Card machines for restaurants in Ireland and the UK

A card machine for restaurants takes card and phone wallet payments at the counter, at the table or on the doorstep, and pays the money into your bank account. The device is the cheap part. The fee on every payment, the contract behind the device and how long your money takes to arrive decide what card payments really cost your restaurant.

This guide compares card machine providers that sell to independent restaurants, cafés and takeaways in Ireland and the UK, using prices from each provider’s own website checked on 10 September 2026. It explains each type of fee, works through the monthly maths for a restaurant taking €40,000 or £30,000 a month on cards, and sets out the rules on surcharges, tips, contracts and payment security in both countries.

Eclyde does not process card payments and does not sell card machines. Restaurants that use Eclyde choose their own card provider, and online orders are paid through the restaurant’s own Stripe account. This guide does not recommend one provider over another. The right card machine depends on your card takings, your average bill and the way you serve.

Types of card machine for restaurants

Card machines come in seven broad types. Many restaurants use two: one at the counter and one that moves.

Devices on provider pages

• SumUp lists Tap to Pay on a phone at €0, the Solo Lite reader that pairs with a phone, the standalone Solo and the handheld Terminal on its Irish card reader page, with the same range on its UK card reader page.
• Square sells a Reader, Terminal, Handheld, Stand and Register in Ireland, listed on its Irish pricing page. Its UK Terminal page describes a built-in receipt printer and a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.
• Stripe Terminal lists the BBPOS WisePad 3 and the Stripe Reader S700 and S710 on its Irish Terminal page. They work with software built on Stripe or through third-party POS integrations.
• Clover lists the Flex Pocket, Flex, Mini and Station Duo on its UK card machine page.
• Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance lists Ingenico terminals in fixed, portable, Bluetooth and mobile SIM versions, with technician installation, on its product page.

Standalone or integrated with your till

A standalone card machine does not talk to your till. Staff type the amount into the terminal. That works, but every typed amount is a chance for a mistake.

Example: a server types €24.50 instead of €42.50 on a table’s bill. The restaurant is €18.00 short, and nobody notices until the cash-up does not match. At close, someone has to match the card machine total against the till’s card total by hand.

An integrated card machine gets the amount from the till. The bill is marked paid when the card is accepted, and tips land in the till’s records. The cost is lock-in: your till and your card provider now depend on each other, and changing one can force a change of the other. The restaurant POS system guide covers choosing the till itself, and the restaurant POS hardware guide covers how terminals fit next to it.

Connectivity

• Wi-Fi terminals need a strong signal at every table and at the door. Walk the room with the terminal and check its signal indicator before the first service.
• SIM terminals use mobile data. Stripe Terminal UK lists £7 per reader per month for cellular data on enabled readers.
• Offline payments let some terminals store payments while the internet is down and send them later. Square’s UK Terminal page says offline payments can be taken for up to 24 hours, with limitations. A stored payment can still be declined when it is sent. The offline POS system guide explains the risk and how to plan for outages.
• Phone lines still carry some older UK terminals. The government’s landline switchover guidance, updated 28 February 2024, says most customers are expected to move to digital lines by the end of January 2027 and names card payment systems among devices that may use a landline. Check yours before the switch.

Card machine fees explained

Every card machine price list is built from the same set of fee types. Once you can name them, you can compare any two quotes line by line. The examples below are from providers’ own pages, checked on 10 September 2026.

Worldpay’s page says its pricing is indicative only, and its transaction rates are produced by a quote tool from your business details. Treat its figures as a guide to the charges that exist, not as your price.

Interchange and scheme fees

Three charges sit behind every card payment. The bank that issued the customer’s card takes an interchange fee. The card scheme, such as Visa or Mastercard, takes a scheme fee. Your provider adds its own margin.

Viva’s UK price list states the interchange on domestic UK consumer card payments as 0.20% for debit and prepaid cards and 0.30% for credit cards. A flat rate such as 1.69% bundles all three charges into one number. Interchange plus plus pricing shows each one separately on your statement.

