Card machine fees: the honest maths for a restaurant

Look at your last merchant statement. Between the monthly rental on your card machine, the transaction fee on every payment, and sometimes a fixed charge per transaction, the “card fees” line on a UK restaurant’s account is often heavier than owners realise. The question isn’t “do I pay?” — it’s “am I paying a fair rate?”

What you actually pay (and don’t see in big print)

A card machine is rarely priced one single way. Usually three layers stack up:

• a monthly rental / subscription (the terminal, sometimes bundled into a “package”);
• a percentage transaction fee on every card payment;
• depending on the contract, fixed charges per transaction or per card type (debit, credit, foreign cards).

Two restaurants with the same turnover can pay double one another, purely because of a poorly negotiated contract or one that’s never been reviewed.

The small-ticket trap

On a £2.50 coffee, a fixed charge per transaction blows up the real percentage. On a £45 bill, that same fixed charge is negligible. Your average spend completely changes the maths — and that’s exactly what a clear table lets you see at a glance.

How to tell if you’re losing money

The only honest way is to start from your own monthly statement: your card turnover, your number of transactions, your average spend. From there you compare your real cost against what’s on the market — no empty promises. Sometimes you’re already well placed; sometimes there are hundreds of pounds a year to claw back.

Where we come in

Our job isn’t to sell you a miracle terminal. It’s to give you a website with ordering and online payment built in: orders that come straight to you (0% delivery-platform commission) and clear takings. On the ground, a well-thought-out setup often saves money — but we only say so after looking at your figures, never before.

For an estimate based on your real situation, message me on WhatsApp: I reply fast, and the quote is free with no obligation.

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Sources: public pricing structures of the main card-terminal providers active in the UK (rental + transaction fee + fixed charges), cross-checked in 2026. Exact rates depend on your contract, volume and average spend — check your monthly statement.