Best card machine for walking and city tour operators UK 2026
Compare the UK shortlist below, then get matched quotes from the acquirers most likely to approve you and beat your current pricing.
For UK walking tour, city tour, ghost tour, foodie tour and themed urban-experience operators: London, Edinburgh, York, Oxford, Bath, Liverpool. Mix of tip-based free-walking-tour models, ticketed daily tours, and private group bookings. Most UK walking tour customers book within 1 to 7 days of the tour, which gives walking-tour operators a much shorter risk window than longer-lead-time travel verticals. Acquirers typically price walking tours as standard in-person experience rather than travel.
Based on MerchantHQ terminal reviews and our ranking methodology.
The ranking
Ranked on fit for this use case. The score beside each pick is that terminal's overall review score across all uses, so a lower-scored terminal can rank higher here when it suits this job better. The rate, hardware and contract lines come from the same terminal data as the comparison table below.
1. Square Terminal
Review score 4.1 / 5Best for ticketed walking tours
All-in-one countertop terminal with receipt printer · 1.75% per transaction (UK) · No contract
Square Terminal at £149 + VAT with 1.75% rate, no contract, built-in receipt printer. Best for ticketed walking tour operators running 1 to 4 tours per day from a meeting-point. Reserves typically nil for low-risk in-person experiences with short lead times. Square Online handles the website booking layer.
2. SumUp Solo
Review score 4.2 / 5Best for tip-based free walking tours
Portable standalone touchscreen terminal (no built-in printer; Solo Lite is the cheaper phone-paired version) · 1.69% per transaction · No contract
SumUp Solo at £79 + VAT with 1.69% rate, free 4G SIM, full-day battery. Best for tip-based free-walking-tour guides who take tips by card at the end of the tour. 4G connectivity matters in dense urban environments where WiFi is patchy. Same-day or next-day settlement to the guide's personal SumUp account.
3. Tap to Pay on iPhone (no terminal)
Review score 4.2 / 5Best zero-hardware option for solo guides
Software on an iPhone Xs or later, no separate terminal · Set by the provider you use it with; see that provider's own pricing page · No fixed term for the feature itself; any contract is with your provider
Tap to Pay on iPhone via SumUp, Square or Stripe at zero hardware cost. Best for solo guides running a few tours a week off a Meetup, Airbnb Experiences, GetYourGuide or Viator listing. Phone in pocket, accept card on completion.
4. Stripe Reader S700
Review score 4.0 / 5Best for online-bookable tour businesses
Touchscreen handheld smart terminal, 5.5in display, Android 10 (no built-in printer; external receipt printer via the optional dock or hub) · 1.4% + 10p EEA cards, 2.9% + 10p non-EEA (Stripe standard Terminal pricing) · No contract (Stripe standard pay-as-you-go terms)
Stripe Reader S700 plus Stripe Checkout for the online booking layer. Best for walking-tour businesses with a website plus integration into FareHarbor, Bokun, GetYourGuide, Tripadvisor Experiences, or similar tour-operator platforms. AMEX supported for corporate-tour bookings.
Quick comparison
Headline rate, hardware cost, contract and form factor at a glance.
| Rank | Terminal | Rate | Hardware | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Square Terminal | 1.75% per transaction (UK) | £149 + VAT | No contract |
| #2 | SumUp Solo | 1.69% per transaction | £79 + VAT list price (SumUp often discounts it) | No contract |
| #3 | Tap to Pay on iPhone (no terminal) | Set by the provider you use it with; see that provider's own pricing page | £0 hardware (you already have the iPhone) | No fixed term for the feature itself; any contract is with your provider |
| #4 | Stripe Reader S700 | 1.4% + 10p EEA cards, 2.9% + 10p non-EEA (Stripe standard Terminal pricing) | £229 excl. VAT | No contract (Stripe standard pay-as-you-go terms) |
FAQs
Why do walking tours face lower reserves than other travel categories?
Short risk window. Most walking tour bookings happen 1 to 7 days before the tour, which means the gap between authorisation and delivery is short, which means chargeback exposure is short. Acquirers typically price walking tours as standard in-person experience rather than travel-vertical risk. Mainstream no-contract products (Square, SumUp, Zettle) typically onboard walking tour operators without travel-category pricing.
What about pre-booked group tours that book 6+ months ahead?
Private group bookings (school trips, corporate away-days, hen and stag groups) often book 3 to 6 months ahead. The deposit-and-balance pattern looks more like longer-lead travel and acquirers may apply modest reserves on that share of volume. Stripe and Square handle this case-by-case rather than applying blanket travel-vertical reserves. Confirm at onboarding.
How do tour aggregator platforms (GetYourGuide, Viator) pay walking tour operators?
Aggregators are the merchant of record; they collect from the customer by card, take their commission (15 to 30 percent typical), and pay the operator on a weekly or monthly schedule. The operator does not directly process card. Most operators run both: aggregator for inbound tourist traffic, own-website with own card-processing for direct bookings (lower commission, higher margin).
Do tip-based free walking tour guides need a card machine at all?
Yes if they want to capture tips reliably. Fewer customers carry cash than before 2020, so guides who only accept cash leave tips on the table. A SumUp Solo or Tap to Pay on iPhone at the end of the tour lets card-only customers tip.
Can a single guide accept card under a tour company's merchant account?
Yes, two patterns. One: company-receives, where the card payment lands in the operator's merchant account and the operator pays the guide via PAYE or contractor invoice. Two: guide-receives, where each guide has their own SumUp or Tap to Pay setup and the operator pays a flat fee per tour. Most multi-guide operators run company-receives for reporting cleanliness.
How we rank
Rankings are built by desk research from each provider's published rates, upfront costs, contract lengths and settlement terms, held in a dated record per terminal (last-reviewed date shown on this page) and re-checked when published pricing changes. We do not hands-on test every device; specs are taken from provider documentation and cited. No provider pays for inclusion or position. MerchantHQ is an introducer. Quote enquiries go to one card-payments broker, Merchant Advice Service, which pays us a fee for each introduction; acquirers do not pay us commission on quote enquiries. That fee never affects a ranking. See our methodology and how we are funded.
Get a quote
Open quote form →Related
See all the best card machine picks, browse every card terminal, check what a card machine costs, or find the cheapest card machine in the UK.
MerchantHQ is owned and operated by Best Business Loans Ltd, directed by Oliver Mackman. Last updated: