Best Card Machines for Pubs and Bars in the UK

Updated August 2026. A pub card machine has to do more than approve a transaction. It needs to keep the queue moving on Friday night, reach customers at the table or beer garden, handle tips properly and keep working when the venue Wi-Fi is under pressure.

For most independent pubs, our shortlist starts with Dojo, Square Terminal, SumUp Terminal, takepayments and Worldpay. The right choice depends on monthly card turnover, whether you already have an EPOS system and how much you value a traditional merchant-service relationship.

What matters more in a pub?

For hospitality, a few operational details matter more than they do for a mobile tradesperson:

• Portable payments: staff should be able to take the terminal to tables and outside areas.
• Fast contactless: bar service depends on throughput.
• 4G backup: useful if local Wi-Fi struggles.
• Battery life: the machine needs to survive the shift.
• Tips: prompts should be clear and fit your tipping policy.
• Split bills: important where food and table service are part of the business.
• EPOS integration: reduces re-keying and reconciliation errors.
• Support: failure at 9pm on Saturday is more serious than failure on Tuesday morning.

Portable card machines are usually the right default

A countertop device can still work well at a fixed bar till, but portable or mobile terminals give staff more flexibility. Table service, food orders and beer gardens all become easier when the customer does not need to walk back to the bar to pay.

If your venue is large, ask about the terminal’s Wi-Fi and 4G behaviour rather than relying on a quoted Bluetooth range from an older model.

Pub card-machine options compared

1. Dojo: our first provider to price for a busy pub

Dojo’s current proposition is well aligned with hospitality. It publishes a 1.2% blended transaction rate for businesses below £100,000 annual card turnover, with custom pricing above that level.

The bigger reason to look at Dojo is the hospitality workflow. Its service supports features such as tipping, pre-authorisation and POS integrations, and its portable hardware is designed for businesses where payments are mission-critical.

The quote can include device and plan costs, so ask for the complete monthly and transaction cost rather than comparing 1.2% in isolation.

Read our Dojo card reader review.

2. Square Terminal: straightforward for smaller pubs and bars

Square Terminal currently costs £149 + VAT and standard in-person transactions cost 1.75%. It is a standalone device with its own screen and receipt printer, so staff do not need to pair it with a personal phone.

Square becomes more interesting when you also want its POS ecosystem. For a small bar, taproom or café-pub, keeping sales, items and payments in one system can simplify setup.

At higher turnover, the 1.75% flat rate can become expensive compared with a tailored merchant quote. Square says businesses processing more than £200,000 annually in card sales can ask for custom pricing.

See Square

3. SumUp Terminal: useful if you want to own the hardware

SumUp Terminal currently costs £135 + VAT. It includes a touchscreen, built-in receipt printer, Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity plus basic ordering and POS features.

PAYG in-person payments cost 1.69%. Payments Plus costs £19 per month and reduces eligible domestic consumer-card payments to 0.99%, while premium, international and American Express cards continue at the higher published rate.

This is attractive to a smaller pub or food-led venue that wants capable portable hardware without a traditional terminal-rental agreement.

See our SumUp fees breakdown.

4. takepayments: short merchant-service contract

takepayments currently advertises a 12-month card-machine contract, personalised transaction pricing and support seven days a week. It also promotes next-working-day settlement subject to the acquiring terms and banking cut-off.

For an independent pub that wants help setting up terminals and prefers a conventional merchant-service relationship, it belongs on the quote list.

See takepayments

5. Worldpay: established acquiring option

Worldpay’s current mobile terminal offer uses an 18-month contract. Its current Simplicity pricing lists 1.50% for Mastercard and Visa, with different fees applying to some other card types. Its published promotion currently shows £0 monthly terminal hire under the offer terms.

Worldpay is more traditional than Square or SumUp, but that can be useful for a venue with stable card volume that wants acquiring support, replacement hardware and a longer-term merchant package.

Read our Worldpay review.

How much does the percentage really matter?

Take a pub processing £30,000 a month of in-person card sales. If every payment qualified for the same headline rate:

That is why busy pubs should obtain tailored quotes. The illustration excludes hardware, plans, pence fees and card-type differences, but a few tenths of a percentage point can become meaningful at hospitality turnover.

Tips and gratuities

Card terminals increasingly prompt customers for a tip. Make sure the payment flow matches your written tipping policy and payroll process.

Since 1 October 2024, qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges controlled by the employer must be allocated fairly to workers without deductions under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) framework. As of August 2026, employers should continue following the existing statutory code while the government consults again on a revised code.

For the current position, see the GOV.UK tipping guidance.

Does your card machine need to integrate with the EPOS?

Not every pub needs integrated payments, but it becomes valuable as the venue gets busier. Without integration, staff type the amount into the till and then type it again into the card terminal. That creates opportunities for mistakes and slows reconciliation.

If you are changing the till as well, read our restaurant EPOS guide and POS system guide.

Have a backup payment plan

A card outage during a quiet weekday is inconvenient. An outage during a packed Saturday evening can be extremely expensive. Consider:

• a second terminal;
• 4G failover where supported;
• a backup reader from another provider;
• Tap to Pay on a compatible phone;
• a payment-link option for unusual situations;
• staff instructions for what to do if the main EPOS or broadband fails.

Questions to ask before signing

• What is the rate for ordinary UK consumer cards?
• What do Amex, international and commercial cards cost?
• How much is each terminal?
• Is there a monthly minimum or authorisation fee?
• What is the minimum agreement?
• When do Friday, Saturday and Sunday takings settle?
• Can the terminal handle tips and split bills?
• Does it integrate with our current EPOS?
• Is 4G included?
• What support is available at night and weekends?
• How quickly can a failed terminal be replaced?

Our verdict

For a busy independent pub, Dojo is our first provider to price because its current feature set is closely aligned with hospitality. Square Terminal and SumUp Terminal are easier to understand for smaller venues that want to own hardware and avoid a conventional rental agreement.

takepayments deserves comparison if you want a short 12-month merchant-terminal contract and hands-on support. Worldpay is a useful mainstream benchmark for established card turnover.

The best pub card machine is the one that keeps service moving and leaves the lowest sensible total cost once processing, hardware, software, support and settlement are included.

More help choosing

See our hospitality card machine guide, card machine providers guide, PCI DSS guide and accepting card payments guide.