Top Card Machines For Small Businesses

Every small business in the UK needs a card machine, but they don't want to waste money in process. After all, it's not like buying a pen from Wilko! So when it comes to getting the right card machine it's easy to get the wrong one, packed with features that the business will never use, but that they're still paying for.

Card readers are ideal for both new and established business of all sizes, from sole trader (aka micro merchants) through to small chains and bigger. Now, one thing to bear in mind with card machines is charges. This is because some of the new stylish card readers look great, but sometimes they can come with more expensive charges. Also, it's been reported that they are not particularly flexible when it comes to how they accept payments.

First thing to look out for is fees, some providers will charge for just about, everything. In fact, the fees can even depend on the type of card that is being used to make the payment. Of course, those are the miniscule fees but the main ones to watch out for are transaction fees. Sometimes though, there is a trade off such as accepting a longer contract in exchange for lower transaction fees.

Another thing to be aware of is how the card reader can accept payments. Sure, they're all practically working with chip 'n' pin and contactless but they don't all accept the same payment options. For example, not all card machines can accept Google Pay, Apple Pay or even Samsung Pay. On top of this, some won't accept American Express cards (aka AMEX cards).

What about connectivity? Well that's an interesting one, because in the main there are a variety of connection methods that these PDQ machines use. Before we cover that it's important to know that without reliable connectivity to the internet, they cannot provide payment processing. So first of all, it's important to know that the business has a reliable internet connection.

So what types of connection are there on a card machine? This is the easy part, they are:
- Wired
- Wireless
- Bluetooth
- Data SIM

The thing here is to know which one you need, after all if a business wants the card reader to connect to the internet via a network cable (i.e. Wired option) then it may not be helpful to buy a card machine that only has wireless or bluetooth connectivity. This being said, sometimes getting a card machine with one or more ways to connect to the internet can prove to be a good investment - i.e. flexibilty.