PayPal Card Reader Review UK

What is PayPal Point of Sale?

PayPal Point of Sale is PayPal’s face-to-face payment system for shops, cafés, salons, market sellers, tradespeople and other businesses that need to take cards in person.

You have three main ways to use it:

• PayPal Card Reader: a small Bluetooth reader that works with the POS app on your phone or tablet.
• PayPal Terminal: a standalone device with the POS app built in, so you do not need a separate phone.
• Tap to Pay: lets a compatible phone take contactless payments without buying a separate reader.

For most sole traders, the Card Reader or Tap to Pay will be enough. The Terminal makes more sense if staff share the device, you want to keep business payments off your personal phone or you need a more complete shop setup.

For more options, compare our mobile card readers, card machines for sole traders and card machine providers.

PayPal Card Reader pricing

PayPal currently charges £29 excluding VAT for the first Card Reader. Additional Readers are £69 excluding VAT.

The Reader pairs with a compatible smartphone or tablet over Bluetooth. There is no standard monthly POS subscription or setup fee, so it is easy for a sole trader or new business to start without taking on a fixed monthly commitment.

PayPal currently charges 1.75% for card and contactless transactions.

What does 1.75% cost in pounds?

• £2,000 monthly card sales = £35
• £5,000 monthly card sales = £87.50
• £10,000 monthly card sales = £175

Those examples are for the percentage processing fee only. If your business starts processing much more than this, compare flat-rate providers with tailored merchant-service quotes.

PayPal Terminal pricing

The standalone PayPal Terminal costs £149 excluding VAT. A version with a built-in barcode scanner is currently £199 excluding VAT.

The main advantage is that you do not need a separate phone or tablet. The POS app runs on the Terminal itself, and the device connects using Wi-Fi or mobile data.

This makes it a better fit for a busy shop, café or salon where several people may take payments. It also keeps customer payments separate from your personal phone.

Card Reader vs Terminal: which should you buy?

For a one-person business, we would usually start with the Reader. It is much cheaper and your phone is already doing most of the work.

Choose the Terminal if:

• staff need to share the device
• you do not want to use a personal phone
• you want built-in mobile connectivity
• you run a fixed shop or hospitality venue
• you want a more complete business-only payment device

Battery life and day-to-day use

PayPal says the Card Reader can last up to around eight hours depending on use. Its power-saving mode can extend this beyond nine hours or more than 250 transactions.

For a sole trader, that is likely to be plenty for a normal working day. If you are running an event or market stall, take a power bank anyway. A reader with a good transaction rate is no help if it dies halfway through the day.

The Terminal can last up to 12 hours under lighter use, although PayPal says intensive use can reduce this to around four to six hours.

Tap to Pay: do you need hardware at all?

PayPal also offers Tap to Pay on compatible phones. There is no extra hardware cost, and PayPal currently charges the same 1.75% standard card-processing rate.

This can be enough for a tradesperson or mobile business that only takes occasional payments. It is also a useful backup if your main reader stops working.

If cards are central to your business, we would still prefer dedicated hardware as your main route. See our Tap to Pay and iPhone card reader guide.

How quickly do you get your money?

PayPal says Point of Sale earnings usually become available in your PayPal Business account within minutes.

That is useful, but remember that money reaching your PayPal balance is not exactly the same thing as money reaching your external business bank account. PayPal currently says automatic bank transfers can happen the same day, while manual transfers can arrive within around two hours.

If fast access to takings matters because you buy stock or pay suppliers daily, compare settlement arrangements carefully.

If you are choosing banking at the same time, see our business bank accounts guide.

Manual card entry costs more

If you manually enter a customer’s card details rather than taking the card through the Reader or Terminal, PayPal’s current published fee is 3.4% + 20p per transaction.

That is significantly more expensive than a normal face-to-face transaction, so do not assume every type of card payment costs 1.75%.

For telephone and other remote payments, compare our accepting card payments guide.

Payment links

PayPal also supports payment links for customers who are not standing in front of you.

