9 Best Card Machines for Small Businesses Compared

According to our independent research, Zettle Card Reader 2 is the best card machine for small businesses. It's inexpensive to buy, easy to use, and comes with robust reporting tools and a convenient EPOS system integration.

Card payments are predicted to account for 94% of UK transactions by 2031, so equipping your business with a card machine that can process payments efficiently while charging budget-friendly transaction fees is crucial. Whether you're looking for your first card machine or choosing one to switch to, our reviews should help you choose the right machine for you, whether it's the Zettle Card Reader 2 or another model.

With the rising costs of running a business in the UK, finding an affordable card machine deal is more important than ever. A quick and easy way to do that is using our free quote comparison tool: tell us about your needs, and we'll match you with suitable providers who'll share no-obligation quotes that have been tailored to you, so you can compare and choose the best deal.

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The best card machines for small businesses

We've rounded up some of the best mobile, countertop and portable card machines to help you make the right decision for your business.

The table above gives you a quick-glance overview of how the card machines compare; below you'll find more information about the features, functions, pros, and cons of each machine as well as tips for which kind of business they're best suited to.

1. Zettle Card Reader 2

Best overall card machine for small businesses

Zettle Card Reader 2's key features

• No fixed-term contract
• Takes contactless payments in 5 seconds and card payments in 10 seconds
• Transfers funds in up to two working days
• Keyboard-operated
• Eight-hour battery life
• Comes in black or white

Payments accepted

What's Zettle Card Reader 2's main draw?

Zettle offers a lot of payment processing products in one service, which makes it a great choice for small businesses looking for the best value for money. For example, due to its association with PayPal, this reader comes coupled with a payment gateway, which is a helpful addition if you're also looking to take payments online via an ecommerce website.

The Zettle Card Reader 2 itself offers an intuitive user experience and a no-frills, clean design that only features a keyboard and a small display. It's straightforward to get the hang of and use, which is reassuring if you're new to card machines.

How does Zettle Card Reader 2 compare with its competitors?

Price-wise, Zettle offers good value for money, and occupies a solid middle ground between Square and Revolut, the other mobile card readers on this list. At £29 + VAT, it's more expensive than the Square Reader (which costs £19 + VAT), but considerably cheaper than a Revolut Reader (which will set you back £49 + VAT).

The Zettle Card Reader 2 comes with an excellent range of reporting tools, including sales analytics and forecasting, inventory management, staff hours, and sell on the go reporting. In comparison, Square's reporting tools are similarly extensive – and also include reports on discounts, taxes, and feedback – but Revolut comes with a smaller range of analytics capabilities, with just spend management and team management on offer.

If you'd like to take payments in other currencies, Zettle Card Reader supports 25, while Revolut supports 30. Square falls down here, as it doesn't support any currencies other than GBP. Of course, this won't be an important factor for all small businesses, but it's worth considering if it's relevant to you.

Overall, if you're looking for a mobile card reader that can help you track sales and manage inventory, the Zettle Card Reader 2 is a great choice.

What do users think of Zettle Card Reader 2?

To hear what businesses like yours think about these card readers, we've interviewed a variety of business owners and employees who work with Zettle on a daily basis.

Hannah Bailey of clothing shop Batch1 told us she likes Zettle Card Reader's 2 portability: “If you have someone on the other side of the desk that's chatting to you, you can quickly take a sale of someone who just wants to be in and out.”

Meanwhile, Sugar & Style's Jessica Bedoya praised the reader's ease of use: “If you do the wrong thing, you just swipe and delete it. It's very user-friendly, very straightforward, especially for someone that's new [to it].”

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2. Revolut Reader

Best for cheap transaction fees

Revolut Reader's key features

• No fixed-term contract
• Takes payments in 5 seconds
• Transfers funds in up to three working days
• Touchscreen-operated

Payments accepted

What's Revolut Reader's main draw?

The Revolut Reader is great for small businesses that deal with larger sales volumes, such as cafes or takeaway eateries, as they can benefit from the really cheap transaction rates this reader packs.

How does Revolut Reader compare to its competitors?

One of our highest-rated mobile card readers, the Revolut Reader offers super cheap transaction fees, which is a boon if your business deals with high sales volumes. At 0.8% + 2p, its in-person transaction fee is far cheaper than Zettle's and Square's – both of which stand at 1.75% per sale.

