Our Verdict
For a mobile business, the myPOS Go 2 is an easy yes: £39 + VAT hardware, 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer cards (Amex 2.45% + 7p), and a reader that works without a paired phone. None of the other readers we compared matches that combination at the price without a monthly plan.
The one real catch is where your money lands. Takings settle in about three seconds, but into a myPOS e-money wallet with a UK IBAN, not your own bank account, and moving funds out to a UK bank costs £1.50 a transfer.
Spend straight from the free myPOS Mastercard and that friction largely disappears.
See myPOS pricing →myPOS Card Reader at a Glance
Best For
If you work out of a van or off a market stall, the Go 2 does what the Square Reader cannot: it runs on its own free 4G SIM, with WiFi as backup, so nothing has to be paired to it. An electrician finishing a job on a flat phone battery can still take the next payment.
If you run a market stall or food festival stand and regularly take Amex from corporate card holders, myPOS takes the card, though at 2.45% + 7p rather than the consumer rate.
Not Ideal For
Park the device over winter and the account starts charging you for it: £15 after 10 months with no transactions, which lands in the autumn for a Christmas-only trader. Printed receipts are the other gap, because the Go 2 emails or texts them and the cheapest myPOS model that prints is the £169 + VAT Go Combo.
Businesses that want takings dropping directly into an FSCS-protected bank account should factor in the £1.50 transfer fee on every sweep.
Key Facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hardware | £39 + VAT (Go 2); £169 + VAT (Go Combo with printer dock). No monthly fee, no contract, PAYG. |
| In-person rate | 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer Visa, Mastercard and Maestro; Amex 2.45% + 7p. Custom pricing above £10,000 a month. |
| Settlement | Instant to the myPOS e-money account; £1.50 per Faster Payments transfer out to a UK bank. |
| Account type | FCA-authorised EMI (ref 900826), UK IBAN, not FSCS-protected. £15 inactivity fee after 10 months with no transactions. |
| Verified 5 October 2026; Go 2 price and in-person rates read again 5 November 2026. | |
Source: mypos.com/en-gb.
What Is the myPOS Card Reader?
The myPOS Go 2 is a standalone 4G card reader, but the account it settles into is what shapes your decision: it is an e-money account, not a bank.
The provider, myPOS Payments Ltd, is an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (FCA reference 900826), and the account you open carries a UK IBAN.
That account comes with a free business Mastercard debit card and multi-currency support. Reading the legal agreement, it is a payment wallet rather than a bank account: your money sits in safeguarding accounts, which are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The Go 2 is the reader most people mean by “the myPOS card reader”, and the entry model in a small family that runs from a free Tap to Pay app up to the counter-top Ultra. All four take the same cards into the same account, so what the extra money buys is printed receipts and on-device POS software, not a better rate.
Fees and Costs
Card Payment Fees
In person, UK consumer cards cost 1.10% + 7p per transaction. That covers Visa, Mastercard and Maestro. We read this rate and the Amex rate below on the myPOS UK fees page again on 5 November 2026.
On a £40 consumer-card sale the fee is 51p. A market day of 50 sales at a £40 basket is £2,000 through the reader and £25.50 kept back, and a busy 150-sale day is £6,000 and £76.50. Either way the fee is about 1.28% of what you take. It only climbs on smaller sales, because the 7p stays the same whatever the basket.
Amex costs more, at 2.45% + 7p in person, so a business with heavy Amex volume should compare that rate with flat-rate rivals.
Above £10,000 a month in card turnover, myPOS prices to the business rather than to the rate card, and it says so quietly. Ask for a quote before you accept 1.10% + 7p.
