Card Machine With No Monthly Fee in the UK
Yes, several UK providers offer card machines with no monthly fee. SumUp (1.69 per cent per transaction), Zettle (1.75 per cent) and Square (1.75 per cent) sell hardware outright for £29 to £79 then charge only on each transaction. There is no minimum monthly volume, no contract length, and no cancellation fee. This works best for businesses under £2,000 monthly card volume. Above that, a traditional acquirer with a monthly fee usually works out cheaper on percentage rate.
What this means for your business
No monthly fee terminals come from facilitator models. SumUp, Zettle (owned by PayPal) and Square buy acquiring capacity in bulk and resell it to small merchants on a per-transaction basis. There is no underwriting risk to the facilitator if you do nothing, because they only earn when you trade. This is why there is no monthly fee, the economics only work on transaction volume.
The trade-off is the percentage rate. SumUp at 1.69 per cent, Zettle at 1.75 per cent and Square at 1.75 per cent are roughly twice the typical traditional acquirer rate (which sits around 0.5 to 0.9 per cent for SME volume). On £1,000 monthly volume the difference is £8 to £12 a month, well below a £15 to £25 monthly fee. On £10,000 monthly volume the difference is £80 to £120, far above any monthly fee, and traditional acquiring wins.
Other costs to check beyond the headline rate: hardware cost (£29 to £79 outright, no rental), American Express premium (often plus 0.6 per cent), keyed-in transaction premium (often plus 1 per cent), refund handling (usually free with facilitators, sometimes charged with traditional acquirers), and currency conversion if you take overseas cards (usually a 2 to 3 per cent FX margin on facilitators).
Key points
- SumUp, Zettle and Square charge nothing monthly, just per-transaction
- Hardware is sold outright for £29 to £79, no rental contract
- No contract length, no cancellation fee, the relationship ends when you stop using it
- Rates 1.69 to 1.75 per cent are roughly double traditional acquirer rates
- Best fit is under £2,000 monthly card volume
- Amex and keyed-in transactions usually carry a premium on top of headline rate
- Traditional acquirers with £15 to £25 monthly fee win above £2,000 monthly volume
Common pitfalls
- Comparing headline rates only without modelling actual monthly volume, the percentage gap matters more above £2,000 a month
- Forgetting Amex premium, this is 0.6 per cent extra on most facilitators
- Buying hardware then abandoning the account, there is no refund on the device once activated
- Assuming no contract means no risk, the facilitator can still freeze the account and hold funds for up to 180 days
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Open quote form →Related questions
Are there hidden fees on no-monthly-fee terminals?
Amex premiums (around 0.6 per cent), keyed-in transaction premiums (around 1 per cent), refund processing (free on most facilitators), and FX margin on foreign cards (2 to 3 per cent) are the main extras. Read the pricing schedule for the full list before committing.
Can I switch from a no-monthly-fee terminal to a traditional acquirer later?
Yes, easily. Because there is no contract, there is no exit fee. You can run both in parallel for a month to switch over, then stop using the facilitator. The hardware you bought outright is yours to keep or sell.
Director, MerchantHQ
Oliver leads MerchantHQ's editorial and comparison research. With a background in UK commercial finance, he oversees provider analysis, rate verification, and industry reporting across all verticals.
Last reviewed: 18 May 2026