Takepayments Review UK 2026: Fees and Contract Terms
takepayments suits a business that wants a rented smart terminal, phone support 7 days a week and someone to set the deal up for it; anyone who wants to see a price before talking to a salesperson, or who takes under a few thousand pounds a month, should look elsewhere, because every rate is quote-only and the rental terms are stricter than the 12-month headline.
Editorial review of published pricing and terms. We have not tested takepayments hardware and we do not score providers.
Verdict
takepayments publishes almost nothing you can price: no transaction rates, no rental, no minimum monthly charge. What it does publish, its Equipment Rental Terms, shows a 12-month term that starts late, renews itself for a year at a time and costs £30 a month plus £40 on top of the rent if you leave early.
Shops and hospitality venues that want a till-style terminal taking card and cash, a single phone line to call, and a quote they can negotiate
You want a published price, no fixed term, or you take less than a few thousand pounds a month on cards, where a 1.69% pay-as-you-go reader is hard to beat
takepayments site and terms checked 1 November 2026; flat-rate comparisons checked 25 August 2026. Sources are linked in each section.
What takepayments is
takepayments Limited is a Stockport company (no. 3102137, FCA firm reference 663112) that sells and rents card machines. It is not the bank that processes your card payments. It is licensed by Mastercard and Visa Europe as an Independent Sales Organisation and Member Service Provider, and you sign a second contract with an acquiring bank it nominates (takepayments FCA page). That split matters later: the rental contract and the processing contract have different notice rules.
What takepayments costs
The short answer is that takepayments will not tell you until you ask. Its card machine pages say the price depends on the model, the card types you accept and your turnover, and every button leads to a quote form. Here is everything it does state.
| Cost | takepayments |
|---|---|
| Transaction rates | Not published |
| Terminal rental | Not published |
| Minimum monthly service charge | Listed as a fee type the acquirer may charge when monthly card takings fall below a set amount; the amount is Not published |
| Set up fee | £0 |
| Contract | 12 months ("ours is just 12 months") |
| Early exit (rental terms) | Rest of the rent, plus £30/month Non-Use Charge, plus £40 |
| Settlement | Next working day for accepted customers, subject to the acquirer and to running the terminal banking window before the acquirer's cut-off; online payments may settle on different timescales |
Sources: card machines page, card processing page, Equipment Rental Terms; checked 1 November 2026. The online quotation tool asks for turnover band, industry and average sale and showed no figures when we checked.
Worked example: the £5,000 a month shop
Because takepayments is quote-only, the useful sum is the one you do with your quote in hand. Add up every line, divide by your card takings, and compare the result with a provider that does publish its price.
Step 1: cost your quote
- • Percentage charges: each card type's rate × its share of your £5,000
- • Per-transaction fees (authorisation, if quoted) × your number of sales
- • Terminal rental, PCI fee and any other monthly line
- • Minimum monthly service charge top-up, if your percentage charges fall below it
Effective rate = total monthly bill ÷ £5,000.
Step 2: the bar it has to clear
- • SumUp, no contract: £5,000 × 1.69% = £84.50/month
- • Square, no contract: £5,000 × 1.75% = £87.50/month
The rent comes out of the same £84.50. If your quote's rental is:
| Quoted rental | Left for transaction charges | Blended rate must be under |
|---|---|---|
| £10.00/month | £84.50 − £10.00 = £74.50 | £74.50 ÷ £5,000 = 1.49% |
| £20.00/month | £84.50 − £20.00 = £64.50 | £64.50 ÷ £5,000 = 1.29% |
| £30.00/month | £84.50 − £30.00 = £54.50 | £54.50 ÷ £5,000 = 1.09% |
The rentals in this table are example inputs to show the arithmetic, not takepayments prices (it does not publish any). Per-transaction fees and PCI charges eat into the same headroom, so the real bar is lower still.
| Option | Monthly cost | Note |
|---|---|---|
| takepayments | Not published | Quote only: transaction rates Not published, terminal rental Not published |
| SumUp (1.69%, no contract) | £84.50 | |
| Square (1.75%, no contract) | £87.50 |
Contract and exit terms
Our exit-terms table (checked 25 August 2026) records what takepayments states on its main pages:
- Minimum term
- 12 months ("short 12 month contract"), then rolling monthly
- Exit fee
- Card machine contract: not published. Online product: 30-day cooling-off with refund; no early-exit amount published
- Notice
- Online product: at least 90 days written notice. Card machines: not published
- Hardware
- Not published
Source: takepayments.com homepage and online-payments T&Cs (cl.2-3).
takepayments also hosts its Equipment Rental Terms and Conditions on its own site. The copy we read is the version for businesses switching in from another provider, and it carries no date, so check that your agreement matches. It sets out:
- When the minimum period starts: 12 months, counted from the date the higher "Secondary Rental Charges" start, not from the day you sign (definitions; cl.2.4). The higher rental starts when your old provider's agreements end, or 12 months after signing if you have not sent proof of those end dates, and in any case no later than 5 years after signing (cl.3.2).
- Renewal: After the Minimum Period the hire continues in 12-month Extended Periods until you end it (cl.2.3; definitions).
- Notice: Not less than two months' prior written notice before the end of the Minimum Period or an Extended Period; late notice only takes effect at the end of the next Extended Period (cl.2.5, 2.6).
- Leaving early: Ending before the Minimum or Extended Period is over: all Rental Charges for the rest of the period, plus the £30 Non-Use Charge for each remaining month, plus a £40 Early Termination Administration Charge (cl.13.7; Other Charges List cl.18.1).