Revolut has a name for itself in the world of international payments, supporting payments from over 30 different currencies, which is more than Zettle's 25 supported currencies, and a huge step up from Square, which doesn’t support multi-currency payments at all. If your business sells internationally, this is certainly something worth considering.

However, Revolut comes up short when it comes to reporting, and the kinds of payments it can accept. With tools for spend management and team management, Revolut's analytics capabilities are less robust than those provided by Zettle (which also includes sales forecasting and inventory management) and Square, which also offers reporting on discounts and taxes. Revolut also accepts fewer payment types than Zettle, with methods including American Express and Discover missing from Revolut's roster.

3. Square Reader

Best for fast payouts

Square Reader's key features

• No fixed-term contract
• Transfer funds by the next working day
• The device's 2nd generation, released in 2023, has battery life of slightly over a day
• The provider also offers a web builder

Payments accepted

What's Square Reader's main draw?

Due to its swift pay out time, the Square Reader is the best choice if your business depends on quick cash flow. It'll transfer your customers' payments to your business bank account by the next working day, which is the fastest pay out time we came across during our extensive analysis of the UK market's top card machine providers.

How does Square Reader compare to its competitors?

While Square's transaction fee of 1.75% is more expensive than Revolut's 0.8% + 2p, the Square Reader itself is the cheapest mobile card reader on this list, at £19 + VAT. In comparison, the Zettle Card Reader 2 costs £29 + VAT, and the Revolut Reader costs £49 + VAT.

Buying the Square Reader gives you to access to the Square app, which is second to none when it comes to the number of software platforms it comes ready to integrate with — which include accounting software, appointment scheduling tools, ecommerce website builders, delivery apps, and more. This is helpful if you're looking to build out your operations, or you're already using a few of these apps and want to incorporate them into one system. In comparison, Zettle and Revolut come with far fewer options — something to consider if you use a lot of different software.

It's also worth noting that the Square Reader is a great pick if you plan to open an online shop because, unlike Zettle and Revolut, it gives you access to Square's website builder.

What do users think of Square Reader?

We interviewed business owners and employees who use the Square Reader regularly to gather their views on how well it works.

Katie Dutton, of The Great Frog jewellery shop in London, said she was impressed by how easy the Square Reader is to use: “The interface is really clear. There's nothing really confusing about it. I've got used to till systems, but this was way easier than the ones I've used before.”

4. Ingenico Desk 5000

Best for integrations

Ingenico Desk 5000's key features

• Payout time depends on provider chosen
• Available through merchant account providers such as takepayments
• Keyboard-operated
• Robust outer casing
• Prints receipts

Payments accepted

What's Ingenico Desk 5000's main draw?

Ingenico Desk 5000's countertop design means it's suited to businesses with static brick-and-mortar locations, rather than mobile businesses such as food trucks or mobile salons. Ingenico's integration with other services, including electronic point of sale (EPOS) systems, is also a benefit.

How does Ingenico Desk 5000 compare to its competitors?

The first thing to note is that the Ingenico Desk 5000 – along with the remainder of the card machines on this list – is a traditional countertop card machine, unlike Zettle's, Revolut's, and Square's readers, which are mobile card machines that can be taken away from the countertop to take payments.

Like the Verifone V200c and the Castles VEGA3000, the Ingenico 5000 comes with a receipt printer. If your business prints a lot of receipts during a regular day – for example, if you sell small ticket items in a retail shop – you'll find this helpful. Of course, it's possible to obtain a reciept printer with Zettle, Revolut, or Square, but it'll either be an add-on that could be costly (upwards of £200 each), or will be offered as part of a more extensive POS (point of sale) system, which may not be necessary for you just yet. The fact that the Ingenico 5000 simply comes with one is a tick in its favour.

However, the Ingenico 5000's Cortex A5 processor means it processes payments more slowly than the Verifone V200c, which carries the Cortex A9 – making the latter a more efficient fit for high-speed hospitality environments.

What do users think of Ingenico Desk 5000?

We interviewed local business owners and employees that use Ingenico card readers on a daily basis to find out what they think of their machines.

At Mexican restaurant Chilango in North London, we spoke to the manager about their experience with Ingenico Desk 5000. They said that while the restaurant has had card machines that were easier to use before, the Ingenico Desk 5000 offers a good customer experience: “We've had it for around four months. The one we had before was way easier, as it had less buttons. This one is annoying to get used to, because we have too many options, but for the customer it is pretty easy.”

