There is no single best card machine for a Polish-owned UK business, because the right one depends on your turnover and how you trade. If you want no contract and no monthly fee, compare pay-as-you-go readers like SumUp UK and Zettle by PayPal UK. If you take high volumes from a fixed counter, a contract acquirer such as Worldpay or Dojo can work out cheaper per transaction. SumUp UK is currently the only major UK acquirer with a Polish-language helpdesk. We compare all of them in Polish at Operatorzy płatności w UK.
Cards are now how most of your UK customers want to pay. In 2024, UK-issued cards were used for 31.4 billion transactions worth just over one trillion pounds, and contactless made up around 61 per cent of all card payments (UK Finance, 2025). If you run a UK shop, salon, takeaway or market stall, not taking cards now costs you sales. The question is which machine, not whether to have one.
Should you get a pay-as-you-go reader or a contract terminal?
Start with how you trade. The two models suit different businesses.
A pay-as-you-go reader (SumUp UK, Zettle by PayPal UK, Square UK) has no monthly fee and no contract. You buy the reader once, then pay a flat percentage on each sale. This suits new businesses, market traders, mobile services and anyone with low or uneven takings, because in a quiet month you pay almost nothing.
A contract terminal (Worldpay, Dojo, takepayments) usually means monthly rental and a multi-year agreement, but the per-transaction rate can be lower. This suits an established business with steady, higher card turnover from a fixed location, where a lower percentage on every sale outweighs the monthly cost.
If you are not sure which side you fall on, the honest answer is usually pay-as-you-go first. You can switch to a contract acquirer later once you can see your real monthly card volume.
Does the card machine support Polish?
For the machine itself, language rarely matters: the screen prompts a card tap and shows the amount. What matters is the support and onboarding behind it, the people you call when a payment fails or a contract term is unclear.
Here, SumUp UK stands out as the only major UK acquirer with a Polish-language helpdesk and Polish web onboarding. Most other UK providers offer English-only support. That does not make them wrong for you, but it is a real factor if you would rather sort a problem out in Polish. We mark which providers offer what, in Polish, on our Polish-speaking card machine guide.
Will the machine accept Polish cards and BLIK?
All UK-licensed acquirers accept Visa and Mastercard issued in Poland, so your customers visiting from Poland or paying with a Polish-issued card can tap and go. Apple Pay and Google Pay also work for cards added to a phone in Poland.
BLIK, the Polish mobile payment standard, is not supported in-store in the UK by any major acquirer at the time of writing. If a salesperson tells you their UK terminal does BLIK at the counter, treat that as a reason to check the small print carefully. We flag this on every relevant provider page so you are not misled.
Which providers should a Polish-owned UK business compare first?
We only list UK-licensed acquirers, the ones that legally settle into a UK Ltd or sole-trader bank account. We do not list Polish-domestic providers such as polcard.pl, because they do not settle into UK accounts. A sensible shortlist:
- SumUp UK, pay-as-you-go, Polish helpdesk, strong for small shops and market traders.
- Zettle by PayPal UK, pay-as-you-go, useful if you already use PayPal.
- Square UK, pay-as-you-go plus optional hardware, good ecommerce tie-in.
- Worldpay, contract, often lower rates at higher volume.
- Dojo, contract, next-day settlement.
- takepayments, contract, traditional acquirer model.
The full head-to-head, in Polish, is at Terminale płatnicze UK.
How do I actually choose?
Three steps:
- Estimate your monthly card turnover. Below roughly a few thousand pounds a month, pay-as-you-go usually wins. Above that, get a contract quote to compare.
- Get more than one quote. The UK regulator found that many small businesses rarely shop around or switch acquirer, and could save by doing so (Payment Systems Regulator, 2021). Do not accept the first offer.
- Read the contract length and exit terms before you sign. A low headline rate locked into a long contract can cost more than a slightly higher pay-as-you-go rate you can leave any time.
Kartapay is an independent comparison and introducer service. We are not a payment provider and we do not take a cut from your sales. We compare the UK-licensed panel, explain it in Polish, and introduce you to one provider that fits your business, then stay available for follow-up questions in Polish.