Is there one card processor that is cheapest for every shop?

Summary

No. Whether a plan with a monthly fee beats a pay-as-you-go plan depends on how much a shop takes on cards each month, and the point where they swap places can be calculated. SumUp's £19-a-month UK plan overtakes its own pay-as-you-go plan at £2,714 of card sales a month. Square's $49 Plus plan in the US needs $49,000 a month before it beats Square Free.

The sum that settles it

Each plan has a fixed part and a variable part. The fixed part is the monthly fee plus any hardware bought outright, spread over 36 months. The variable part is the card-present percentage, plus any per-transaction fee expressed as a share of your average sale.

crossover a month = fixed cost gap / rate gap

Below the crossover, the plan with no fee is cheaper. Above it, the plan with the fee is.

United States: Square Free against Square Plus

Square Free charges 2.6% plus 15 cents in person with no monthly fee. Square Plus charges 2.5% plus 15 cents for $49 a month per location. The 15 cents is the same on both, so it cancels out.

rate gap 2.60% - 2.50% = 0.10 percentage points crossover $49.00 / 0.0010 = $49,000 of card sales a month

A location taking less than $49,000 a month on cards does not earn the fee back through the lower rate.

PayPal Point of Sale charges 2.29% plus 9 cents in person, with no monthly fee and $29 for the first reader. Against Square Free's 2.6% plus 15 cents and $59 reader, PayPal is lower on the percentage, the per-transaction fee, and the hardware all at once. There is no crossover: for domestic cards taken in person, PayPal costs less at every size.

United Kingdom: SumUp against itself, then against Elavon

SumUp's Pay-as-you-go plan charges 1.69% per card reader transaction with no monthly cost. Payments Plus costs £19 a month and cuts in-person payments on domestic consumer cards to 0.99%. The reader is the same on both plans, so it drops out.

rate gap 1.69% - 0.99% = 0.70 percentage points crossover £19.00 / 0.0070 = £2,714 of card sales a month

SumUp's own pages put the switch point higher, and not in the same place twice: £3,000 a month on its pricing page, £3,300 in its card reader FAQ. Paid yearly at £189, Payments Plus works out at £15.75 a month and the crossover falls to £2,250. International, corporate, and premium cards, American Express included, stay at 1.69% on either plan, so a shop with many of those needs more sales to reach it.

Elavon's Business Booster - Desk charges 0.99% on Visa and Mastercard personal cards and a £15 monthly terminal fee, on a 12-month contract. Set it against SumUp Pay-as-you-go with a Solo Lite reader bought at its £25 list price:

fixed cost gap £15.00 - (£25 / 36) = £15.00 - £0.69 = £14.31 a month rate gap 1.69% - 0.99% = 0.70 percentage points crossover £14.31 / 0.0070 = £2,044 of card sales a month

Elavon sells this plan to businesses turning over £40,000 to £200,000 a year, roughly £3,333 to £16,667 a month. The arithmetic says Elavon wins from £2,044 a month, but a shop at that level sits below the plan's band. Against SumUp Payments Plus, both charge 0.99%, and Elavon's £15 beats SumUp's £19 plus the reader's £0.69 by £4.69 every month, in exchange for the 12-month contract.

What the sum cannot settle

An interchange-plus plan publishes only its markup. Helcim's in-person price for up to $50,000 a month is interchange plus 0.40% plus 8 cents. The interchange underneath is not a published number, so no total exists and no crossover can be calculated.

The sum also assumes steady sales. A monthly fee is charged in a slow month too. Elavon's plan runs for 12 months, while SumUp says Payments Plus can be canceled at any time.

Sources

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Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.