- Sole traders and small partnerships: Sole traders and partnerships of three or fewer individuals (not a "Relevant Business") may end the contract on or after 18 months from signing with one month's notice, subject to the early termination charges (cl.12.1).
- Returning the terminal: Return the equipment at your own cost within 10 days of termination (cl.13.4); collection costs £100 if takepayments has to collect it (cl.13.5; cl.18.1); damage is charged at £65 for a missing or damaged takepayments lens (logo), £125 for all other damage (cl.18.2).
- Price rises: Rental and other charges may rise at the end of the Minimum Period and on each anniversary, measured by RPI (cl.9.14).
Put numbers on it. With 6 months left, leaving costs 6 months of rent plus 6 × £30 + £40 = £220 before the rent itself. The processing contract is separate: the Barclaycard Payments acquiring terms takepayments hosts need at least 30 calendar days' notice.
The step-by-step exit, with the letter and address, is in our guide to cancelling takepayments.
Hardware
- A920 Pro: Android countertop and portable terminal with WiFi, 4G and Bluetooth, contactless, and an integrated printer.
- takepaymentsplus: Smart terminal software that takes card and cash (including part card, part cash), product entry, tip presets and live reporting; offered on the A920 Pro and the pocket-sized A77.
- Tap to Pay: Phone-based acceptance with no card reader, aimed at sole traders and start-ups taking up to £5k a month.
Device prices: Not published. Terminals are rented, and the rental terms require you to insure each item for at least £550 under an all-risks policy, a cost a bought pay-as-you-go reader does not carry.
Who should stay put, and who should switch
Stay put if
- Your all-in effective rate is already under 1.69%: you are beating a no-contract reader, so leaving buys you little.
- You are mid-term with several months of rent left. The rent plus £30 a month plus £40 usually costs more than a few months of savings, so diarise your notice date instead.
- You use the card-and-cash till features on takepaymentsplus and would need to replace them.
Switch if
- Your bill divided by your takings comes out above 1.69%. At £5,000 a month that means a bill over £84.50.
- Your term ends within the next few months. Serve written notice before the two-month cut-off, or the hire rolls on for another Extended Period.
- You have never been shown your rate in writing. Ask for it; if it will not be written down, that is your answer.
Alternatives to takepayments
Dojo is the head-to-head most takepayments customers ask about; we set out what each publishes in takepayments vs Dojo. Switching to Dojo through MerchantSwitch comes with up to £3,000 towards your exit fees when you switch through merchantswitch (arranged through MerchantSwitch; eligibility confirmed at quote), which matters if the exit sums above are large.
SumUp (1.69%) and Square (1.75%) have no contract and publish every price; at low volume they are the honest benchmark. See our SumUp review and Square vs SumUp.
Not sure what you pay now? Send us a statement for a free statement review and we will work out your effective rate, or compare every provider in the card machine rates table.
Want your takepayments quote checked?
Send us your takings and we will cost your quote line by line against published flat rates. Free, no obligation.
On a takepayments contract now?
We will read your statement, work out your effective rate and tell you straight if staying put is cheaper.
Frequently asked questions
How much does takepayments charge per transaction?
takepayments does not publish its transaction rates or terminal rental: both are not published and set in a quote after a consultation, with the transaction charges sitting in a separate contract with the acquiring bank takepayments nominates. Judge any quote on its effective rate (total monthly bill divided by card takings). For a £5,000 a month business, a no-contract SumUp reader at 1.69% costs £84.50, so a takepayments quote has to come in below that all in to be worth signing.
Is takepayments really a 12-month contract?
takepayments advertises a 12-month contract. Its published Equipment Rental Terms add two catches. First, the minimum period is 12 months, counted from the date the higher "Secondary Rental Charges" start, not from the day you sign (definitions; cl.2.4); for a switcher that higher rental starts when the old provider's agreements end. Second, after the Minimum Period the hire continues in 12-month Extended Periods until you end it (cl.2.3; definitions), and ending it takes not less than two months' prior written notice before the end of the Minimum Period or an Extended Period; late notice only takes effect at the end of the next Extended Period (cl.2.5, 2.6). Separately, The beepaidGo app page says "ours is just 12 months" in its body copy and "Contracts have an 18 month minimum term" in its small print. Check the term printed on your own agreement.
How much does it cost to leave takepayments early?
Under the published rental terms, ending early means paying the rest of your rental for the period, a £30 Non-Use Charge for each remaining month and a £40 Early Termination Administration Charge. With 6 months left that is 6 months of rental plus £220. The terminal must go back at your cost within 10 days, or takepayments charges £100 to collect it.
Is takepayments a bank or an acquirer?
Neither. takepayments is licensed by Mastercard and Visa Europe as an Independent Sales Organisation and Member Service Provider, so card processing runs through an acquiring bank it nominates under a second contract. The merchant acquiring terms it hosts on its own site are Barclaycard Payments' (last updated May 2023), which you can end with at least 30 calendar days' notice. Your paperwork names your acquirer.
Is takepayments regulated by the FCA?
Yes. takepayments Limited (company no. 3102137) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference 663112, and it states that not all of its products and services are regulated. Your card processing contract is with the acquiring bank, which carries its own authorisation.
How fast does takepayments pay out?
Next working day for accepted customers, on two conditions takepayments states: the acquirer approves it, and you run the terminal's banking window before the acquirer's cut-off. Pay by link, online pages and virtual terminal payments may settle on different timescales.