Take the same card without the reader in your hand and the rate rises, by how much depending on which remote tool you use.
| Payment channel | Rate |
|---|---|
| In person (UK consumer Visa, Mastercard, Maestro) | 1.10% + 7p |
| American Express in person | 2.45% + 7p |
| Online, UK consumer cards (any online tool) | 1.30% + 15p |
| American Express online | 2.50% + 15p |
| Online, all other consumer and commercial cards | 2.90% + 15p |
| Mail or telephone order (keyed) | The card’s online rate, plus 0.5% |
| Verified 5 October 2026; every rate here read again 5 November 2026. | |
Source: mypos.com/en-gb. MO/TO is card-not-present, manually keyed.
That gap matters if you sell both ways. Taking £40 at the counter costs 51p; taking the same £40 by payment link costs 67p, and on a card that falls outside the domestic consumer rate it costs £1.31.
Other fees to budget: £15 chargeback fee per case, 1% ATM withdrawal fee on the myPOS Mastercard (£2 min, £10 max), and the £15 inactivity charge after 10 months.
The quarterly VAT bill is the clearest example: move the money to your own bank first and you pay £1.50 to do it, or pay HMRC straight off the myPOS Mastercard and pay nothing.
Hardware Costs
The Go 2 is £39 plus VAT, paid once, and the device is yours: no rental, nothing to send back if you stop, no lease paperwork to sign. The box holds the reader, charger and cable, the free business Mastercard, a user guide and a card acceptance sign for the stall.
| Model | Price (excl. VAT) | Receipts | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tap to Pay | £0 | Digital only | Occasional acceptance on a compatible phone, no hardware to buy |
| Go 2 | £39 | Digital only | Mobile and outdoor sellers who do not need a printed receipt |
| Go Combo | £169 | Built-in printer (dock) | Hospitality and retail needing printed receipts with mobile flexibility |
| Ultra | £179 | Built-in printer | Counter-top or higher volume: Android, touchscreen and app installs |
| Verified 5 October 2026; Go 2 and Ultra prices read again 5 November 2026. | |||
Prices exclude VAT. Source: mypos.com/en-gb. A separate Unattended reader for vending and kiosks exists; myPOS does not list its price publicly.
All four share the same myPOS account and card acceptance, so the price gap buys hardware, not capability. The £130 step up to the Go Combo buys printed receipts; the Ultra adds an on-device Android POS.
A mobile plumber emailing receipts from the van after a job is fine on the Go 2 alone. A coffee van at a Saturday market, serving tourists who ask for a paper receipt, will want the Go Combo.
Monthly Fees and Contract Terms
No monthly service fee, no annual fee, no account-opening fee. PAYG pricing with no contract.
We found no minimum term and no early-exit charge on the myPOS UK pricing pages, which is consistent with the pay-as-you-go pricing it advertises. Since you buy the reader outright, there is no hardware contract to run down either.
What replaces the monthly fee is a charge for standing still. After 10 months with no transactions, myPOS takes £15 out of the balance.
If you are a Christmas-only trader, that is a real annual cost hitting your account in autumn. Your workaround: run a token transaction each quarter, or close the account at the end of season and reopen when you start trading again.
Payouts and Settlement Times
Standard settlement times. Settlement into your myPOS account is instant: about three seconds from card authorisation, on the figure myPOS publishes on its own UK pricing pages, which we checked in October 2026.
There is no overnight batch, no weekend delay and no bank holiday cut-off on that first leg.
Moving money from your myPOS account to an external UK business bank costs £1.50 per transfer. If you sweep your cash flow to your main bank daily, that adds up.
If you transfer twice a week, you pay roughly £12–£13 a month in transfer fees on top of your card fees. Worth factoring into your monthly cost model.
- To a UK bank (Faster Payments): £1.50 per transfer
- SEPA euro transfer: £4 per transfer
- International (SHA): 0.25%, minimum £9
The free myPOS Mastercard is what makes the £1.50 avoidable rather than unavoidable. Pay suppliers, fuel and the VAT bill off the myPOS balance and the money never has to cross into another bank, so the transfer fee only bites on the cash you genuinely need somewhere else.
