Epos Now Payment Processing at a Glance
Verdict
If you need a full POS counter with cloud reporting, inventory, and integrated card payments in one contract, Epos Now earns its place on your shortlist.
The £249 headline price does a lot of work in marketing copy. True year-one commitment is £897 minimum once the mandatory £54/month subscription is included. We’d want that figure in front of you before you pick up the phone.
The 1.5% integrated rate on Visa and Mastercard is competitive, beating Square’s 1.75% flat (verified squareup.com/gb, April 2026). That saving only counts once you’ve absorbed the subscription cost first.
Best For
Established retail shops, cafes, pubs, and restaurants that need a full counter setup in one commissioned installation. You get a touchscreen till, cash drawer, thermal printer, and cloud POS from a single UK provider.
Counter-based operators running multi-location visibility, stock control, and integrated card payments through one back office. If you run two or more sites, consolidated reporting is built in.
Hospitality businesses adding KDS, tableside ordering, and online ordering through the app marketplace without moving to a higher-priced specialist POS.
Not Ideal For
Low-volume mobile sellers, market traders, and sole traders taking occasional card payments. The £54/month subscription costs more than the per-transaction saving at modest volumes.
Operators who want a zero-subscription card reader with no software commitment. Square Reader or SumUp will work out cheaper if you don’t need POS depth.
Businesses that need instant settlement. Epos Now settles next working day; a Friday sale lands Monday.
Key Facts
Transaction fee: 1.5% flat on Visa and Mastercard via Epos Now Payments (verified April 2026). Amex is opt-in at a higher rate not publicly listed.
Hardware: Complete POS bundle from £249 (Pro-C15 touchscreen terminal, cash drawer, receipt printer). Hospitality bundles from £379.
Monthly fee: £54/month care and support subscription required with discounted hardware. 12-month minimum, auto-renews annually.
Settlement: next working day excluding weekends and bank holidays. Same-day available as a paid upgrade.
Connectivity: WiFi, Ethernet, and 4G on the Payments Lite standalone reader (embedded SIM).
- Complete counter bundle covers till, cash drawer, and thermal printer in one commissioned setup
- Integrated card rate of 1.5% flat on Visa and Mastercard is below Square’s 1.75% flat rate
- Same cloud Back Office covers retail and hospitality, with KDS, tableside, and online ordering as add-ons
- Next working day settlement on Epos Now Payments, with same-day available as a paid upgrade
- Xero and QuickBooks integrations confirmed, covering most UK small-business accounting setups
- Payments Lite standalone reader (1.5% rate, £179 outright) for operators who want hardware without the POS subscription
- True year-one commitment is £897 minimum (£249 hardware plus 12 months of £54/month subscription)
- ProtectNow Care Plan, if taken, is a separate 36-month fixed contract with early exit costing remaining payments minus 3.5%
- Whether a card reader is included in the £249 Complete Solution bundle is not confirmed on the product page
- Software licence auto-renews annually with 30 days written notice required; miss the window and you’re locked into another 12 months
- Amex rate for integrated Payments is not publicly stated; opt-in at a higher rate than standard
- Sage is not listed as a confirmed integration on the marketplace page
What Is Epos Now Payment Processing?
How Does Epos Now Payment Processing Work?
Epos Now is a Norfolk-based POS and payments provider selling into UK retail and hospitality. What you’re buying is three things in one contract: a hardware counter, Back Office cloud software, and card processing through Epos Now Payments.
Your sales path runs through a phone consultation rather than a self-serve checkout. You describe your business, Epos Now sizes a bundle, and pricing and contract terms come back in a written quote.
The core product is the Complete Solution bundle from £249. It includes a Pro-C15 touchscreen terminal, a metal cash drawer, a thermal receipt printer, Epos Now cloud software, and installation.
Whether you run retail or hospitality, the Back Office platform runs the same codebase. Sector-specific features such as KDS, tableside payments, and Yoello-powered online ordering are activated through the app marketplace rather than sold as a separate product tier.
The standalone Payments Lite reader is a separate product at £179 + VAT outright or £15 + VAT/month on a 12-month contract. It carries an embedded 4G SIM, a built-in receipt printer, and is rated up to 650 transactions per charge.
What Payment Types Does Epos Now Support?
Accepted card networks on Epos Now Payments: Visa, Mastercard, Diners, and Discover. All support chip and PIN, contactless, and digital wallet.
Amex, JCB, and UnionPay are opt-in on both Epos Now products. The integrated Amex rate is described as a second fixed rate without a published figure. We’d push Epos Now for that number in writing before committing if Amex matters to your customer mix.
Online ordering runs through Epos Now Order & Pay, powered by Yoello, from £25/month. Mail order and telephone order (MOTO) are not called out as headline features on the public pages.
How Much Does Epos Now Payment Processing Cost?
