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Vending machines, laundry machines and self-order kiosks take payments with no one at the till. Here is what unattended card payments need and what they cost, with prices read 26 October 2026.
Published rates from every major UK card machine provider, plus the quoted rates that only come on request. You see them side by side, on your own takings.
The short answer
Vending machines, laundry machines and self-service kiosks need a card reader built for unattended use, where no staff member is present. myPOS lists a myPOS Unattended device, and Square sells Square Kiosk at £99 + VAT with software at £35 per device a month, read 26 October 2026. Small sales make fixed fees costly: on a £2 sale, 1.10% + 7p is 4.6%.
Published prices read 26 October 2026 from each provider's own pricing page. Quote only means the provider gives rates on request; we obtain those for you.
| Provider | In-person card rate | Monthly fee | Card machine | Contract | Payouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| myPOS Source | From 1.10% + 7p (under £10k a month) | £0 | Device prices not on fees page | Not published | Instant to myPOS account |
| Square Source | 1.75% UK cards; +1.5% non-UK cards | £0, or Plus £29+ | Reader £19; Terminal £149 (ex VAT) | None, cancel anytime | Next day free; instant for 1.95% |
| Stripe Source | 1.4% + 10p EEA cards; 2.9% + 10p non-EEA | £0 | WisePad 3 £49; S700 or S710 £229 (ex VAT) | Pay as you go | Standard free; instant 1% |
| SumUp Source | 1.69% pay as you go, or 0.99% on Payments Plus (domestic cards) | £0, or £19 on Payments Plus | Solo Lite £25, Solo £79, Terminal £135 (ex VAT), bought outright | None, cancel anytime | Next day, 7am, weekends included |
| Revolut Source | From 0.8% + 2p (UK consumer Visa and Mastercard) | £0 for the reader | Reader £49; Terminal £169 + VAT | None | Within 24 hours |
| Viva Source | 1.69% UK consumer cards | £0 to £15.99 plans (min £3.99) | Not published | Change plan monthly | Real time |
| Lloyds Cardnet Source | Cardnet quote only; Lloyds Accept 1.5% + 20p | £10 minimum monthly charge (Cardnet) | Saturn £23 or Clover Flex £21 a month + VAT | Not stated; Lloyds Accept none | Not published |
VAT is excluded where the provider states it. Rates are for in-person UK consumer cards unless stated. Our service is free to you. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose; it never changes the price you pay.
Tell us about your business. We compare the whole market, including the providers that only quote on request, and come back with the lowest total cost for your takings and the right machine. You keep a named account manager who looks after you after setup.
Our service is free to you. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose; it never changes the price you pay.
An unattended payment is one taken with nobody serving: a snack machine, a laundrette washer, a car wash, a ticket machine or a self-order screen in a café. The card reader is built into the machine or kiosk and the customer does everything.
That changes what you need from the reader and the provider. The reader must be made for the job, sealed against weather and tampering where it sits outside, and able to tell the machine to release the product only once the payment is approved. It needs a reliable connection, usually a SIM card for mobile data, because a vending machine rarely sits next to a Wi-Fi router. And it needs remote reports, so you can see sales and faults without visiting each site.
Not every provider supports unattended use. Most card machines and Tap to Pay apps are designed for a person to hand over the device. Ask any provider directly whether it supports unattended devices, which ones, and whether the published rate applies to them.
Few providers publish unattended prices. These are the options named on the pages we read.
Other providers on our list do not publish unattended devices or prices on the pages we read. If you already have machines, ask your vending or laundry machine supplier which payment providers its card readers work with, then compare those providers on rate and fixed fee.
Vending and laundry sales are small and frequent, so a few pence per payment can outweigh the percentage. Here is a vending operator taking 1,500 payments a month at an average of £1.80, so £2,700 a month. The figures show each published rate structure on those sales, read 26 October 2026. Check that the provider supports your unattended device before relying on its rate.
On sales this small, a rate with no fixed fee, or a very small one, is worth far more than a low percentage. Ask every provider for its fixed fee per payment and any minimum fee before anything else.
Self-order kiosks let customers order and pay on a screen, which cuts queues at busy cafés, takeaways and food halls. Square Kiosk is the main published option on our list: the hardware costs £99 + VAT, or £17 + VAT a month for 6 months, and the Square Kiosk software costs £35 per device a month. Square also lists a Kitchen Display System for kitchen orders, from £15 per device a month.
Take a café putting £8,000 a month through one Square Kiosk. Card fees at 1.75% are £140.00 a month. Add £35 for the kiosk software and the running cost is £175.00 a month, or £2,100 a year, plus the £99 hardware. If the kiosk lifts average order value or frees a member of staff at peak times, that cost can pay for itself.
If you already use another point of sale system, ask its provider whether it offers a self-order kiosk that links to your menu and card machine, and what each part costs. A kiosk that does not link to your till means double entry and stock errors.
Card-operated laundry machines, car washes, ticket machines and charging points share the same needs as vending. Before you choose, put these questions to every provider and machine supplier, and get the answers in writing.
Watch for charges on quiet machines. myPOS publishes a £15.00 inactivity fee and a £30.00 no-acquiring fee after 10 months without card payments, which matters for seasonal sites. Viva's lowest in-person plan carries a minimum monthly charge of £3.99. Spread across many machines, these small charges add up.
Unattended payments are a niche, and published prices rarely show the full cost per machine. We compare the UK market, including myPOS, Square, Stripe, Dojo, SumUp, Teya, Worldpay and others, on your real number of payments and average sale, and negotiate the rate and fixed fee with the provider for you. Where a provider only quotes, we request the quote for you. We also check which providers support your machine brands and how the readers connect.
We handle the application and any switch from your current provider, and give you a named account manager who stays with you after setup. As you add machines or sites, your account manager reviews the rate with the provider. You pay us nothing. We may receive a fee from the provider you choose.
A card reader built for unattended use is fitted to the machine. The customer taps a card or phone, the reader checks the payment and tells the machine to release the product. The reader usually connects by SIM card and sends sales reports to the operator.
It depends on the fixed fee per payment. On 1,500 sales at £1.80 a month, a 1.69% rate costs £45.63, while 1.10% + 7p costs £134.70, at published rates read 26 October 2026. Ask every provider for its fixed fee first.
A kiosk POS is a self-service screen where customers order and pay without staff. Square Kiosk costs £99 + VAT, or £17 + VAT a month for 6 months, with software at £35 per device a month and card fees of 1.75%, read 26 October 2026.
Usually not. Most card readers and Tap to Pay apps are made for a person to hand to the customer. Unattended machines need a reader built for the job, such as the myPOS Unattended device. Ask the provider whether its rate applies to unattended use.
Many do, through a card reader fitted to each machine or a central pay point. Ask your machine supplier which readers fit your machines, then compare providers on the fixed fee per payment, any monthly charge per device and fees for quiet periods.
Fixed fees per payment, minimum fees, monthly charges per device and inactivity fees. myPOS publishes a £15.00 inactivity fee and a £30.00 fee after 10 months without card payments. Viva sets a minimum fee of £0.01 per payment, or £0.10 on its Terminal app.
Tell us what you need and where you operate.