We’d recommend setting up your supplier payments from the myPOS balance before your first month of trading. That turns the £1.50 transfer fee into a non-issue.
Faster payout options. There is nothing to buy here, because the fast part is already free: myPOS charges no instant-payout premium of the kind Square bills at 1.95%. If instant has to mean in your own bank rather than in the wallet, the number that matters is the £1.50, and we found no premium faster-transfer option published above it.
Card Reader Features
Accepted Payment Types
You will not turn a paying customer away: the Go 2 takes every major card and wallet, including American Express, which runs at 2.45% + 7p in person against 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer Visa and Mastercard.
Acceptance spans contactless, chip & PIN, and magstripe, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay through the contactless reader.
Amex is the one card where the rate advantage reverses. At 2.45% + 7p it costs a hotel or restaurant more than double what a Visa debit does, and Square publishes a single 1.75% on UK cards with no separate Amex price at all, so on Amex takings Square is the cheaper of the two.
Digital receipts are sent from the device by email or SMS. Printed receipts require the Go Combo dock.
Connectivity and Portability
Small enough to live in an apron pocket, the Go 2 is a true standalone terminal, which is the whole point if you trade from a stall or the back of a van with no wi-fi to borrow and no socket to plug into. Here is what you actually get:
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 136.6 x 67.6 x 21 mm |
| Weight | 181.6g (with battery) |
| Connectivity | Free 4G SIM plus 2.4GHz WiFi, auto-switching |
| Charging | USB-C |
| PIN entry | On-device pad, no paired phone |
| Verified 5 October 2026. | |
Source: the myPOS Go 2 product page.
If you run an indoor counter, you can use WiFi during service and fall back to 4G if the router drops.
The self-contained design removes a failure point for off-grid trading: a plumber in a basement, a festival trader between network cells, or a mobile groomer on a residential street.
Battery Life and Reliability
myPOS quotes a full trading day on a single charge and stops there: no hours, no transaction count, nothing you could hold it to. Treat that as a claim rather than a specification, and if your day runs from a 6am market set-up to an evening pack-down, a small USB-C power bank costs less than the sales you would lose at four o’clock. Try the battery on a quieter trading day before you rely on it at a high-volume event.
App, Dashboard and Reporting Features
App features. The Go 2 is a payment terminal first and a till second. On the device you get payments, refunds, basic item entry, tipping prompts and digital receipts; everything heavier, meaning transaction history, reporting, multi-user controls and account management, sits in the myPOS app and the web dashboard instead.
What you do not get on the Go 2 itself is full POS functionality: no built-in loyalty, no deep inventory, no integrated staff rota, no CRM.
For a mobile trader taking payments, that is rarely an issue. For a cafe wanting a counter-top workflow with item grids, the Ultra at £179 + VAT is the better fit.
The myPOS account also includes a full remote payment toolkit for taking payments without the reader in hand:
- Payment Request: a one-time payment link
- Payment Tag: a reusable link where the customer sets the amount
- PayLink: a fixed-amount link
- PayButton: an embeddable button for your site
- Virtual Terminal: key in card-not-present payments
- Hosted checkout: a full ecommerce checkout page
The shopping-cart plugins myPOS names include WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart and PrestaShop, alongside X-Cart, osCommerce, Zen Cart and CloudCart. We found no Shopify or Wix plugin listed on its UK pages.
Online rates on these tools are higher, and the same whichever tool you use: 1.30% + 15p on UK consumer cards, 2.50% + 15p on Amex and 2.90% + 15p on other cards. Map your channel mix honestly before ordering.
Reporting and analytics. Reporting is built for a small business and its accountant rather than for an analyst: real-time transactions, daily and monthly summaries, refunds, and multi-user access across the app and the web dashboard. CSV and PDF export out of the dashboard is what most sole traders and micro-businesses actually need, because it is the file a bookkeeper wants at month end.
We’d recommend exporting a test CSV in your first week to confirm your bookkeeper can import it cleanly.
