Are Card Machine Rates Negotiable in the UK?
Pay-as-you-go flat rates are non-negotiable: SumUp charges 1.69% and Square and Zettle 1.75%, the same for every business. There is no one to haggle with: the flat rate is the product.
Acquirer rates (Worldpay, Dojo, Barclaycard, Lloyds Cardnet, Teya) are quoted per business and absolutely negotiable. Your card turnover, average transaction value and card mix drive the quote, and competing quotes are the main lever for pushing it down.
Rates checked: August 2026
What is and is not negotiable
| Cost line | Negotiable? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go flat rate | No | SumUp 1.69%, Square 1.75%, Zettle 1.75%: published, identical for everyone |
| Acquirer transaction rate | Yes | Bespoke by definition: e.g. Dojo typically 1.2%-1.9% depending on card turnover |
| Monthly / terminal fee | Often | Typical acquirer monthly fees run £10-£60; Dojo terminal rental from £20/month. Ask for discounted or bundled rental |
| Setup fee | Usually | Ranges £0-£200 across acquirers, frequently waived to win the account |
| PCI compliance fee | Usually | Commonly £5-£15/month. Ask for it to be included, not added |
| Contract length | Sometimes | Acquirer terms run 12-36 months; some (e.g. Dojo) offer rolling contracts. Shorter terms are worth trading a little rate for |
Figures are providers' published or typical advertised pricing, checked August 2026. Bespoke rates are quoted per business; always confirm with a current quote.
What drives an acquirer quote
1. Card turnover
The single biggest factor. More volume means more revenue for the acquirer at lower marginal cost, so rates fall as turnover rises. It is why Dojo's bespoke pricing spans a typical 1.2% to 1.9% range depending on card turnover rather than one number, and why we have seen quotes as low as 0.29% for high-turnover businesses (your quote depends on turnover, card mix and average transaction value).
2. Average transaction value
Processing has per-transaction costs, so £20,000 a month taken as 400 payments of £50 is cheaper to serve than the same £20,000 taken as 4,000 payments of £5. Higher average transaction values earn keener rates.
3. Card mix
Debit cards cost less to process than credit cards; business and international cards cost more than consumer UK cards. A mostly-debit local trade gets a better quote than a business-card-heavy or international customer base.
Your leverage, and what to ask for
Because acquirer pricing is bespoke, there is no public price list to hold them to. The only real benchmark is what another acquirer will quote for the same business. That makes comparing quotes the main lever: get 2-3 written quotes at your actual turnover, average transaction value and card mix, then ask each provider to beat the best. If you are mid-contract, a written competing quote is also the strongest basis for asking your current provider for a rate review.
Worth asking for explicitly:
- A rate review against a named competing quote
- The PCI compliance fee waived or bundled
- The setup fee waived (£0-£200 across acquirers, often the easiest concession)
- Free or discounted terminal rental
- A rolling or 12-month contract instead of a long fixed term
More tactics in our guide to lowering your card fees. And if the numbers still do not move, remember that switching provider typically takes 1-4 weeks, a credible threat precisely because it is easy to carry out.
When negotiating is not worth it
If your card takings are under roughly £4,000-£5,000 a month, the flat-rate readers are usually cheapest anyway: no monthly fee beats a slightly lower percentage at low volume, and there is nothing to negotiate. See the full arithmetic on our UK card machine rates page and the full cost breakdown. Above that crossover, every 0.1% you negotiate off is £10 a month per £10,000 of card turnover. That is £120 a year, forever, for one conversation.
MerchantSwitch is a free comparison service; we are paid by providers when we successfully match a business. We are an introducer, not a lender or acquirer, and we are not regulated by the FCA.
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