5. Verifone V200c

Best for fast payment processing

Verifone V200c's key features

• Pay out time depends on the provider chosen
• Fastest processor among the card machines on this list
• Prints receipts

Payments accepted

What's Verifone V200c's main draw?

Verifone V200c's speedy payment processing makes it ideal for fast-paced, high-volume businesses, such as bars and coffee shops. Its Cortex A9 processor means it's poised to help you deal with bottlenecks in service and growing queues during your peak times.

How does Verifone V200c compare to its competitors?

The Verifone V200c comes with a 2.8″ colour LCD display, which is a lot smaller than 3.5″ display that the Ingenico Desk 5000, and the touchscreen version of Castles VEGA3000, boast. This is something to think about if you'd like to be able to see transaction information as clearly as possible, or in large fonts.

On the flip side, the Verifone V200c is faster than its competitors when it comes to payment processing. As we've mentioned, its Cortex A9 processor means it can perform downloads and operations, and print receipts, more quickly than the other machines on this list.

What do users think of Verifone V200c?

We interviewed business owners and employees who use Verifone card machines at their London-based businesses.

Tommy at Plaquemine Lock, a pub in North London, described the Verifone V200c as practical, and told us that it enhances his clients' experience: “It has lots of options for customers. They can insert their card or use contactless, and the buttons make it much easier for older customers to use.”

However, he also had a few criticisms to share: “The Verifone signal is not great, and it can drop and return sporadically. The touchscreen is also not very responsive on the Verifone card machine.”

6. Castles VEGA3000

Best for new merchants

Castles VEGA3000's key features

• Payout time depends on provider chosen
• Comes in both touchscreen and keyboard-operated versions
• Prints receipts
• Detachable battery available as an accessory

Payments accepted

What's Castles VEGA3000's main draw?

The Castles VEGA3000 is super simple to use, enabling you and your staff to easily grasp the ins and outs of its functions. This simplicity makes it a good option for merchants who are new to using card machines, and want to learn to use theirs quickly.

How does Castles VEGA3000 compare to its competitors?

Like its countertop competitors, the Castles VEGA3000 accepts all major card types, but it boasts a more user-friendly interface than the others on this list. Plus, unlike the Ingenico Desk 5000 and Verifone V200c, this machine offers a detachable battery as an optional feature.

When it comes to processing speed, the Castles VEGA3000 is on par with the Ingenico Desk 5000, but it performs transactions and prints receipts more slowly than the Verifone V200c. However, it's worth noting that the touchscreen version of this machine comes with a 3.5″ display, like the Ingenico Desk 5000 – which is a bigger display than the Verifone V200c's 2.8″ screen.

7. Ingenico iWL series

Best for outdoor spaces

Ingenico iWL series' key features

• Payout time depends on provider chosen
• Offered by merchant account providers, such as Retail Merchant Services
• Keyboard-operated
• 1-day battery life
• Anti-shock system and water resistant

Payments accepted

What's Ingenico iWL's main draw?

The Ingenico iWL is water resistant and boasts an anti-shock system, which ensures you can take payments no matter the weather conditions, and it can also charge in adverse conditions. This makes it a strong contender if you run a business that's based outdoors, such as a food truck or pop-up garden bar.

How does Ingenico iWL series compare to its competitors?

As expected for a card machine released 11 years ago, the Ingenico iWL's ARM 7 processor has been outpaced by faster card machine processors, such as the Cortex 5 (found in the Ingenico Tetra Move 5000) and the Cortex 9 (found in the Verifone V400m). This means the Ingenico iWL processes payments more slowly than more recent card machines.

Plus, this machine's design is clunkier than mobile card readers Zettle Card Reader 2 and Revolut Reader. Also, at 2.5″, its display is considerably smaller than the 3.5″ screens boasted by the Ingenico Tetra Move 5000 and Verifone V400m.

What do users think of Ingenico iWL series?

We interviewed local business owners and employees who use Ingenico card readers to take payments every day.

The owners of the Vibram London Academy, a shoe repair shop in Central London, were quick to tell us that their Ingenico iWL series “does the job”.

However, they did point out some recurring issues: “[The connectivity] fades out sometimes, but that might be to do with our WiFi. Also, it powers off when it’s idle, so sometimes we have to send people to the cash machine.”

