shoemender1 Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I have searched regarding starting to take card payments on search bar but would like up to date help/views on who you use for this. More and more of my customers expect this service as a matter of course. First can you recommend a company that are reasonable/reliable as I have heard more than a few times that shop owners have been tied to a contract that they did not realise when they signed up. Secondly did the increase in turnover offset the cost of payment fees, do you have a minimum charge before being able to pay by card? If below this figure how much surcharge is customer asked to pay on top. I know I have been a dinosaur but feel it is something a cannot put off any longer, as well as asking for recommendations , those that you would not recommend will also be appreciated. Any further assistance on this matter would be most gratefully accepted. I am shop based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_ Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I couldn't be better placed to answer this question. I too wanted to start taking cards and did a lot of research into the best deals, we eventually went with world pay and we started taking cards a fortnight ago. We have set our minimum charge at £10 and had no quibbles yet. We have also seen an increase in sales since using the card machine. One customer picked up his shoes the job came to £12 he said he wanted a few tins of polish but only had a £20 note so couldn't buy much. Once I told him we had the machine he just kept picking up items and eventually spent over £34. On quite a few occasions I've cut 2 keys, which totals £7 and they present a card, when I say minimum is £10 they just ask for a third, or buy something else. Just like you, I didn't want to accept cards but from the past two weeks experience I wouldn't go back. Hope this helps Paul. grahamparker and I love Keys 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Friend Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Look at Paypal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoemender1 Posted November 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Many thanks for your replies really helpful will look into both suppliers, if there is anybody who has had longer use of card machines would also be grateful of your feedback. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hibsjo(SCO) Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 any business dealing with the public in this day and age not taking card payment should just shut up shop! unbelievable the no. that dont and it doesnt make sense £50-100 on repairs £100-300 on car keys who carries that kind of cash around with them nowadays? wake up people!!! you are running a service based business so offer a service! ive heard all the arguements it takes a while to start making money with machine charges and interest charges but really 15-25p per transaction even £5-10 per transaction its a NO BRAINER. carry on! Simes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamparker Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 We have been using Natwest streamline for over 15 years now. Last year we put approx 35,000 through our card machine and as a result we do get better prices than when we first started, plus there is a lot more competition out there. For me the most important thing is backup and every time our machine has failed it has been replaced repaired the same day only once was it next day when i called at 4.30 on a friday evening. It was replaced at 8.30am on the saturday. We have no minimum charge as yet but it is rare that customers spend under £5.00 but it is something we are considering. We are currently paying £18.95 per month for the rental 18p per transaction for debit cards and between 1.8% and 2.1% on credit cards (most are 1.8%). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k4mrc Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 any business dealing with the public in this day and age not taking card payment should just shut up shop!unbelievable the no. that dont and it doesnt make sense £50-100 on repairs £100-300 on car keys who carries that kind of cash around with them nowadays? wake up people!!! you are running a service based business so offer a service! ive heard all the arguements it takes a while to start making money with machine charges and interest charges but really 15-25p per transaction even £5-10 per transaction its a NO BRAINER. carry on! If someone is not VAT registered they probably cannot afford the extra overheads, thing that puzzles me is after over 20 years I can get things cheaper today than when I started - if the price was the same for all then every shop/market stall would take cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I love Keys Posted March 1, 2015 Report Share Posted March 1, 2015 We are with Elavon, pay about £18 for machine, 18p a debit card and 1.2% on most others. Insist on getting paid next day - when we started up, Barclays provided card services, but did not pay out for 30 days "in case there is a charge back". so it was a month between the customer paying and us getting the money. A lot of small businesses are scared of their banks and won't say no... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at Vauxhall Posted March 2, 2015 Report Share Posted March 2, 2015 Debit cards now pay a set percentage same as credit cards ( from 1st march).so I dropped my card minimum to £3. Under that the customer pays a token 20p handling charge, unless they are a regular customer ( or attractive). In theory could just take cards no handling passed on, but it just winds me up when a customer pays for laces or a bit of polish with a card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LockandKey Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 We have been using Natwest streamline for over 15 years now. Last year we put approx 35,000 through our card machine and as a result we do get better prices than when we first started, plus there is a lot more competition out there. For me the most important thing is backup and every time our machine has failed it has been replaced repaired the same day only once was it next day when i called at 4.30 on a friday evening. It was replaced at 8.30am on the saturday. We have no minimum charge as yet but it is rare that customers spend under £5.00 but it is something we are considering. We are currently paying £18.95 per month for the rental 18p per transaction for debit cards and between 1.8% and 2.1% on credit cards (most are 1.8%). My dear boy, you are being generous with your supplier... we only pay 1.8% on corporate cards, domestic transactions are 1.4% paypal or 0.75% domestic cards. Terminal rental is £15 per month per unit. Paypal are going for this entire pos market with some serious force - but right now can't beat our current deal. (We use Streamline / Sage & Worldpay) However anyone not currently offering card payments - have a look at paypal solutions, they are gunning for this sector. Apologies as I read 35,000 as transactions, I gather that maybe £35K value so maybe the rates are competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I put through less than 35k a year with Streamline but pay the same rates as LockandKey. Just rang them up and coincidentally was due a rate review !! :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahamparker Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I also get similar rates after a review in January, except my terminal rental went down to £13.00 a month with 1.9 (commercial) and 1.3% (domestic) rates on transactions, Debit cards are at 0.495%. Domestic was by far the biggest percentage of our takings which is why the offered a better price than commercial cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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