Cardnet in a minute

What can the card machine do for you?

Start with where you want to take the payment. If you run a café, a handheld machine can save a customer coming back to the counter. In a florist, it might let you take payment beside a large arrangement while another customer is being served at the till.

Lloyds lists the Castles Saturn as its everyday reader and Clover Flex as a more capable handheld option. The published Saturn offer includes Wi-Fi and 4G through a free SIM. Clover's mobile connection is separately priced in the offer checked on 11 September 2026. Check the current reader options before ordering.

The practical benefit of having mobile data is a second connection option where coverage is available. It does not promise that every sale will work in a basement or that a payment service can never go down. Try the intended connection where you actually serve customers.

Ask to hold the device. Can you read the screen under your shop lights? Is it comfortable to hand over? Is changing the receipt roll straightforward? A machine that suits a large restaurant may be unnecessarily bulky for a tiny counter full of flowers, scissors and wrapping paper.

Do you need Clover’s extra tools?

A more capable machine can be useful when you want to do more than enter a total. But a device name is not a complete software package. Ask which functions come with the quoted plan and which require paid apps or another till system.

For a café, the test might be adding an extra shot, changing an order and taking payment. For a shop, it could be finding a product and returning one item from a larger purchase. Tell the salesperson what you need to do rather than asking whether the machine has lots of features.

If you already like your till, ask whether Cardnet works with that exact system. A connection that sends the total to the machine could remove repeated typing. Check refunds too, because a smooth sale does not prove that every other task works the same way.

Our Clover review explains the wider equipment decision. If you only want a customer to tap and go, there is no need to buy extra complexity for its own sake.

Cardnet prices: separate the reader from the payments

These advertised rental figures were checked on 11 September 2026. They are not complete monthly payment bills. Transaction charges and any other applicable fees are additional. Source: Lloyds reader overview.

For mobile use, the Clover rental plus that SIM would be £31 a month plus VAT. Comparing £21 with £23 alone would miss an important difference. You should still choose on the complete package, because the devices may meet different needs.

Cardnet also provides illustrative transaction costs on its pricing page. One example is 0.5% plus 3p for an in-person UK Visa debit payment. Lloyds explicitly presents this as an illustration, not a rate promised to every business, and rental is excluded.

Have your own offer spell out which cards qualify for each price. Cards used for business spending or issued overseas may be charged differently. You want a useful estimate for your customers, not a perfect example based on cards you rarely see.

A simple monthly example

Imagine a small shop taking £10,000 a month through 500 payments. For illustration only, suppose a quote charges 1% plus 3p per payment and £23 reader rental. These are hypothetical terms, not a Cardnet offer.

The percentage costs £100, the transaction charges cost £15 and rental adds £23. The total is £138 before VAT on rental and any other charges. Spread over 500 payments, the rental is a small part of each sale.

Now reduce sales to £2,000 through 100 payments. The same assumed arrangement costs £20 plus £3 plus £23, or £46 before those exclusions. The reader costs the same even though you are much quieter.

That is why a seasonal shop needs to look beyond its best month. Write down a busy month and a quiet one, then ask every provider to price both. If your offer includes a minimum monthly fee, ask how that changes the quiet-month result.

Our fees guide explains the other lines you may encounter. There is no need to learn the whole payments industry to compare two bills.

Online orders and telephone payments

Cardnet also offers routes for customers who are not standing at the counter. These can matter to a florist taking delivery orders or a shop selling through its website. Ask for the arrangement and fees for those sales separately.

For example, a website checkout may involve an additional service connecting your site to the payment provider. You will often hear it called a gateway. What matters is that it works with your website and somebody is responsible for getting it ready.

Before paying for setup, ask who will install it, how long that work is expected to take and who handles a problem afterwards. Have a refund demonstrated as well as a successful order. Our online-payments guide helps you compare the different ways of collecting money remotely.

Takings, support and the end of the day

Ask when your particular account pays money into your bank, including weekend sales. The useful answer for a café is a date you can plan around when ordering stock. If a quicker payout is offered, ask whether it has conditions or an extra cost.

Then ask to see the reports. Can you find Tuesday's sales without searching through several screens? Can you see why a payout is lower after a refund? Clear information saves the owner becoming the person who investigates every missing-looking pound.

Support should fit your opening hours too. Ask what happens if a machine fails and whether a replacement is sent, collected or installed. If a till connection stops working, find out which supplier takes the first call. Put those details where staff can find them.

Alternatives worth comparing

Compare your in-person payment costs

Use the cost checker below to explore card-machine options with your own sales figures. It is a comparison aid, not a quote from this provider. Online payments and any extra services need to be priced separately.