A flat rate is easy to forecast and easy to check. Interchange plus plus can cost less for a restaurant whose customers mostly pay with domestic debit cards, because the interchange on those cards is low. The monthly statement is harder to read, so ask the provider to show a sample statement before you sign.

Card mix

Your mix of cards changes the bill. SumUp Payments Plus charges 0.95% in Ireland and 0.99% in the UK on domestic debit and credit cards, but 1.69% on premium, international and American Express cards, on its Irish and UK pricing pages. Square adds 1.5% for UK and non-EEA cards in Ireland, and for non-UK cards in the UK.

A restaurant beside a hotel or in a tourist town takes more foreign and premium cards than a chipper in a residential estate. Pull the card type split from your current provider’s statement or dashboard before you compare anything.

Card machine costs in Ireland

The table shows each provider’s published prices for in-person payments in Ireland, checked on 10 September 2026. Device prices exclude VAT unless marked. Plans change often, so check the live page before you sign.

Dojo, Revolut Business and Clover also sell card machines to restaurants. Their current prices could not be confirmed from their own websites for this guide on 10 September 2026, so they are not in the table. Ask each for a written quote on your own card takings and run it through the worked example below.

Reading the Irish figures

• Lowest published domestic rate. SumUp Payments Plus at 0.95%, for €19 a month.
• VAT on the fee. Square lists its rate plus VAT. Revenue’s current VAT rates show a standard rate of 23%. If you are VAT-registered, ask your accountant whether you can reclaim it.
• Fixed fees on small bills. Stripe Terminal’s €0.10 per payment weighs more on a €4 coffee than on a €60 dinner bill. The worked example shows where it crosses over.
• Quoted pricing. Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance quotes rates individually. Bring your last three months of statements so the quote is based on real numbers.

Card machine costs in the UK

The table shows each provider’s published prices for in-person payments in the UK, checked on 10 September 2026.

SumUp lists no long-term commitment on its UK page. The Worldpay, Clover, Square UK and Viva pages checked did not state a contract length, so ask each provider in writing.

Clover’s UK page showed an offer of its Register Lite or Essentials service plan free for 90 days, valid from 8 July to 30 September 2026 for eligible merchants. Clover’s UK fee schedule page names First Data Europe Limited, FCA register number 582703, as the provider of its acquiring services and links to a downloadable 2026 fee schedule.

Dojo and Revolut Business also sell card machines in the UK. Their current prices could not be confirmed from their own websites for this guide on 10 September 2026, so they are not in the table.

Reading the UK figures

• Fixed monthly charges first. Worldpay’s indicative page and Clover’s page publish the monthly charges but quote the rate. Add the fixed charges, then work out the rate you would need to beat the alternatives. The worked example shows how.
• No VAT on the Square UK rate. The UK page lists 1.75% without VAT added.
• Mobile data on SIM readers. Stripe’s £7 per reader per month applies only where cellular data is used.

Worked example: monthly card fees

These are examples with illustrative takings. Use your own statement figures. Published rates are from the tables above.

Ireland: €40,000 a month on cards

Assumptions for this example:

• €40,000 card takings from 1,600 payments, so the average payment is €25.00.
• 80% (€32,000) on domestic standard debit and credit cards, 20% (€8,000) on premium cards.
• All cards issued in Ireland or the EEA.
• No refunds, chargebacks or device costs included.
• VAT at 23% added to Square’s fee.

If your restaurant can reclaim the VAT on Square’s fee, its cost in this example is €700.00 a month, or €8,400.00 a year.

Card mix moves the result. If 40% of the same €40,000 came on premium cards, SumUp Payments Plus would cost €19 + (€24,000 × 0.95% = €228.00) + (€16,000 × 1.69% = €270.40) = €517.40 a month.

UK: £30,000 a month on cards

Assumptions for this example:

• £30,000 card takings from 1,500 payments, so the average payment is £20.00.
• 80% (£24,000) on domestic standard debit and credit cards, 20% (£6,000) on premium cards.
• All cards issued in the UK.
• No refunds, chargebacks, device costs or mobile data included.

