What is best app to receive card payments for an individual

paperman_4

I would like to be able to accept debit or credit card payments at a stall at a one off car boot sale. I see there are a few apps I could use on a mobile phone. I wondered which is the best or cheapest app to use as an individual and what are the charges. I think that some like SumUp which initially looked good only seem to be for business use.

Shakin_Steve

Whether it's a one-off or not, these will still be considered as business transactions if you put them through a bank account. What do other people at the car boot sale use? 

Personally, I think anyone who buys at a boot sale should bring cash. Just my humble opinion.

lon_don

Lopay is actually cheaper than Sumup. You would tell them that you are self employed, and they would set it up for you very quickly with little fuss. Open a separate online business bank account (eg Starling, Tide, whatever) to receive the cash if you really want to keep things separate (and not upset your personal bank).

sausage_time

A lower touch option may be to use one of the QR code payment systems.   RBS/NatWest app can generate a QR code for example:

https://www.rbs.co.uk/waystopay/payme.html#requestmoney

This uses (I believe) Open Banking from the app of the payee to make a payment to you without disclosing your bank details.  You could print and laminate the QR code on your stall.  Other banks will likely have a similar scheme.  For a few low value one-off transactions I can't imagine a bank viewing this as a business (any more than selling via Gumtree etc - where I have accepted on-line payments in the past when items collected).

PayPal have something similar, but you'd be asking people to "Pay a Friend" to avoid you paying fees.

Slight faff factor for each transaction, but if most are paying cash could be worth considering.

DullGreyGuy

paperman_4 said:

I would like to be able to accept debit or credit card payments at a stall at a one off car boot sale. I see there are a few apps I could use on a mobile phone. I wondered which is the best or cheapest app to use as an individual and what are the charges. I think that some like SumUp which initially looked good only seem to be for business use.

Zettle, SumUp and Square are the main three.

What mobile do you have? They all support card payments using their devices with all modern smart phones but they all also accept card payments using just your phone on iPhone but not all of them on Android. If you want to avoid the £40 charge of a card reader that may drive you to one solution over the others.

They'll all say they are for "business" but there is no validation that you are a for profit business rather than just someone selling their own stuff.