Integrations. myPOS names no accounting integration for the Go 2 account on its UK product pages, and we could not find one. Takings land in the myPOS account and come out again by transfer, so the reconciliation is manual unless you build it yourself.
Being an e-money account rather than a bank, it may also not show up as a conventional bank feed in accounting software, even where an integration exists for the Ultra. If you are VAT-registered and used to transactions arriving in Xero or QuickBooks on their own, plan on the monthly CSV being the route rather than the fallback.
Security, Compliance and Chargebacks
Payment security and PCI compliance. PCI DSS compliance is handled on the myPOS platform, which is a real saving in paperwork compared with running your own payment page. Transactions go through myPOS Payments Ltd, an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (reference 900826), and are encrypted on the device as the card is presented.
The reader handles PIN entry locally, which keeps sensitive data off your phone.
Fraud checks and account holds. If you process a high-value first transaction or spike in volume, that can trigger a review hold on your account. We found no published figures comparing how often card providers hold accounts, so treat this as a risk of taking cards rather than a myPOS fault.
Keep the support contact details to hand in your first month, so that if your account is held you can clear it without losing a trading day.
Funds held in your myPOS account are safeguarded under FCA e-money rules, which require the institution to hold your money separately from company money.
That is not FSCS protection, which covers up to £120,000 per eligible person if a UK bank fails, and the FSCS states plainly that it cannot protect e-money firms. Keep working float in the myPOS balance by all means; do not leave a tax reserve sitting there.
Look past the rate. It is the chargeback fee that stings.
Chargeback handling. If a customer disputes a payment, your chargeback fee is £15 per case, handled through the myPOS dashboard with evidence upload.
The £15 applies whether or not the dispute goes your way. Win a £60 dispute and you are still £15 down, so two disputes in a month cost you more than the card fees on a £2,000 market day.
We’d recommend reviewing your expected chargeback exposure before committing, especially if you work in hospitality or retail with high-value single transactions.
Who the myPOS Card Reader Is Best For
Best business types. The standalone 4G SIM is what makes this a trades reader rather than a retail one, because nothing in the chain depends on a customer’s wi-fi or your own phone battery:
- Plumbers and electricians
- Gardeners and mobile mechanics
- Locksmiths
- Dog walkers and mobile groomers
Hospitality and retail venues fit too: hotels, restaurants, boutique retailers in tourist areas, and venues serving corporate clientele.
Your in-person Amex rate is 2.45% + 7p, higher than the 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer Visa and Mastercard, so check it against your monthly Amex take.
Best sales environments. Market traders, street food operators, and event stall holders benefit most. The Go 2 works where WiFi is unreliable, runs for a full trading day, and settles takings instantly.
At a £40 average sale, £1,000 a month through the reader costs about £12.75 in card fees, with no monthly charge on top; at £5,000 it is about £63.75. The same £5,000 on Square’s flat 1.75% is £87.50, so the rate gap is worth nearer £285 a year than a rounding error once you are trading properly.
That saving depends on the size of each sale, not the size of the month, because the 7p is the same whatever the basket. Below about £11 a sale Square’s 1.75% is the cheaper of the two: on a £4 sale myPOS takes about 11p and Square 7p.
Against the Tide reader, your comparison is less about rate and more about where funds land. myPOS uses its own e-money account; Tide pays into the business account you already run.
When to consider alternatives. Three profiles should look elsewhere. A seasonal trader who parks the reader for 10 months pays the £15 inactivity fee, and a business that needs a printed receipt has to find £130 more for the Go Combo.
Finance-team-heavy businesses that want takings dropping straight into an FSCS-protected bank account overnight should factor in the £1.50 transfer fee on every sweep.
If you run ecommerce-first, your online rates are less competitive than the in-person headline suggests. We’d model the channel mix before committing.