Break-even rates for quoted providers

When a provider quotes the rate but publishes the fixed charges, work out the highest rate that still beats your best published option.

Worldpay, using its indicative UK charges for this example:

• Fixed charges: £20.00 terminal + £5.00 PCI DSS + (1,500 × 4.5p = £67.50) authorisation fees = £92.50 a month.
• To cost less than £358.00, the quoted rate must be below (£358.00 − £92.50) ÷ £30,000 = 0.885%.

Clover Flex at £15 + VAT a month:

• To cost less than £358.00 before VAT on the rental, the quoted rate must be below (£358.00 − £15.00) ÷ £30,000 = 1.143%.

Take those break-even rates into the sales call. They turn a vague quote into a yes or no.

Small bills and fixed fees

A fixed fee per payment hurts small bills. Example: a €4.50 coffee.

• On a 1.69% flat rate: €4.50 × 1.69% = €0.08.
• On 1.4% + €0.10: (€4.50 × 1.4% = €0.063) + €0.10 = €0.16, which is 3.6% of the bill.

The crossover point is where both cost the same: 1.69% × bill = 1.4% × bill + €0.10. That gives 0.29% × bill = €0.10, so the bill is €34.48. Payments below €34.48 cost less on the 1.69% rate. Payments above it cost less on 1.4% + €0.10. The same maths gives £34.48 in sterling with a 10p fixed fee.

A café with an average bill of €8 and a restaurant with an average bill of €55 should not pick the same price structure.

When a monthly plan pays for itself

SumUp Payments Plus in Ireland saves 1.69% − 0.95% = 0.74% on domestic debit and credit cards, for €19 a month. It pays for itself once domestic card takings pass €19 ÷ 0.74% = €2,567.57 a month.

In the UK the saving is 1.69% − 0.99% = 0.70%, so the plan pays for itself once domestic card takings pass £19 ÷ 0.70% = £2,714.29 a month.

Contracts, rental and exit terms

The contract often costs more than the rate. A cheap rate on a four-year terminal lease is not a cheap card machine.

UK terminal contract limits

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator published its card-acquiring market remedies final decision in October 2022. It applies to 14 directed card-acquiring firms and their independent sales organisations. The remedies:

• Terminal contracts. A maximum of 18 months for POS terminal lease and rental contracts, rolling monthly after that, from January 2023.
• Summary boxes. Personalised key price and service information for each business, shown in its online account, from July 2023.
• Trigger messages. Messages prompting businesses to shop around when a contract is due for renewal, from July 2023.
• Online quotation tools. Tools using summary box information so businesses can compare providers.

Ask any UK provider for your summary box before you sign, and ask whether the terminal contract is covered by the 18-month limit. If a reseller offers a longer terminal lease, ask which acquirer processes the payments.

Contract terms to check in Ireland and the UK

The PSR remedies are UK rules. In Ireland, and with any UK provider or reseller outside their scope, read each of these in the contract:

• Minimum term for the processing agreement and, separately, for the terminal.
• Automatic renewal and the date by which you must give notice.
• Early termination fee and how it is calculated.
• Terminal lease with a finance company, which can continue after the processing agreement ends.
• Rate change notice and your right to leave if rates rise.
• Minimum monthly charges and what triggers them.
• Return of equipment, the deadline and the charge for devices not returned.
• PCI non-compliance fees, charged if you do not complete security checks.

Rent or buy maths

Example: a terminal rented at €20 a month, an illustrative figure, for a 36-month lease costs €20 × 36 = €720 before VAT. A SumUp Terminal bought for €109 excluding VAT is one payment. In sterling, a Clover Flex at £15 + VAT a month over 18 months comes to £15 × 18 = £270 plus VAT.

Renting can include replacements, support and a newer device later. Buying cuts the monthly cost but leaves you to replace a broken device. Check whether a device you buy can be used with any other provider if you switch.

