Merchant Services for Hospitality UK 2026

This page is for UK hospitality business owners, including restaurant, pub, café, hotel and takeaway operators, who want to understand how card payment costs and provider choices differ in their sector. Hospitality has one of the highest card transaction volumes of any UK industry, with many venues processing hundreds of transactions daily at low average ticket sizes. That volume sensitivity means even a 0.2% difference in transaction fees can cost or save thousands of pounds a year. Tipping functionality, split-bill handling and EPOS integration are also non-negotiable for most venues in a way they simply are not in other sectors.

Why Transaction Volume and Tipping Support Define Your Provider Choice

A typical UK restaurant or pub processes card payments dozens or even hundreds of times each day at relatively low average ticket values, often between £15 and £45 per cover. That combination of high frequency and low ticket size means the percentage fee on each transaction compounds quickly into a meaningful annual cost. A venue turning over £200,000 a year in card payments and moving from a 1.75% flat rate to a negotiated 1.2% blended rate saves £1,100 a year before any monthly-fee differences are considered.

Tipping support is equally sector-specific. In retail or professional services, on-screen tip prompts are irrelevant. In a sit-down restaurant or bar, the card reader is the last touchpoint of the customer experience. Providers that allow the customer to add a percentage or custom amount at the point of sale, and that export tip totals separately for payroll purposes, remove a genuine administrative headache. Not all providers handle this equally well. Dojo, for example, is built primarily around hospitality and includes tipping by default. Square supports it across all its card readers. Zettle's tipping function is available but requires it to be enabled through the app settings, and tip reporting is basic.

EPOS integration is the third defining factor. Most hospitality venues with more than one or two staff already run a dedicated EPOS system. Payment hardware that communicates directly with the EPOS avoids double-keying, reduces errors on split bills and speeds up table turns during busy service. Providers that only offer standalone card readers, with no integration path to the major hospitality EPOS platforms, create friction that costs time and money at exactly the moments it matters most.

Settlement speed matters too. A venue with tight daily cash flow needs funds in the account reliably and quickly. Next-business-day settlement is standard among the main providers covered here, but some pass midnight cut-offs and weekend processing delays that can mean waiting until Tuesday for Friday's takings. Confirm the exact cut-off time and weekend settlement policy before committing to any provider.

Fee Comparison Table

Best Providers for Hospitality

Dojo

Dojo is the provider most specifically built around the UK hospitality sector. Its 1.2% blended flat rate on all UK card transactions applies to businesses processing under £100,000 a year in card payments, with custom rates negotiated above that threshold. For a restaurant taking £150 in card payments per table across 80 covers a day, that rate is significantly cheaper than the 1.75% flat rate charged by Square or Zettle. Dojo's card terminals connect directly to major hospitality EPOS systems including Lightspeed, Tevalis and a growing list of others, removing the need for manual reconciliation at end of service.

Tipping is built into the Dojo terminal flow by default, with options for percentage prompts or custom amounts. Tip totals are reported separately in the Dojo portal, which simplifies payroll for venues that pass tips to staff through the TRONC system. Settlement is typically next business day.

The honest negative is that Dojo requires a contract, usually 18 months, and charges a monthly terminal rental fee on top of the transaction rate. If your venue is seasonal and closes for several months of the year, you are still paying that monthly fee. Get the full total cost of ownership across 12 months before comparing it to a no-monthly-fee provider. Read the full Dojo review.

Square

Square suits independent hospitality businesses that want no monthly fee and no long contract. The in-person rate is 1.75% per transaction for UK cards, and the card reader costs £19 as a one-off. For a café processing £15,000 a month, that works out at £262.50 in transaction fees monthly. No hidden rental, no cancellation penalty. Square's EPOS app includes table management, menu management and basic inventory, which is genuinely useful for small restaurants and cafés that do not yet run a dedicated EPOS system.

Tipping is supported on Square's card readers via an on-screen prompt. The Square Dashboard exports tip totals separately from the transaction value, which helps with staff payroll. Online ordering integration is also available through Square Online, useful for takeaway or click-and-collect operations.

The limitation for larger hospitality venues is that Square's flat 1.75% rate does not reduce with volume. A restaurant processing £500,000 a year in card payments will pay £8,750 in transaction fees at that rate. At that scale, a negotiated rate from Dojo, Worldpay or a similar provider will almost certainly be cheaper. Read the full Square review.