What Are Epos Now’s Transaction Fees?
Epos Now Payments charges 1.5% flat on Visa and Mastercard in person. This is the rate verified from eposnow.com/uk in April 2026.
Digital-wallet payments (Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay) route through the contactless interface at the same rate as the underlying card.
At 400 card transactions a month on a £25 average ticket, £10,000 of card turnover costs £150 in fees at 1.5%. Add the £54/month subscription and your all-in monthly cost is £204 to process that volume.
We’d compare that £204 against a standalone Square Reader at 1.75% with no subscription: the same £10,000 volume costs £175 in fees. Epos Now wins on rate but costs £29 more all-in once the subscription is included at this volume.
Are There Monthly, Setup or Hardware Fees?
The Complete Solution bundle starts from £249 on promotional pricing, reduced from £799. Named contents: Pro-C15 touchscreen terminal, metal cash drawer, thermal receipt printer, Epos Now cloud software, and installation.
A card reader is not explicitly named in the £249 bundle. Whether one is included or ordered separately as a Payments Lite unit at £179 + VAT is not confirmed on the public product page. Ask during the consultation call and put the answer in the written quote.
The mandatory £54/month care and support subscription runs on a 12-month licence that auto-renews annually. Written notice 30 days before renewal is required to cancel. Miss that window and you’re committed to another 12 months.
Installation and configuration are included with the bundle. A technician commissions the till, configures the software, and runs initial staff training. There is no separate setup fee.
What Other Fees Should You Watch?
The Amex rate for integrated Payments is described as a second fixed rate, not publicly listed. Ask for it in writing during the consultation call, particularly for hospitality venues with corporate Amex spend.
The ProtectNow Care Plan, if offered, is a separate 36-month fixed contract covering hardware care and support. Early exit costs remaining monthly payments minus 3.5%. We’d treat this as the most important number if it appears in your quote.
Software add-ons layer on: online ordering from £25/month, accounting sync from £25/month, Kitchen Display System from £19/month, and loyalty from £15/month. A hospitality counter with KDS, online ordering, and accounting sync lands above £100/month in software alone.
How Quickly Does Epos Now Pay Out?
What Are Epos Now’s Settlement Times?
Default settlement is next working day on Epos Now Payments, verified from eposnow.com/uk in April 2026. Weekends and bank holidays are excluded.
Monday card sales land Tuesday. Friday sales land Monday. Saturday and Sunday sales also land Monday, because the scheme does not settle over the weekend.
For a busy Friday-to-Sunday pub or restaurant, that means up to three days of takings arriving in one lump on Monday morning. We’d factor that weekend bridge into the working-capital view before signing, especially if supplier payments fall early in the week.
Bank holidays extend the gap further. A Friday payment before a bank holiday Monday won’t settle until Tuesday of that week.
Can Epos Now Hold, Delay or Reserve Funds?
Same-day settlement is a paid upgrade, not the default. The price is not published on Epos Now’s payment processing page; you’ll be quoted during the consultation call.
We’d ask for the same-day settlement price in writing during the sales call if cash flow is tight. It changes the all-in monthly cost calculation.
There is no instant wallet-style settlement comparable to MyPOS. Funds flow through standard bank clearing rails on an accelerated cycle.
Standard merchant underwriting applies at onboarding. High-risk sectors may face reserve requirements. Because your POS and card processing run through Epos Now together, a payment account pause can affect till operation, not just payouts. That coupling is worth naming before signing.
What Payment Features Does Epos Now Offer?
Does Epos Now Support Online, In-Person and Remote Payments?
In-person card acceptance is the core use case. The Complete Solution is built around a fixed counter: WiFi and Ethernet connect the Pro-C15 terminal at the till. If you need a counter-first setup, this is the right product shape.
For tableside or event use alongside your main counter, Payments Lite is the portable option. It carries an embedded 4G SIM, a built-in receipt printer, and all-day battery life rated up to 650 transactions per charge.
Online ordering runs through Epos Now Order & Pay powered by Yoello, from £25/month. You get QR-code tableside ordering, delivery, and collection, all feeding back into the Back Office.
MOTO (mail order, telephone order) and stand-alone payment links are not called out as headline features on the public pages. Confirm if those are part of your sales channel mix before you order.
What Integrations and Business Tools Are Included?
The app marketplace lists 10 categories. Named integrations include Xero, QuickBooks, Shopify, OpenTable, Caterbook, Deputy, Fourth Hospitality, Loyalzoo, and Yoello.
For ecommerce, Shopify sync connects products, stock, and orders between Shopify and the Back Office. Epos Now Online is the first-party webshop option for businesses without an existing ecommerce platform.
Xero and QuickBooks integrations sync automatically. When a payment is confirmed, the reconciliation records itself in the ledger. Sage is not listed as a confirmed integration; confirm with Epos Now support if your accountant works exclusively in Sage.