Switching provider

1. Find the notice date on your current contract and diary it.
2. Get the new device and account set up before you cancel.
3. Run both machines for one week and match both against the till.
4. Update your tips notice and tipping records if the tipping flow changes.
5. Cancel the old contract in writing and keep proof of delivery.
6. Return rented equipment by the deadline and keep the courier receipt.
7. Download the last 12 months of statements before the old account closes.

Payouts and cash flow

Your takings are not your money until they reach your bank. Payout timing decides whether Friday’s takings pay Tuesday’s supplier.

Example: a bank holiday weekend

Example with illustrative figures: a restaurant takes €4,000 on cards on each of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and a bank holiday Monday, €16,000 in total. Wages of €6,000 are due on Tuesday.

• With payouts every day including weekends, Friday to Sunday takings, €12,000, are in the account by Monday morning, and Monday’s €4,000 by Tuesday morning.
• With payouts on business days only, nothing arrives over the weekend or on the bank holiday. Friday’s €4,000 may arrive on Tuesday at the earliest, and later with a three-business-day schedule, while Saturday to Monday takings follow over the next few days.

If the timing gap is a problem, fix it in the provider choice, not with an overdraft.

Net and gross settlement

Some providers take their fees out of each payout, so the bank shows less than your takings. Others pay the full takings and bill fees monthly. For bookkeeping, record gross card sales and card fees separately. VAT returns and sales reports need the full sales figure, not the net payout. The restaurant POS system guide covers till records and how long to keep them.

Restaurant features: tips, pay at table and receipts

Tipping on the card machine

Many restaurant card machines can show a tip prompt with percentages or amounts. Decide where the prompt appears: at the table, at the counter, or not at all on collection orders.

Card tips come with legal duties.

• Ireland. The Workplace Relations Commission says workers are legally entitled to electronic tips, which must be distributed fairly, and that employers cannot use tips to make up contractual pay. Employers can keep part of electronic tips only in limited cases, including direct costs of distribution such as bank charges from electronic payments. Citizens Information says employers must display a tips and gratuities notice, and staff must get a statement of tips distributed within 10 days. It lists on-the-spot fines of €500 for not displaying the notice and €750 for not giving the statement.
• Great Britain. The statutory code of practice on distributing tips, in force from 1 October 2024, says all qualifying tips must reach workers by the end of the month after the month they were paid. Employers need a written tipping policy and must keep a tipping record for three years. Tips must be passed on without deductions except in very limited cases, such as income tax.

Your card machine or till must produce the tips figure per day and per shift, or you cannot meet those duties. The restaurant staff management guide covers tips records alongside rotas and pay.

Pay at table and split bills

Pay at table needs a portable or SIM terminal, charged and in signal range. It keeps the card in the customer’s sight and frees the till point.

Split bills come in two kinds. An equal split divides the total. An item split charges each diner for what they ordered. A standalone terminal can do an equal split if the server keys each amount. An item split usually needs the till to send each share to the terminal, so test it with a table of six before you buy.

Plan one charged terminal per section of the dining room on your busiest night, plus one spare on charge.

Counter, takeaway and doorstep payments

A takeaway counter needs speed more than mobility. A countertop terminal with the amount sent from the till cuts keying time in a queue. Drivers who take card payments on the doorstep need a SIM terminal and a way to match those payments to orders at the end of each shift. The takeaway EPOS system guide covers phone orders, payment links and driver cash-up.

Receipts

Decide whether receipts print from the till, the terminal or both. A terminal with a built-in printer, such as the Square Terminal, needs its own paper rolls. Business customers often ask for a VAT receipt, which usually comes from the till, not the card slip. Email receipts save paper but need the customer’s email address, which is personal data.

Card machines, your POS and online payments

Integrated and standalone in practice

Stripe Terminal readers need software built on Stripe or a third-party POS that supports them. Some POS providers only integrate with their own card processing. Ask your POS provider for a written list of the terminals it works with before you choose a card provider.

If your till does not process cards, use a standalone terminal and match the card total on the terminal against the till’s card total at close every day. A difference found the same night is easy to trace. A difference found at the end of the month is not.

