Find out what you are actually paying to take card payments.
Two numbers off your statement and you will see your real effective rate — everything your provider charges, as one percentage. It takes about a minute, and you do not have to give us your details to see it.
Enter both numbers to see your rate. Nothing is sent anywhere until you ask us to.
Is that a good rate? Honestly, we cannot tell you from two numbers, and neither can anyone else. Send us the statement and we will quote against it line by line, on your own figures, in writing, within one working day.
Get a like-for-like quote Send a photo on WhatsApp Or call 0333 038 9707- No details needed to see your rate
- A written, line-by-line quote within one working day
- If you are already on a good rate, we will say so
Rather talk it through? 0333 038 9707
Why the rate you were quoted is not the rate you pay
You were quoted 1.4%. The statement says you paid £412 on £20,000 of card sales, which is 2.06%. Nothing has gone wrong — the quoted rate covered one type of card, and everything else was charged separately in lines nobody pointed out.
Your effective rate is every charge on the statement divided by everything you took on cards. It is the only number worth comparing between providers, and most owners have never worked it out.
The charges that make up the gap
- Merchant service charge — the headline percentage, and usually the only one you were quoted
- Authorisation fee — a few pence on every transaction, whatever its value
- Terminal rental — a fixed monthly charge, often on its own agreement
- PCI compliance — a monthly fee, plus a higher one if the questionnaire is not completed
- Minimum monthly service charge — a floor you pay in quiet months regardless of trade
- Non-qualified and commercial cards — charged above your headline rate
Small transactions feel the authorisation fee hardest. On a £2.20 sale, 3p is 1.4% on its own before any percentage rate is applied. Our guide to card machines and rates goes through what to ask a provider for.
We do not publish a savings percentage, and here is why
Card processing is not priced off a list. Two takeaways on the same street can pay very different rates depending on how their customers pay and what they agreed to. Any provider telling you they will save you 30% before seeing your statement is guessing, and if they are wrong it is you who signed the contract.
So we do it the other way round. You show us the figures, we put our price next to yours on the same lines, and you decide. If you are already on a good rate, we will tell you — we would rather say that than move a business for nothing.
What happens to your statement
Who sees it. Only our UK team in Birmingham — the same people who would set your terminal up. It does not go to a call centre.
What we do with it. We read the summary figures, work out your effective rate, and build a like-for-like quote on the same lines your current provider charges. That is it.
What we do not do. We do not sell or share your details, and we do not pass your statement outside the company without asking you first. No credit check is needed to give you a quote.
Before you send it. We only need the summary page. Please black out your bank account number, sort code and any card numbers — we do not need them and would rather not hold them.
What it commits you to. Nothing. A rate check is not an application. There is no contract to sign and nothing is cancelled with your current provider.
How we handle your information is set out in our Privacy Policy and Data Protection Policy.
Questions people ask
Do I have to switch if the rate is better?
No. Plenty of people use a rate check to go back to their existing provider and negotiate. We would rather you knew your number either way.
What if I am still in contract?
Tell us when it ends and we will diary it. We will not push you into an early exit without showing you what the exit fee is first — some are worth paying, most are not.
Why do you need the statement? Can I not just tell you my rate?
The headline rate is rarely what you pay. The difference sits in authorisation fees, PCI charges, minimum monthly charges and non-qualified card surcharges, and those only show up on the statement. If you would rather not send the whole thing, a photo of the summary page is enough to start.
Is my effective rate the same as the rate I was quoted?
Almost never. The quoted rate usually covers one type of card. Your effective rate is every charge on the statement divided by everything you took on cards, which is the only figure worth comparing between providers.
What is a good effective rate?
Many UK independents land somewhere between 1.4% and 2.2% all in. Where you sit depends more on your average transaction value and card mix than on how hard you negotiated, which is why a like-for-like comparison matters more than a headline percentage.