UK Card Machine Contracts & Cancellation Tracker

13 of the providers we track are no-contract, pay-as-you-go: SumUp, Square, PayPal Zettle, Stripe, Tide and Revolut among them. No contract means no minimum term and no early-termination fee, so you can stop whenever you like. The trade-off is a higher headline transaction rate than a negotiated fixed-term acquirer deal, which is why higher-volume merchants often still choose a term contract.

Fixed-term card machine contracts typically run 12 to 48 months. Mainstream acquirers commonly sit at 12 to 36 months; some legacy and bank agreements and leased-terminal deals run to 48 months or are individually negotiated. The pay-as-you-go providers have no minimum term at all. Always check the renewal date and notice window in your own agreement, because many contracts auto-renew if you miss the notice period.

There is no single published figure, because it depends on your specific agreement. An early-termination fee is usually either the remaining months of service or minimum monthly charges, or a fixed exit fee set out in your contract, whichever your agreement specifies. Leased terminals add the remaining hardware rental on top. The practical step is to ask your provider for the exact settlement figure in writing, then weigh it against a year of savings on a cheaper product. MerchantHQ does this calculation as part of a switching review.

Many UK card-acquirer agreements, including bank and ISO deals, renew automatically for a further minimum term if you do not give notice inside the notice window before the end date. This is the most common reason merchants stay stuck on an uncompetitive rate. Diarise your notice window now and serve written notice early so you keep the freedom to switch.

Yes, it can happen if the agreement was still in its minimum term or auto-renewed. If you cancel inside a fixed term, the provider can bill the remaining minimum monthly charges or a set early-termination fee, and any leased-hardware rental, which can arrive as an invoice after you stop trading on the account. This is why you should serve written notice inside the notice window and get the exact closing settlement figure in writing before you switch, so there is no surprise charge later.

It depends on the product. No-contract fintech readers (SumUp, Square, PayPal Zettle, Tide, Revolut) have no monthly fee at all: you pay only the per-transaction rate. Fixed-term acquirer products commonly add a monthly fee, from a few pounds up to £25 or more, which can be a terminal rental, a minimum service charge, or a PCI-compliance fee. Always compare the all-in monthly cost, the rate plus every recurring fee, rather than the headline rate alone.

MerchantHQ (operated by Best Business Loans Ltd, company number 16833937) is an independent comparison and introducer service. This tracker shows contract length and settlement speed from our provider research so you can see your lock-in at a glance. When you switch, we manage the notice period, exit-fee negotiation and dual-running. We earn a referral fee if you take a facility we introduce, which never adds to your cost. This is general information, not regulated financial advice.