Customer Support and Reviews
Support channels. Support runs by email and through the myPOS app. We could not confirm live chat or a phone line for all account tiers from the public UK pages, which matters more than it sounds: a reader that will not authorise on a Saturday morning is not an email-shaped problem. Send support a question in your first week, rather than waiting for a live chargeback to discover the lag.
What reviewers praise. The themes that recur in positive reviews are the settlement speed and the reliability of the 4G connection.
The £39 + VAT hardware price and the lack of monthly fees also draw favourable mentions. These align with the product’s core strengths.
Recurring complaints. Two themes recur: onboarding verification and support response times at busy periods. Account verification is the variable, because straightforward applications clear inside a day while complex structures can take longer.
If you need the reader for a specific trading date, we’d build in a week of slack rather than assuming same-day go-live.
myPOS Card Reader Alternatives
myPOS is not the best fit in every buying situation: SumUp, Square and Tide each solve a specific myPOS trade-off, and we include the withdrawn Revolut Reader for anyone who still owns one.
If the £1.50 transfer fee or the e-money account structure is a deal-breaker, we’d pick Square: the closest match on hardware simplicity, with next-day settlement straight to your normal bank. If you already bank with Tide, its reader removes the account-opening step and keeps your card takings flowing to where your invoices already land.
myPOS vs SumUp
SumUp is the closest direct rival on positioning: a low-cost reader with no monthly fee and no contract, on a flat 1.69% for every card type. Its £25 + VAT Solo Lite pairs with your phone, though, so the fair match for the Go 2 is SumUp’s standalone Solo at £79 + VAT.
On UK consumer cards myPOS undercuts that rate on any sale above about £12, once the 1.10% saving outweighs the 7p. Below that SumUp is cheaper, and it is cheaper on Amex at any size of sale, where myPOS charges 2.45% + 7p against SumUp’s flat 1.69%.
SumUp’s other advantage is the money trail: takings reach your normal bank in one to three business days, or a SumUp Business Account the next day, with no £1.50 transfer step.
For small sales, Amex and a simpler money trail, SumUp is lighter; for consumer cards on sales above about £12, and for a reader that needs no phone at £39 + VAT, myPOS wins. See our full SumUp vs myPOS comparison for the detail.
myPOS vs Square Reader
Square Reader is £19 + VAT with a flat 1.75% on every card. Settlement goes next day to your normal bank account.
myPOS wins on standalone connectivity, and on UK consumer cards it costs less on any sale above about £11 (1.10% + 7p versus 1.75%). Square is cheaper on smaller sales and wins on settlement simplicity: no intermediary wallet, no £1.50 transfer fee.
For businesses with heavy Amex volume, Square’s flat 1.75% beats myPOS’s 2.45% + 7p on those cards. For sole traders wanting the simplest possible setup, Square removes more friction.
myPOS vs Revolut Reader
Revolut no longer sells the Reader, so this comparison only applies if you already own one. If you are buying today, Revolut’s cheapest device is the £129 Lite Terminal, against £39 + VAT for the Go 2.
An owner on Revolut Business keeps a lower rate than myPOS, 0.8% + 2p on UK consumer cards, and we’d run the Reader for as long as it works. Takings settle into a Revolut Merchant account, usually within 24 hours, and one transfer moves them into the same app you already use for FX and expenses. That is a day behind myPOS, which credits takings to its own account instantly.
Against myPOS, Revolut wins on account breadth if you already pay for Revolut Business; myPOS wins on working without any business account prerequisite.
myPOS vs Tide Card Reader
Tide Card Reader requires a Tide business account. Takings land where the invoices do, which removes the transfer step myPOS introduces. For non-Tide businesses, myPOS is less committing: you do not need to open a full business account first.
We’d recommend matching the reader to your existing bank account before chasing headline rate. Full comparison: our Tide Card Reader vs myPOS guide.
For a full comparison across all options, see our best card machines for small businesses roundup.
