Barclaycard Business better for bigger companies
Barclaycard Business is one of the UK’s biggest credit card processors (competing with Worldpay). Many of its card machine contracts are sold through independent sales organisations, but you can also set up a merchant account and rent card payment machines directly from Barclaycard.
Barclaycard offers a range of card machines for portable, stationary and mobile use. They can be integrated with many POS systems or used on their own.
A contract for a mobile Ingenico Move 5000 terminal is 18 months long for a £15 + VAT monthly rental fee. Their recently-launched Smartpay Touch (PAX A920 terminal) with built-in POS features costs £29 + VAT per month to rent on a 12-month contract.
On top of this, you get a merchant account with separate, ongoing costs.
Businesses with a card turnover of less than £200k per year pay a fixed rate of 1.6% for any card accepted. For those with a higher turnover, rates will be tailored and depend on the type of card, transaction value and sales volume.
A monthly minimum service charge may apply when your turnover does not reach an agreed threshold.
The only way to know about all costs is to ask the bank. Only existing, high-volume Barclays merchants can get lower, custom rates. The application process is a bit stricter than others, since your borrowing history and financial circumstances are assessed. This means new or financially risky businesses may be rejected.
The sales reps are not pushy like many merchant service providers, but new account holders need to stomach a £150 setup fee and accept an early termination fee of £115 + VAT at least (which is actually lower than most providers’ exit fees). Other fees for PCI-DSS compliance, refunds, chargebacks and more apply.
You can accept online payments through Barclaycard’s payment gateway and mail order and telephone (MOTO) payments through their virtual terminal, but these incur separate costs.
A standard agreement includes acceptance of Visa, Mastercard, Diners Club and Discover whereas American Express requires an additional agreement. Settlement takes up to 7 working days with a non-Barclays bank account or 1-3 working days with a Barclays account.