Card machines by trade
Different trades have different card-flow shapes. A restaurant needs split-bill and tipping; a mobile trader needs no-contract economics; a vape shop needs a high-risk specialist. These pages route you to the right card terminal and acquirer for your trade. If you already know two providers you want shortlisted side-by-side, our card machine comparison hub strips them on rate, contract and settlement.
Restaurants
Recommended: Dojo Go
The best card machine for a UK restaurant in 2026 is Dojo Go, on the strength of same-next-day weekend settlement, peak-hour throughput, table-side split-bill and tip handling. Typical UK restaurant card volume is £35 to £85 average transaction with around 55% contactless. Same-next-day settlement (including Saturday and Sunday) is the working-capital lever that justifies the 12-month Dojo contract for any venue trading Friday to Sunday peaks.
Pubs
Recommended: Dojo Go
The best card machine for a UK pub in 2026 is Dojo Go, on the strength of multi-network connectivity (4G + WiFi + Bluetooth) that holds up when WiFi struggles in a busy bar, fast tap-and-go throughput, and same-next-day weekend settlement. Typical UK pub card volume is £12 to £25 average transaction with around 70% contactless. Smaller venues at sub-£10k monthly volume get better economics from Square Terminal because there is no contract.
Salons and barbers
Recommended: Dojo Go
The best card machine for a UK salon or barbershop in 2026 is Dojo Go for established multi-chair venues, or Square Terminal for independents and single-chair barbers. Treatment-by-treatment payment, tipping at the device, and deposit-on-booking are standard. Salons taking online bookings via Treatwell or Booksy should confirm POS integration before signing because the integration shortens reconciliation by an hour a day.
Mobile traders
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile mechanics, mobile groomers, market traders, pop-up retail. No fixed location, intermittent connectivity.
Vape shops
Recommended: High-risk specialist hardware (PAX A920, Verifone)
Vape and CBD retail are classified high-risk by most mainstream UK acquirers. Specialist routing required.
Taxis and private hire
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone or compact Bluetooth reader
The best card machine for a UK taxi or private-hire driver in 2026 is Tap to Pay on iPhone (zero hardware, choose any supported acquirer) or SumUp Solo with the free 4G SIM. Typical UK taxi card volume is £8 to £35 per trip with around 75% contactless. No-contract pay-as-you-go acquirers fit the seasonal late-night and weekend volume; the fixed-fee Dojo and Tyl contracts only make sense for fleet operators above £15k monthly volume.
Cafés and coffee shops
Recommended: Square Terminal or SumUp Solo
The best card machine for a UK café or coffee shop in 2026 is Square Terminal for independents (no contract, built-in printer, café-style menu modifiers in the Square POS app) or SumUp Solo at sub-£10k monthly volume. High-frequency, low-value transactions with around 70% contactless. Busier cafés above £15k monthly card flow get better economics from Dojo Go because the blended 1.4% to 1.9% rate beats SumUp 1.69% flat once volume scales.
Hotels and B&Bs
Recommended: Dojo Go (with PoS integration if available)
Independent hotels and B&Bs. Mixed payment patterns: card-on-file authorisations at booking, settlements at checkout, ancillary spend during stay.
Electricians, Plumbers and Gas Engineers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile trades, electricians, plumbers, gas engineers. Job-by-job payment, sometimes hours after completion. Contactless and Apple Pay common. Best card readers and card machines for mobile trade work.
Dog groomers and mobile pet services
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone or SumUp Solo
Mobile and shop-based dog groomers, pet-walking services, mobile pet care. Job-by-job payment.
Market traders and pop-up retail
Recommended: SumUp Solo or Tap to Pay on iPhone
Outdoor market stalls, pop-up retail, event traders. Volatile flow tied to event days. No fixed location.
Gyms and fitness studios
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700 with PoS integration
Gym chains, independent studios, yoga / pilates / CrossFit. Subscription-led revenue with secondary in-person purchases (PT sessions, merch, drinks).
Dentists and private clinics
Recommended: Square Terminal with practice-management integration
NHS and mixed-private dental practices, cosmetic dentistry, allied health. Higher-value transactions, often staged across treatment plans.
Veterinary practices
Recommended: Dojo Go with PoS integration
Independent and chain vet practices. High-value emergency transactions plus routine care. Insurance-linked transactions add complexity.
Beauty clinics and aesthetic services
Recommended: Square Terminal
Aesthetic clinics, laser, injectable, semi-permanent makeup, advanced beauty. Higher-value transactions, deposit-on-booking, treatment-plan staged payments.
Florists
Recommended: Square Terminal
High-street florists, online florists, event-led floristry. Order-taking by phone and online plus in-shop purchases.