8. Verifone V400m

Best for sturdiness

Verifone V400m's key features

• No fixed-term contract
• Payout time depends on provider chosen
• Available through Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) system providers, such as Lightspeed
• Works with both keyboard and touchscreen
• Sturdy casing
• 3.5” colour display
• Prints receipts

Payments accepted

What's Verifone V400m's main draw?

The Verifone V400m's sturdy casing makes it a great choice for businesses that need a portable and durable option. For instance, it could work well for a restaurateur looking for a card machine that wait staff can constantly take to tables.

How does Verifone V400m compare to its competitors?

Lasting for a day, Verifone V400m's battery life is on par with its competitors. However, this device processes payments faster than the Ingenico iWL series, and it also packs more ready-made integrations than its predecessor. It can be connected to a barcode scanner, like Square Reader, because it doesn't come with one. This means it's not as practical as Ingenico Tetra Move 5000 in this sense. If you pick the Verifone V400m, you will need to spend more to have access to a barcode scanner, which isn't ideal.

What do users think of Verifone V400m?

We spoke to business owners and employees based in London who use Verifone card machines to accept payments.

Kayley at Sports Bar & Grill told us: “Because it's programmed into my tills, it's so much quicker [than a previous model we used] when it comes to making a sale. It's also quite easy for customers to use.”

Overall, she says, the card machine has been quite stress-free to use. “We sometimes can have problems with the signal dropping but, otherwise, it works fine. The signal can drop once every two or three months, so it's not very often.”

9. Ingenico Tetra Move 5000

Best for high-end retail

Ingenico Tetra Move 5000's key features

• Requires fixed-term contract (usually, 18 months)
• Payout time depends on provider chosen
• Available through merchant account providers, such as takepayments
• Works with both keyboard and touchscreen
• Prints receipts
• Includes a barcode scanner and a rear camera
• Connects to the mains and is battery powered

Payments accepted

What's Ingenico Tetra Move 5000's main draw?

Ingenico Tetra Move 5000's sleek integration of a barcode scanner and a rear camera into one portable device makes it best suited for high-end, sophisticated retail environments (such as a high street boutique). If you run one of these, you know how crucial the customer experience is – and this machine can help you by doing the job and looking good doing it.

How does Ingenico Tetra Move 5000 compare to its competitors?

Ingenico Tetra Move 5000's Cortex A5 processor improves on the Ingenico iWL series' ARM 7, helping it process payments faster. However, it still lags behind the Verifone V400m in this regard. Its battery life is advertised as lasting an entire day, which puts it on par with the Ingenico iWL series, Verifone V400m, and the Square Reader, but it easily beats the Zettle Card Reader 2's battery life of eight hours.

What do users think of Ingenico Tetra Move 5000?

The staff at The Angel Pub praised the Ingenico Tetra Move 5000's connectivity, but criticised the fact that the payment taking process isn't straightforward, requiring lots of buttons to be pressed.

“When it’s busy, it’s a pain because it takes too long when we’re taking payments. We have to sign in [on the machine] when we take the payment, so we have to press more buttons for that,” they stressed. The team ran a test sale to highlight their pain point. In total, the card machine required them to press nine buttons to carry out one transaction.

The different kinds of card machines for small businesses

On this page, we reviewed the best mobile credit card machines, the best countertop credit card machines, and the best portable credit card machines. Should you need a quick recap on what those mean:

• Mobile credit card machines can function without a wifi connection or power source, so they’re ideal for taking payments in a variety of different locations, including outdoors.
• Countertop credit card machines are designed to sit in a fixed spot at your premises, as they need power and internet connections. You usually see these card machines on shop and cafe tills.
• Portable credit card machines are battery-powered and can connect wirelessly to your wifi, so can be carried around your premises. Think restaurants and bars that take payments at customers’ tables.

How we rate card machines

To provide this wide comparison between card readers and find the ones featured in this top nine, we researched across 11 merchant account providers.

We looked into the card machines they offered, analysing them across four categories: price, features, customer support, and customer score. 

• In price, we analysed account charges and transaction fees;
• In features, we went over integration offering and reporting tools;
• In customer support, saw us verify the support channels and opening hours;
• We then generated the customer score by compiling data from various online review aggregators (such as Trustpilot). We also took the feedback the companies received into account.

With that data in hand, we ranked our findings, giving features that benefit small business a heavier weight. For instance, easy of use, low-cost, and sturdiness – which help new merchants or those looking to only invest in one single card machine – contributed to particular readers (such as the Square Reader and the Verifone V400m) making the cut.