Card Readers
Chepstow u3a
Credit card readers that are available to groups. The best seem to be from a company called Sum up. They do not have a monthly fee and their transaction fee is 1.69% (Some are as high as 3%)
There are 4 possible hand held devices:
- Sum up Air - works with App, or Bluetooth. Up to 500 transactions on a single charge. Currently on offer for £17 (full price £29)
- Sum Up Air plus a charging cradle- works with App or bluetooth. Cradle keeps reader fully charged. Currently on offer for £29 (full price £39)
- Sum Up Solo - standalone device. Works with WiFi, plus unlimited mobile data with built in SIM card. Charging cradle keeps it fully charged and new features are added via automatic updates. Currently on offer for £79 (full price £99)
- Sum Up 3G and printer - works without a smart phone. Built in SIM card, free unlimited mobile data and WiFi connectivity. Makes up to 50 transactions on single charge. Prints receipts for each transaction. Currently on offer for £119 (full price £149)
As you can see there is a good range of prices depending on what we want. If we just need a small hand held device then the Sum up Air would probable suffice (I think the one with the charging unit makes most sense)
You can find more details on these by looking on sum up.co.uk
Usk u3a – Michael Faraday
SumUp will have higher charges now as they got an introductory discount, but do look at/ send on the link to a site comparing readers
…..a garden open under the NGS open garden scheme. They have been doing this for a couple of years and last year moved to a card reader method of payment.
He uses 2 of them: SumUp, set up by NGS; and Zettle, which he set up, and which he prefers.
Zettle:
It links via a smart-phone app
Terminal cost him £29 (look out for promotions). Very easy to set up.
4G preferred but should be OK on 3G (not sure what we have at the Lodge)
Easy hand-held terminal, charging via USB; long charge life
Can use only 1 bank account (so would need another one for 2 categories) but can link via several phones to the app
Provides reports by time (day/ week etc) and can choose a category for payments. In his case gate/ plant sale/ kitchen. With us it would be bar/ dining/ raffle/ social etc, entered at time of transaction.
Payment into bank account received within 2 days
Now owned by PayPal, so credible
Commission is 1.75%
Uses contactless, or card insert required for over-limit transactions.
SumUp has slightly cheaper commission, but the difference is negligible. He prefers Zettle.
It is well worth reading: https://www.mobiletransaction.org/square-vs-izettle-vs-sumup/