What card payments cost a small shop

For a shop taking $5,000 a month on cards, the published US plans we hold take 2.67% to 10.78%, median 4.08% of everything it takes over three years, and the UK plans take 1.07% to 8.38%, median 1.70%.

Those figures include the monthly fee, the terminal and any minimum monthly charge, and exclude interchange on interchange-plus deals, chargebacks, refunds and tax.

What do the published rates come to?

The spread below is across the plans we hold, not a market average.

Share of card sales taken over three years at $5,000 a month, computed from published prices. checked 2026-09-18
Market and type	Plans	Share of card sales
United States card reader / mobile pos	6	2.67% to 6.98%, median 4.08%
United States countertop pos for retail	3	3.28% to 7.28%, median 4.48%
United States restaurant pos	2	3.59% to 4.38%, median 4.38%
United States online-first processor with in-person hardware	4	2.93% to 10.78%, median 5.00%
United Kingdom card reader / mobile pos	10	1.41% to 3.20%, median 1.76%
United Kingdom countertop pos for retail	9	1.07% to 2.15%, median 1.29%
United Kingdom restaurant pos	0	no computable plan
United Kingdom online-first processor with in-person hardware	4	1.93% to 8.38%, median 2.20%

A worked example

Take the cheapest published US plan that carries a monthly fee and put $5,000 of card sales a month through it for three years.

card sales £5,000 a month average sale £20.00 -> 250 transactions processing = £5,000 x 0.50% + 250 x £0.03 = £32 monthly fee = £21.00 monthly cost = £54 three-year cost = £54 x 36 = £1,926 effective rate = £1,926 / (£5,000 x 36) = 1.07% what you keep = 98.93%

Cardnet (Lloyds Bank) Clover Flex, from its published pricing page. checked 2026-08-25 This is an example, not a quote.

What does the published rate leave out?

Interchange. On an interchange-plus deal the provider publishes its markup and not the interchange underneath it, and interchange is the larger part. 5 plans we hold are priced this way, and none of them can be totalled from public information.
The cards you actually take. Published rates are for domestic consumer cards. Business cards, foreign cards and Amex are charged more, and how much more is often on a different page or on none.
Chargebacks and refunds. A disputed payment costs a fee on top of the money going back, and few providers publish it.
The quiet month. A monthly fee, a terminal rental and a minimum monthly charge do not shrink with takings. 19 of the plans we hold charge one.
Sales tax and VAT. US prices are before tax; UK prices are printed on whatever VAT basis the provider states, and some state none.

What can you negotiate, and what can you not?

Negotiable in practice: the rate and the terminal rental, once a business is large enough to be worth a salesperson's time — which is exactly why the providers aimed at larger shops publish nothing. Not negotiable: interchange, which is set by the card networks and is the same for everyone, and tax.

Questions worth asking before you sign

What is the rate on debit, credit, business and non-UK or non-US cards, in writing?
Is there a monthly fee, a minimum monthly charge, or a PCI fee?
Is the terminal bought or rented, and what happens to it if I leave?
How long is the contract and what does leaving early cost?

Who this is not for

If you need a recommendation, this page will not give you one. It describes what the published numbers are and what they leave out. We have not used these providers and we do not rate them.

Sources

Every figure above is computed from the rows in data.json, each carrying its own source URL and check date.
The method page gives the formula in full and the four reasons a total can be missing.

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.