For hospitality bookings, OpenTable covers restaurant reservations and Caterbook handles hotels and guesthouses. For staff scheduling, Deputy and Fourth Hospitality are available through the marketplace.
How Does Epos Now Handle Chargebacks, Disputes and Security?
How Are Chargebacks and Disputes Managed?
Chargeback handling on Epos Now Payments runs through the merchant portal. Specific chargeback fees are not published on the public pages.
We’d want chargeback fee terms confirmed in writing before relying on a specific figure. Ask during the sales call and include it in the written quote.
If you run a hospitality venue with high-value table bookings, chargebacks on no-shows and disputes can be material. Your chargeback response window matters if you’re processing £200+ covers regularly.
Standard UK card scheme rules apply: customers have up to 120 days to raise a dispute on most card types. Epos Now Payments processes disputes through the normal acquiring workflow.
Is Epos Now Secure and Compliant?
PCI DSS compliance is managed through Epos Now Payments. No separate PCI compliance charge is levied on the integrated product, which removes the annual fee some merchant account providers add.
Card data flows through Epos Now Payments infrastructure rather than your local network, which limits your PCI scope as a merchant. For tableside use, Payments Lite carries point-to-point encryption from the card tap to the acquirer.
We’d still recommend completing the annual SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire) as required by your acquiring bank, even when the provider handles compliance infrastructure.
Standard merchant onboarding applies: company details, directors’ ID, expected transaction volumes, and average ticket size. UK limited companies and sole traders are typically approved within a few working days.
What Is Epos Now Like to Use Day to Day?
How Easy Is Epos Now to Set Up?
Installation and configuration come included with the bundle. A technician commissions the till, configures the software, and runs initial staff training on site.
Staff management, permissions, and till-level access controls are included from day one. Roles and PIN access can be configured per employee during the setup visit.
Multi-location visibility is built in. Stock and sales reporting consolidate across locations in the same back office without a separate configuration step.
For hospitality, KDS, tableside payments, and Yoello-powered online ordering layer on through the app marketplace rather than requiring a separate product tier or new installation.
What Is the Dashboard or App Like?
The Epos Now Back Office is a cloud POS accessible from any browser. Your bookkeeper can pull VAT-period sales data at month-end without logging into a terminal on the shop floor.
Core reports cover sales by product, staff, till, and time of day, plus stock levels, low-stock alerts, and purchase order tracking. Daily Z-reports and end-of-day reconciliation come as standard.
For multi-site operators, sales velocity and till performance across locations compare in one view. Export formats include CSV as standard, plus direct integrations for Xero and QuickBooks.
We’d tell you to check accounting integrations carefully before committing. Xero and QuickBooks are confirmed on the marketplace page. If your bookkeeper runs quarterly returns from Xero, the fee sync saves manual entry work.
What Do Customers Say About Epos Now?
What Do Positive Reviews Mention?
Public review patterns show the product performs well for counter-based retail and hospitality operators who understood the contract terms at sign-up.
Positive reviews reference the hardware setup quality, cloud reporting depth, and support quality on standard queries. Commissioned installation is particularly praised by operators new to POS systems.
Phone support and live chat responsiveness on routine queries draw consistent positive mentions. Operators who needed a full counter commissioned by a single provider describe the process as straightforward.
What Complaints Come Up Most Often?
The 36-month ProtectNow Care Plan and the 12-month auto-renewing software licence come up repeatedly in negative reviews.
Early-exit costs on the care plan (remaining payments minus 3.5%) catch operators who signed without reading the care plan terms separately from the main licence.
We’d describe the pattern as: operators who understood the product and read the full contract terms are broadly satisfied; operators who relied on the headline £249 figure were not.
Support response times show a mixed picture. Negative reviews cite slow response on account-level queries such as contract amendments. The practical safeguard is simple: get every contract element in writing before signing.
Who Is Epos Now Payment Processing Best For?
Which Businesses Is Epos Now Best Suited To?
Established retail shops, cafes, pubs, takeaways, restaurants, and hotel food-and-beverage operations are the core audience. If you need a full till commissioned as one installation, Epos Now fits your shape.
Counter-based operators running multi-location stock control and integrated card payments through one back office have the most to gain. Consolidated reporting across sites is built in rather than bolted on.
If your card volume runs to £5,000+ per month, you can absorb the £54/month subscription and come out ahead on rate versus subscription-free alternatives.
Hospitality businesses adding KDS, tableside ordering, or online ordering without a full specialist POS upgrade will find the marketplace add-on model a lower-cost route into those features.
When Should You Consider an Alternative?
If your card takings sit below £3,200/month, a subscription-free Square Reader or SumUp will usually be cheaper all-in. The per-transaction saving at 1.5% doesn’t cover the £54/month subscription at low volumes.