Online payments have a separate price list

Online payments are priced differently from card machine payments. Stripe’s Irish pricing shows 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards, 2.8% + €0.25 for premium EEA cards and 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards. Stripe’s UK pricing shows 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards, 2.8% + 20p for premium UK cards and 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards. Square for Restaurants Ireland lists 1.4% + 25c + VAT online for EEA cards.

Card fees on online orders are separate from any commission or per-order fee charged by an ordering platform. The commission-free online ordering guide separates the two, and the online ordering system guide covers choosing a platform.

One provider for both, or two

Using one provider for in-person and online payments gives one dashboard, one statement and one payout. Using two lets you pick the cheapest option for each, but means two contracts, two payout schedules and two sets of fees to reconcile. Neither is wrong. Price both on your numbers.

Card payment rules in Ireland and the UK

Surcharges for paying by card

• Ireland. Citizens Information says retailers cannot charge consumers an extra fee or surcharge for paying by debit or credit card, either online or in shops.
• UK. The government’s card surcharge ban announcement says the ban on surcharges for consumer debit and credit cards and payment services such as PayPal took effect on 13 January 2018. Regulation 6A of the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 excludes commercial cards from the ban, and limits any fee that is allowed to the cost of that payment method.

A “card fee” added to consumer card payments breaks these rules. Build card costs into your menu prices instead.

Checking a provider is authorised

Check that the company processing your payments appears on the regulator’s register before you sign:

• Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland’s register of authorised firms links to its searchable registers, which include payment institutions and electronic money institutions.
• UK. The FCA Financial Services Register lists firms authorised by the FCA or the PRA, including electronic money and payment institutions, and firms reported as operating without authorisation.

Look for the legal entity and register number in the provider’s website footer or terms, as Clover’s UK fee schedule page shows for First Data Europe Limited. Search that exact name on the register. If you sign through a reseller, check the company that processes the payments, not only the reseller.

Card security and PCI DSS

PCI DSS is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Ask your provider what it needs from you to show you meet it, and whether it charges a fee if you do not. Some charge a monthly PCI fee, such as the £5 on Worldpay’s indicative pricing. Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance describes its Ingenico terminals as PCI DSS compliant.

House rules that keep a restaurant safe:

• Never write down card numbers. Not on order pads, not in the till notes.
• Use payment links for phone orders where you can, so the customer enters their own card details.
• Give each staff member their own terminal log-in where the device supports it.
• Keep terminals where customers can see them and check them for tampering at opening.

For phone orders, some providers charge more. Viva’s Irish price list shows 2.19% + €0.24 for phone payments against 1.69% in person. Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance lists its Collect pay-by-link service at €25 a month including 300 transactions, then 10c each.

Chargebacks and disputes

A chargeback happens when a customer asks their bank to reverse a payment. You lose the payment, and many providers add a fee, such as £20 on Worldpay’s indicative pricing or €20 per lost dispute on Viva Ireland.

Keep what you need to fight one: the itemised bill, the card slip or payment record, the time of the order, and for deliveries, the address, delivery time and any driver notes. Respond by the deadline your provider gives.

Choosing a card machine for restaurants step by step

1. Pull three months of card statements. Note card takings, number of payments, average payment, refunds, chargebacks and the split of domestic, premium and foreign cards.
2. Map where you take payment. Counter, table, door, phone, outdoor seating, events.
3. Decide integrated or standalone. Ask your POS provider which terminals it works with, in writing.
4. Shortlist three or four providers. Include at least one flat-rate option and one quoted option.
5. Get written quotes on the same numbers. In the UK, ask for the summary box.
6. Build a 12-month cost. Transaction fees, fixed fees, plan fees, rental, PCI fees, minimum charges, mobile data, VAT and devices.
7. Work out break-even rates for any quoted provider against your best published option.
8. Check payout timing against your wage day and supplier payment days.
9. Read the contract. Minimum term, notice, termination fee, lease, rate change notice.
10. Check the provider on the register. Central Bank of Ireland or FCA.
11. Test the device in your restaurant. Signal at the furthest table, battery through a double shift, tip prompt, split bill, receipt printing, offline behaviour.
12. Plan the switch. Run old and new side by side for a week, train staff, update your tips notice, then cancel the old contract in writing.