SumUp

SumUp works best for smaller or seasonal hospitality businesses where keeping fixed costs low during quiet periods matters more than getting the absolute lowest per-transaction rate. The standard pay-as-you-go rate is 1.69% with no monthly fee. The SumUp One subscription drops the rate to 0.99% per transaction for a £19 monthly fee, which becomes cost-effective once monthly card turnover exceeds around £2,100. For a market-stall food trader who is busy at weekends and quiet mid-week, or a seasonal beach café, the ability to absorb lower costs in January matters.

SumUp's card readers are compact and reliable for mobile and outdoor use. The SumUp Point of Sale app handles basic order management, which is sufficient for counter-service cafés and fast-casual venues. EPOS integration options are more limited than Dojo's, which is a real drawback for sit-down restaurants already running a full table-management system.

Tipping functionality exists but is less polished than on Dojo terminals. For venues where gratuity handling is central to the customer experience, this matters. Read the full SumUp review.

Pros and Cons by Provider Type

Card Machine Providers (e.g. Dojo, SumUp, Square, Zettle)

• Purpose-built for in-person payments, which account for the vast majority of hospitality transactions
• Portable and countertop hardware options suit table service, bar service and counter service
• Tipping prompts are available on most modern terminals
• Settlement is straightforward and typically next business day
• EPOS integration varies significantly between providers. Dojo leads here; Square is adequate for smaller venues; SumUp is limited
• Flat-rate providers like Square and Zettle become expensive at high volume because the rate does not reduce

Payment Gateways (e.g. Stripe, Opayo)

• Suited to hospitality businesses taking online bookings, deposit payments or running online ordering systems
• Stripe charges 1.5% plus 20p per UK card transaction online, which is competitive for advance booking payments
• Not designed for in-person, at-table payment. Venues need a separate card reader solution alongside a gateway
• Useful for hotels handling online pre-authorisations and no-show deposit captures
• Require more technical setup than plug-and-play card machine providers

All-in-One Providers (e.g. Worldpay, Paymentsense)

• Offer both in-person terminals and online payment capability under one contract
• Rates are bespoke and negotiated, which benefits high-volume venues but makes comparison harder upfront
• Account management and dedicated support tend to be better at this tier
• Contract lengths are typically longer (often two to three years), which is a risk for seasonal venues
• Better suited to multi-site operators or hotel groups than to single-location independents

Different Payment Needs Across Hospitality Sub-Types

Restaurants and Pubs

Full-service restaurants and pubs have the most demanding payment requirements of any hospitality sub-type. They need in-person terminals that support table-side payment, on-screen tipping, split bills and, ideally, direct EPOS integration for order-to-payment flow. Transaction volumes are high but average ticket values vary widely between a £12 lunch and a £90 dinner table. Providers that charge a monthly fee are often worth it at this volume level, because the lower transaction rate more than offsets the fixed cost. Dojo is the strongest fit for this sub-type. Worldpay is worth a custom quote for multi-site restaurant groups processing over £1 million a year in card payments.

Hotels and Accommodation

Hotels have payment needs that no other hospitality sub-type shares. Pre-authorisation holds at check-in, no-show and cancellation fee capture, split settlement between room charges and ancillary spend, and online booking deposit collection all require a provider with strong gateway capability alongside in-person terminals. A card machine alone is not sufficient. Hotels often benefit from an all-in-one provider or a combination of a payment gateway for online and a separate terminal solution for front desk and restaurant. Stripe handles online pre-authorisations well at 1.5% plus 20p per UK card transaction. For the full property payment stack, Worldpay's hotel-specific experience and bespoke pricing model is worth exploring, though rates must be quoted and compared carefully.

Cafés, Takeaways and Street Food

Counter-service venues, takeaways and street food traders operate very differently from sit-down restaurants. Average ticket values are lower (often £6 to £15), transactions are fast and queues form quickly. Speed of payment at the point of sale is more important than tipping prompts or EPOS depth. Card reader battery life and 4G connectivity matter for outdoor and market trading. The no-contract, no-monthly-fee model of Square (1.75% in-person) or SumUp (1.69% pay-as-you-go) is genuinely more appropriate here than a contract-based provider with monthly fees. For takeaways also running online ordering through a platform like Deliveroo or Just Eat, note that those platforms charge their own commission separately from your card processing costs, so the total payment cost picture is different from a dine-in venue.