If you need portability above POS depth, start with a standalone reader. Epos Now’s counter setup is the wrong shape for a mobile trading pattern.
If instant settlement matters to your cash flow, MyPOS Go 2 removes the next-working-day gap that Epos Now’s default schedule creates for your weekend takings.
If you already bank with Tide and want card acceptance without a separate POS subscription, Tide Card Reader keeps your card takings and invoicing in one app.
What Are the Best Alternatives to Epos Now Payment Processing?
Epos Now vs Square Reader
Square Reader costs £19 + VAT and charges 1.75% flat on all in-person card payments. There is no monthly fee and no hardware bundle contract.
At modest volumes, Square Reader is cheaper all-in than Epos Now once the £54/month subscription is included. The break-even point sits at roughly £108,000 of annual card turnover.
We’d send retail and hospitality operators who need POS depth to Epos Now and operators who need simplicity to Square. Square removes the subscription and the hardware contract; the trade-off is thinner POS depth.
Epos Now vs myPOS Go 2
MyPOS Go 2 solves the specific problem of next-working-day settlement. Funds land in a MyPOS wallet immediately rather than waiting through the weekend.
The device is standalone with a built-in SIM, no POS counter, and no subscription. It suits event caterers and market traders who need mobile acceptance and instant cash flow.
We’d choose MyPOS Go 2 over Epos Now only for the instant settlement use case. For fixed-counter retail or hospitality with full POS needs, Epos Now is the more complete product.
Epos Now vs Tide Card Reader
Tide Card Reader is a banking-first product, not a POS platform. Plan rates start from 0.79% + 3p on debit for Tide business account holders.
It requires a Tide business account. Card takings land directly in the Tide account alongside invoicing and expenses. There is no inventory management, back-office reporting, or hardware bundle.
We’d consider Tide Card Reader as the right call only if you already bank with Tide and don’t need POS depth. Amex isn’t accepted and default settlement is 3 working days.
Final Verdict: Is Epos Now Payment Processing Worth It?
Epos Now earns its place for established counter-based retail or hospitality operators. The complete POS bundle, cloud back office, and 1.5% integrated rate work well together when your card volume absorbs the subscription.
The two contract layers are the risk. A 12-month auto-renewing licence and a potential 36-month ProtectNow Care Plan create a combined lock-in that goes well beyond most standalone card reader competitors. We’d want both terms confirmed in your written quote.
We’d recommend Epos Now if you’re taking £10,000+ per month in card sales and need a commissioned counter, cloud reporting, and integrated payments from one provider.
We’d steer you away from Epos Now if your card volumes are low, if weekend settlement speed matters to your cash flow, or if the subscription would cost more than it saves on your transaction fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What transaction fee does Epos Now charge?
Epos Now Payments charges 1.5% flat on Visa and Mastercard in-person transactions (verified eposnow.com/uk, April 2026). Amex is opt-in at a higher rate not publicly listed. Digital wallets match the underlying card rate.
Does Epos Now include hardware in its pricing?
The Complete Solution bundle starts from £249 and includes a Pro-C15 touchscreen terminal, cash drawer, and thermal receipt printer. A card reader is not explicitly named in the public bundle contents. Confirm whether one is included in your written quote.
What is Epos Now’s care plan and is it mandatory?
The £54/month care and support subscription is required to access the promotional £249 hardware price. The ProtectNow Care Plan is a separate 36-month fixed contract covering hardware care and support. Early exit costs remaining monthly payments minus 3.5%.
Does Epos Now accept American Express?
Amex is opt-in on Epos Now Payments. The integrated rate for Amex is described as a second fixed rate but is not published on the product page. Ask for the rate in writing during the consultation call, particularly for hospitality venues with corporate Amex spend.
Can I cancel an Epos Now subscription?
The 12-month software licence requires 30 days written notice before the renewal date to cancel. Miss the window and you are committed to another 12 months. The ProtectNow Care Plan, if taken, requires paying remaining monthly payments minus 3.5% to exit early.
What ecommerce integrations does Epos Now support?
Shopify sync connects products, stock, and orders between Shopify and the Epos Now Back Office. Epos Now Online is the first-party webshop option. Hospitality online ordering runs through Epos Now Order & Pay, powered by Yoello, from £25/month.
How we reviewed Epos Now
What we assessed. We evaluated Epos Now on pricing, contract terms, features, and eligibility. These are the factors that matter most to UK small businesses considering this provider.
Data sources. Epos Now’s pricing page, terms, and product docs were checked directly in April 2026. No comparison sites, no press releases, no affiliate material. FCA register cross-checked for regulatory status.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page at least monthly, and whenever a provider changes pricing, eligibility, or terms. The verification date on the page reflects the most recent full review. We have no affiliate relationship with Epos Now, see our editorial policy.