Butchers and fishmongers
Recommended: SumUp Solo or Square Terminal
Independent butchers, fishmongers and farm-shop counters. High-frequency, mid-value transactions; weight-priced.
Gardeners and landscapers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile gardeners, landscape contractors, garden designers. Job-by-job payment, sometimes weeks after completion. Materials often invoiced separately.
Jewellers
Recommended: Dojo Go
Independent jewellers, repairs and bespoke. Higher-value transactions, deposit-on-bespoke common, insurance-card scrutiny.
Pet shops and pet retailers
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent pet shops, aquariums, exotic-pet retailers. Mix of retail goods and live-animal sales (with associated regulation).
Caterers and food trucks
Recommended: SumUp Solo or Tap to Pay on iPhone
Independent caterers, mobile food trucks, festival traders, event caterers. Mobile or semi-mobile operations with strong seasonal patterns.
Tattoo and piercing studios
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent tattoo studios, piercing artists, micropigmentation. Higher-value transactions, deposit-on-booking, treatment over multiple sessions.
Soft play and play centres
Recommended: Dojo Go
Indoor play centres, trampoline parks, bowling alleys, escape rooms. Family-led venues with strong weekend / school-holiday peaks.
Self-storage operators
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700 (or Tap to Pay for small operators)
Self-storage units, lockup operators, vehicle storage. Subscription-led revenue with primarily card-on-file recurring billing.
B&Bs and Airbnb hosts
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700 or Tap to Pay on iPhone
Independent B&Bs, self-catering hosts, Airbnb / VRBO operators. Booking-platform-mediated revenue plus direct bookings.
Independent pharmacies
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent pharmacies and chemists. Mix of NHS prescription dispensing (NHS-side reimbursement, not card) and over-the-counter retail. Card volume varies widely.
Post Offices and newsagents
Recommended: Dojo Go
Post Office branches (independently operated) and newsagents. Multi-revenue: postal services, mail-order, retail, lottery, bill-pay, e-top-up. High transaction count, low average ticket.
Cash-and-carry and wholesale
Recommended: Adyen or Worldpay tier-one terminal (above £40k monthly); Dojo Go below
Cash-and-carry depots, builders' merchants and wholesale trade counters. B2B-led with commercial cards common. Higher-value transactions and account-customer flow.
Grocery stores and convenience retail
Recommended: Dojo Go
Independent grocery stores, convenience retail, off-licences, ethnic-food specialists. High transaction count, low-to-mid ticket. Strong contactless share.
Sweet shops and confectioners
Recommended: Dojo Go
The best card machine for a UK sweet shop or confectioner in 2026 is Dojo Go for established shops above £10k monthly card volume, on the strength of same-next-day settlement during festival surges and a built-in printer for gift-box receipts, or SumUp Solo for smaller and newer shops on the no-contract economics. This covers traditional pick-and-mix and chocolatier retail as well as Indian mithai (halwai) shops, where Diwali, Karva Chauth, Eid and Janmashtami drive 5 to 10 times normal volume in short windows. Typical walk-in ticket is £6 to £30, rising to £35 to £200 for gift boxes, with corporate hamper pre-orders of £500 to £3,000 settled by invoice rather than at the counter.
Import-export and international trade
Recommended: Adyen or Stripe Reader S700
Independent import-export businesses, freight forwarders, international trade counters. Cross-border invoicing, multi-currency settlement, B2B-heavy with commercial cards common.
Yoga and pilates studios
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Independent yoga, pilates and reformer studios. Class-pack and monthly-subscription billing dominates; walk-in drop-ins and retail (mats, props) are secondary.
Wedding photographers
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Independent wedding photographers and videographers. Deposit-on-booking 12 to 18 months ahead, balance on or before the wedding day. Card-not-present dominates.
Independent opticians
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent opticians and dispensing practices. Mix of NHS-funded sight tests, GOS vouchers and private-paid glasses, contact lenses and lens-care subscriptions.
Chiropractors and osteopaths
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent chiropractic, osteopathy and physiotherapy clinics. Treatment-by-treatment payment, multi-session plans, and the occasional insurance-direct billing.
Private tutors
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
One-to-one academic tutors, music tutors, language tutors. Lesson-by-lesson or block-booked billing. Mostly in-home or online, occasionally fixed location.
Driving instructors
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and Potential Driving Instructors (PDIs). Lesson-by-lesson micro-charges or block-booked hours. Mobile by definition.
Music teachers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Private music teachers (piano, guitar, voice, strings). Lesson-by-lesson or termly invoicing. Studio-based, in-home or online delivery.
Mobile car wash and valeting
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile car wash, hand-wash, mobile valeting and detailing. Historically cash-heavy, transitioning to card under HMRC reporting and customer demand.