Questions to ask a card provider and common mistakes

Questions to ask before you sign

• What is my total monthly cost on my last three months of statements, with every fee listed?
• What rates apply to premium, commercial, American Express and foreign cards?
• Are there authorisation, PCI, minimum monthly, refund or chargeback fees?
• Is VAT added to any fee?
• What is the minimum term for processing, and separately for the terminal?
• Is the terminal leased through a separate finance company?
• How much notice do you give before changing rates, and can I leave without a fee if they rise?
• When do payouts reach my own bank account, including weekends and bank holidays?
• Which POS systems does the terminal integrate with?
• How does the terminal behave offline, and who carries the risk if a stored payment is declined?
• What tips report does the terminal produce per shift?
• Which legal entity processes my payments, and what is its register number?

Common mistakes

• Comparing the device price. A €20 saving on the device is lost in a week of higher fees at €40,000 a month.
• Comparing headline rates only. Fixed fees, minimum charges and rental change the order of the table.
• Ignoring card mix. A low domestic rate means little if a large share of your customers pay with premium or foreign cards.
• Signing a long terminal lease. The lease can outlast the processing contract and the business.
• Missing the renewal date. Automatic renewal can lock in another term.
• Adding a card surcharge. Consumer card surcharges are banned in Ireland and the UK.
• Not recording card tips. Tips law in both countries needs figures per period.
• Keying amounts without a daily match. Typing errors on a standalone terminal go unnoticed for weeks.
• Relying on Wi-Fi alone for pay at table. A dead spot at one table stalls the whole section.

Card machine checklist

Before you compare

• Three months of card statements downloaded
• Card takings, payment count and average payment worked out
• Card mix split into domestic, premium and foreign cards
• Payment points listed: counter, tables, door, phone

Before you sign

• Written quotes on the same numbers from at least three providers
• 12-month cost with every fee, rental and VAT
• Break-even rate worked out for each quoted provider
• Payout timing checked against wage and supplier days
• Minimum term, notice, termination fee and lease terms read
• Provider found on the Central Bank of Ireland or FCA register
• POS compatibility confirmed in writing, if integrating

Before you go live

• Signal checked at every table and at the door
• Battery tested through a double shift
• Tip prompt set and tips report tested
• Split bill and refund tested
• Offline behaviour tested with the router unplugged
• Staff trained and given their own log-ins
• Tips notice updated if the tipping flow changed

Every month

• Statement checked against the quote
• Card total matched against the till
• Chargebacks answered before the deadline
• Renewal and notice dates checked

Eclyde and card payments

Eclyde does not offer card processing. It does not sell card machines, it has no card rates and it takes no share of card payments. A restaurant using Eclyde picks its own card machine provider for payments at the counter, at the table and on the doorstep, using the comparison above.

Online orders on the restaurant’s Eclyde ordering website are paid through the restaurant’s own Stripe account, connected during set-up. Customers can pay with Apple Pay and Google Pay at checkout. Stripe charges its own published fees, and payouts go from Stripe to the restaurant.

Eclyde itself costs €499 to launch, which covers menu build, website and ordering set-up, POS and printer configuration, customer import, staff onboarding, testing and go-live support, refunded in full within 30 days if Eclyde is not right for the restaurant. After that it is €99 a month for the whole platform, with no Eclyde commission on direct orders. The pricing page has the details.

The Eclyde POS is an Android app that keeps taking orders during an internet outage and syncs when the connection returns. Your card machine’s own offline rules still apply to card payments.

If you want your till and your card processing on one contract, one statement and one support line, a provider that sells both, such as Square, SumUp or Clover, may suit you better.

Your restaurant’s numbers

Card fees are one line among the costs that decide what each order earns. The free Eclyde restaurant audit looks at your Google profile and website and estimates what you pay in marketplace commission each year, in euro. Put that figure next to your card takings, average payment and the fee maths from this guide, and take all three into any conversation with a card, POS or ordering provider.