Its current published POS pricing lists 2.9% + 30p for PayPal payments through payment links and 1.2% + 30p for standard credit/debit cards and supported alternative payment methods. Availability and the route used can depend on your PayPal account setup, so check the current PayPal pricing page before relying on payment links for a large part of your sales.

POS software

PayPal’s standard POS software has no monthly subscription fee. It can handle payments, products, inventory and sales reporting.

This makes PayPal more than a basic card reader, although Square is still a strong benchmark if POS software is a major part of your buying decision.

The Reader can also integrate with selected third-party POS platforms. PayPal currently lists integrations including Lightspeed, Vita Mojo, Tabology and Wix.

PayPal POS for sole traders

PayPal Reader is a sensible option for a sole trader who wants a cheap, recognisable card-payment system with no monthly POS subscription.

For example, a plumber, electrician, mobile hairdresser, personal trainer or market seller can pair the Reader with a phone, take a payment and send a digital receipt without setting up a traditional countertop terminal.

However, compare it with Square Reader and SumUp Solo Lite before buying. The differences in reader price are small enough that the software and transaction rate should carry more weight.

See our sole trader card machine guide.

PayPal POS for shops and cafés

For a small shop or café, the standalone Terminal is more interesting than the basic Reader because staff can share it without needing access to an owner’s phone.

If you need stock control, barcode scanning or a deeper till system, compare PayPal with Square POS, Clover and our broader EPOS systems guide.

PayPal vs Square

PayPal and Square both currently charge 1.75% for standard UK in-person payments, and both offer low-cost readers plus fuller standalone hardware.

Square has one of the strongest small-business POS ecosystems and is the better benchmark if products, appointments, staff or retail software are central to your setup.

PayPal becomes more attractive if PayPal is already an important part of how your customers pay you online.

Read our Square Card Reader review.

PayPal vs SumUp

SumUp’s standard PAYG in-person rate is currently 1.69%, slightly below PayPal’s 1.75%.

At £10,000 of monthly card turnover, 1.75% is £175 and 1.69% is £169, a difference of only £6. For a low-volume business, that gap is unlikely to be the deciding factor.

SumUp becomes particularly interesting if you want its Payments Plus subscription at higher regular turnover, while PayPal has the advantage if you already use PayPal extensively.

Read our SumUp review and SumUp fees guide.

When should you compare a fuller merchant-service package?

A flat 1.75% rate is simple, which is one reason products like PayPal Reader work well for sole traders and new businesses.

But simple does not always mean cheapest. If you are regularly putting £10,000, £20,000 or more through your card machine each month, it becomes worth asking traditional and specialist providers for tailored pricing.

At that stage, compare our payment processing companies, card machine providers and merchant accounts.

Questions to ask before choosing PayPal POS

1. Do I want to use my phone, or do I need a standalone Terminal?
2. Will several staff members need to take payments?
3. How much do I expect to process each month?
4. Is 1.75% competitive at my turnover?
5. How much of my business already runs through PayPal?
6. Do I need stock, barcode or deeper POS features?
7. How quickly do I need takings in my bank account?
8. Will I take many manually entered or remote payments?
9. What happens if I need several Readers?
10. Would a tailored merchant-service quote cost less?

Frequently asked questions

Our verdict

PayPal Point of Sale is a good, straightforward option for UK sole traders and small businesses, particularly if PayPal is already part of how you get paid.

The £29 first Reader keeps startup costs low, the 1.75% standard in-person rate is easy to understand, and the £149 standalone Terminal gives growing businesses a route away from using a personal phone.

We would not choose it automatically. Square has a very strong POS ecosystem and SumUp’s standard PAYG percentage is slightly lower. Once your card turnover becomes substantial, tailored merchant-service pricing should also be compared.

For a small business, the right choice is the one that fits how you actually work. If you only take a few payments a day, keep it simple. If several staff take payments or fees are becoming a meaningful monthly cost, compare a fuller setup.