Locksmiths
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile locksmiths and lockup-based key-cutters. Emergency call-outs (24/7), scheduled lock-changes, and counter-based key-cutting. Job-by-job payment.
Cobblers and shoe repair
Recommended: SumUp Solo
Independent cobblers, shoe-repair and key-cutting counters. Low-value, high-frequency walk-in counter trade. Often combined with key-cutting and watch-battery services.
Picture framers
Recommended: SumUp Solo
Independent picture-framing workshops, often combined with print-on-demand and art-supply retail. Bespoke per-job pricing with deposits on larger commissions.
Farm shops
Recommended: Square Terminal
Farm shops, pick-your-own counters and rural retail combining own-produce, third-party stock and on-site café. Mix of high-frequency retail and seasonal event flow.
Garden centres
Recommended: Dojo Go
Independent garden centres combining plant retail, gift shop, café and seasonal event flow. Multi-counter operations with strong seasonal swing.
Art galleries
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Independent art galleries and exhibition spaces. Higher-value transactions, commission-based sales, deposits-on-commission, occasional staged payments.
Nail salons and nail bars
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent nail salons, nail bars and mobile nail technicians. Treatment-by-treatment payment, walk-in plus booked, tipping common.
Private GP clinics
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Private GP practices, walk-in clinics and concierge medical services. Higher-ticket consultations, occasional insurance-direct billing, prescription dispensing add-ons.
Wine merchants and independent off-licences
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent wine merchants, specialist off-licences and craft-beer retailers. Mid-to-high ticket retail with tasting events and online sales.
Bike shops and cycle retailers
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent bike shops combining retail, servicing and Cycle-to-Work scheme sales. Higher-ticket bike sales, recurring servicing, accessory retail.
Record shops and vinyl retailers
Recommended: SumUp Solo
Independent record shops, vinyl specialists and second-hand music retailers. Mix of new-release retail, second-hand stock and event flow (in-store gigs, Record Store Day).
Independent bookshops
Recommended: Square Terminal
Independent bookshops, children's bookshops and specialist bookshops. Low-margin retail with event flow (author signings, book launches) and online sales.
Bridal and formalwear shops
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Independent bridal shops, bridesmaid retailers, suit-hire and formalwear specialists. Higher-ticket transactions, deposits-on-order, alteration appointments.
Carpet and flooring retailers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Independent carpet, flooring and bed retailers. Higher-ticket transactions, in-home measure-and-quote flow, installation appointments.
Mobile massage therapists
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
Mobile massage therapists, sports massage practitioners and reflexologists. In-home and corporate-event delivery. Job-by-job payment.
Funeral directors
Recommended: Stripe Reader S700
Independent funeral directors and family-run undertakers. Higher-ticket transactions, often paid by deceased's estate or family within 30 days. Pre-paid funeral plans run separately.
Wedding venues
Recommended: Dojo Go
Independent wedding venues, country-house venues, barn weddings and licensed-ceremony locations. Deposit-on-booking 12 to 24 months ahead, staged balance payments, day-of bar and ancillary spend.
Gas engineers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
The best card reader for a UK gas engineer in 2026 is Tap to Pay on iPhone (zero hardware, take payment on the doorstep) or SumUp Solo with its free 4G SIM for connectivity in plant rooms and rural calls. Typical gas-engineer card payments run £80 to £3,000, spanning a quick service through to a full boiler installation, so no-contract pay-as-you-go pricing fits the lumpy, job-by-job cashflow far better than a fixed Dojo or Tyl contract. Gas Safe registration does not affect card acceptance, but a pay-by-link is worth adding for larger installs the customer wants to settle by card.
Plumbers and heating engineers
Recommended: Tap to Pay on iPhone
The best card reader for a UK plumber in 2026 is Tap to Pay on iPhone or SumUp Solo: zero hardware, no contract, and payment taken at the door the moment the job is signed off. Typical plumber card payments run £90 to £2,500 across emergency callouts and bathroom installs, with emergency work skewing toward immediate same-visit payment. The no-contract, pay-as-you-go acquirers fit a mobile sole-trade better than a fixed Dojo contract, and a pay-by-link covers larger jobs the customer prefers to pay later.
Builders and tradespeople
Recommended: Pay-by-link + Tap to Pay on iPhone
The best way for a UK builder or general tradesperson to take card payments in 2026 is a pay-by-link for staged invoices plus Tap to Pay on iPhone or a SumUp reader for on-site deposits and smaller jobs. Building work is typically invoiced in stages and runs from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands, so the card-acceptance job is mostly deposits, snagging payments and smaller jobs, with bank transfer still common for the large balances. No-contract acceptance avoids paying a fixed monthly fee between large jobs.