A customer asks how they can pay. You say "bank transfer or cash." They look slightly awkward, fumble for their phone, promise to transfer it when they get home, and three days later you're still waiting. Meanwhile, the electrician they had in last week tapped his phone against theirs and was paid £380 in two seconds.
If you're not taking card payments in 2026, you're making it harder for people to give you money.
Why Cash-Only Loses You Jobs
A lot of people don't carry cash any more. They pay for everything on their phone or card. When they need to pay a tradesperson and the only options are cash or bank transfer, it creates friction.
Cash means a trip to the cashpoint. Bank transfer means logging into their banking app, finding your sort code and account number, typing it all in. Both feel like an effort compared to tapping a card.
Some customers will actually choose a tradesperson based partly on payment convenience. On a tight decision, accepting card payments can swing it.
SumUp
Probably the most popular card reader among UK tradespeople. The small white reader costs about £17 (one-off) and connects to your phone via Bluetooth. Transaction fee: 1.69% on every payment.
On a £500 job, you'd pay £8.45 in fees. No monthly fees, no minimum transaction requirements, no contract. You pay nothing until someone actually pays you.
The reader accepts contactless, chip and PIN, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Battery lasts for ages. Setup takes about ten minutes.
Zettle (formerly iZettle)
Owned by PayPal, works almost identically to SumUp. Reader costs about £29. Transaction fee: 1.75%.
Slightly higher fees than SumUp, but Zettle offers invoicing built into the app, basic inventory management, and integration with PayPal. If you already use PayPal for your business, Zettle keeps everything in one ecosystem.
Square
Massive in the US and increasingly popular in the UK. Reader costs about £19. Transaction fee: 1.75%.
Square's main advantage is its software. The app includes invoicing, receipt management, a basic customer database, and analytics showing your busiest days and average job values. If you want a lightweight business tool beyond just card payments, Square offers the most.
Phone Tap-to-Pay
Both iPhone and Android now support tap-to-pay — your phone acts as the card reader. The customer taps their card or phone against yours, and the payment goes through. SumUp, Zettle, and Square all support this through their apps.
The advantage: one less thing to carry. It's always with you because your phone is always with you. Works well for most transactions, but some customers are wary of phone-to-phone payments. Having a physical reader as backup isn't a bad idea.
What About the Fees?
Some tradespeople resist card payments because of the transaction fees. Let's put that in perspective.
On £50,000 annual turnover through card payments, the fees would be £845 for the entire year. That's about £70 a month. Compare that to the invoices you're currently chasing for days or weeks, the jobs you lose because someone can't be bothered with a bank transfer, and the time you spend sending payment reminders.
Getting paid instantly — literally watching the money appear in your app while standing in the customer's kitchen — is worth far more than £70 a month. Gaffer can send payment links through WhatsApp that let customers pay by card without you even being present, which is useful for collecting final payments on completed jobs when you've already moved on to the next site.
Whatever combination works for your business, the key is making it as easy as possible for customers to hand over their money. Every barrier you remove is a payment you receive faster.