When people ask what a card machine costs, they usually mean the hardware. In practice the bigger cost for most businesses is the fee on every transaction. A shop taking £20,000 a month in card payments can pay far more in processing fees over a year than the terminal would ever cost.
The three parts of the cost
- The terminal. Bought outright, rented monthly, or supplied free. With MCR Payments it's free, subject to approval.
- Transaction fees. A percentage of each payment, sometimes plus a pence-per-transaction charge.
- Account fees. Monthly minimums, PCI fees, authorisation fees and similar charges.
Flat rate vs ICC++ pricing
A flat rate charges the same percentage on every card. It's easy to understand, but the provider builds in a margin to cover the expensive cards, so you tend to overpay on everyday debit cards.
Interchange-plus-plus (ICC++) passes through the actual interchange and scheme fees set by the card networks, plus a clear margin. MCR Payments' indicative margin is 0.7% plus 5p per transaction. Final pricing depends on your card mix, turnover, transaction profile and underwriting.
A worked example
Take a café with £15,000 a month in card payments and an average spend of £12. That's about 1,250 transactions. The table shows how the margin element compares at different headline rates (interchange and scheme fees excluded, for illustration only).
| Pricing | Margin cost per month |
|---|---|
| 1.69% flat | £253.50 |
| 1.39% flat | £208.50 |
| 0.7% + 5p (MCR indicative margin) | £167.50 + scheme costs |
Illustrative only. Under ICC++ you also pay interchange and scheme fees, which vary by card type. Your actual saving could be higher, lower or nil — a statement review shows the real picture.
Charges people miss
- Monthly minimum service charges when turnover is low
- PCI compliance or "non-compliance" fees
- Per-authorisation fees on top of transaction fees
- Terminal rental that continues after the contract term
- Early termination fees on 18–48 month contracts
How to compare properly
The simplest way is to divide the total fees on your statement by your total card turnover to get your "effective rate". Then compare like for like. Or upload your statement and we'll do it for you within 24 hours. You can also read our provider comparison.