Final Verdict: Is the myPOS Card Reader Worth It?
Worth it for mobile businesses; the catch is the transfer fee. At £39 plus VAT, with 1.10% + 7p in person on UK consumer cards, the myPOS Go 2 is the cheapest standalone 4G reader we compared that needs no monthly plan.
The case for it is clear: mobile businesses and anyone who needs a reader that works without a phone. Tide’s Card Reader also runs on its own 4G SIM, but it costs £49 + VAT without a paid plan, and you need a Tide business account to use it.
The case against is equally clear: funds land in an e-money account, not a bank. Every transfer out to Barclays, HSBC, or Starling costs £1.50. Seasonal traders risk the £15 inactivity fee.
We’d choose it for market traders and mobile tradespeople without much hesitation. We’d choose Square instead if getting the money into your own bank unaided matters more to you than the rate, and the Tide reader if Tide is already where your invoices land, because then the takings arrive in the account you reconcile anyway.
One last thing: the free Mastercard is what makes the e-money account workable rather than awkward. Run the myPOS balance as a working account you spend from, on fuel, stock and the VAT bill, and the £1.50 you were worried about only applies to money you genuinely need to move.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the myPOS Go 2 transaction fee?
The in-person transaction fee is 1.10% + 7p per transaction on UK consumer cards, including Visa, Mastercard and Maestro. American Express costs 2.45% + 7p. Custom pricing is available above £10,000/month in card turnover.
Is myPOS Go 2 a standalone reader?
Yes. The Go 2 includes a free 4G SIM and also supports 2.4GHz WiFi. You do not need a paired phone or tablet to take a payment.
How fast does myPOS settle payments?
Settlement to the myPOS e-money account takes about three seconds. Transferring funds from the myPOS account to an external UK bank costs £1.50 per transfer. No premium instant-transfer option exists for external bank payouts.
Is the myPOS account a bank account?
No. myPOS Payments Ltd is an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (ref 900826), not a bank. The account is an e-money account with a UK IBAN. It is not covered by FSCS deposit protection.
Does myPOS accept American Express?
Yes. Amex is accepted in person at 2.45% + 7p, against 1.10% + 7p on UK consumer Visa and Mastercard. Businesses with heavy Amex volume should compare that rate with flat-rate rivals.
What happens if I don’t use my myPOS account?
An inactivity fee of £15 is charged after 10 consecutive months with no transactions. Seasonal traders should either run a token transaction each quarter or close the account cleanly at the end of the trading season.
Which myPOS card reader should I choose?
For most mobile businesses the Go 2 at £39 + VAT is the right pick: standalone 4G, digital receipts, no printer. Choose the Go Combo (£169 + VAT) if you need printed receipts, or the Ultra (£179 + VAT) for an Android touchscreen with app installs on a counter-top. Tap to Pay (£0) suits occasional acceptance on a compatible phone with no hardware to buy.
Is myPOS or SumUp cheaper?
In person, myPOS is cheaper on UK consumer cards on any sale above about £12, at 1.10% + 7p against SumUp’s flat 1.69%. It is dearer on smaller sales, and on Amex at 2.45% + 7p. SumUp is simpler on settlement: it pays out to your normal bank in one to three business days, while myPOS settles instantly to an e-money wallet you then pay £1.50 to move out. Our SumUp vs myPOS comparison has the full breakdown.
How we reviewed myPOS
What we assessed. We weighed the published card rates against each other and against Square, SumUp and Tide, costed the transfer and inactivity fees that sit outside the headline rate, and checked the eligibility and contract terms.
Data sources. myPOS’s pricing page, terms, and product docs were checked directly in October 2026, and the rates again on 5 November 2026. No comparison sites, no press releases, no affiliate material. FCA register cross-checked for regulatory status.
Update cadence. We re-verify this page regularly, and whenever a provider changes pricing, eligibility, or terms. The rates date at the top of the page shows when we last read the rates at the provider. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.