It accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Apple Pay, Android Pay.

•  Battery life – Not published
• Cost  – £59 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Bluetooth, not compatible with Android devices.
• Fixed rate (per transaction) – 1.7% per transaction for Basic Shopify users, 1.6% per transaction for Shopify users, 1.5% per transaction for Advanced Shopify users.
• App-based – Yes 
• Customer-support – 24/7
• Money back Guarantee – Not published
• Warranty – 12 months

6. MyPOS is a cheap yet sturdy card machine that accepts Visa, Vpay, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Google Pay, Apple Pay. Commercial cards issued within the EEA attract a fee of 2%. Non-EEA cards, American Express, Union Pay, and JCB carry a charge of 2.85%. 

• Battery life – Long battery life
• Cost  – £29 + VAT
• Connection (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) – Connects both with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Fixed rate (per transaction) – 1.75% (sometimes set us 0.99% for promotion) For online and over the phone transactions, 2.25% fee charged for consumer cards issued within the EEA and 3.25% on commercial cards issued with the EEA. Non-EEA cards attract a fee of 3.35% while transactions on American Express and JCB costs will cost you 3.5%.
• App-based – No
• Customer-support – 24/7
• Money back Guarantee – 30 days
• Warranty – 12 months

Knowing which card machine to use is not easy. There are different factors to consider, and the competition to the market is still increasing. This is an investment which will likely give a good grow to the numbers of your  customer and their average spend. Think about how the machine will work in conjunction with your takeaway food delivery app.

There are different selling points to each machine and it is best to choose the one that suits the business, the management, the people, and the environment more – meaning would add productivity and value.

Hope the card you’ll choose will make your life (and business) easier!

source https://www.etakeawaymax.co.uk/best-card-machines-in-uk/