myPOS Card Reader at a Glance
Verdict
You pay £29 plus VAT for the Go 2 once, with no monthly fee and no contract. The rate is 1.10% + 7p on every UK consumer card in person, Amex included.
Your decision sits in where the money lands. Funds settle in about three seconds into a myPOS e-money account with a UK IBAN, not a traditional bank account.
Moving money out to an external UK business bank costs you £1.50 per transfer. If you use the included myPOS Mastercard for routine spend, you barely notice that step.
If you sweep everything into Barclays, HSBC, or Starling overnight, you pay the transfer fee every time. That is the trade-off you are buying.
If you pay your suppliers directly from your card takings rather than routing through a bank, the transfer step largely disappears from your cash flow model.
Best For
You will find myPOS fits best if you are a mobile tradesperson, market stall operator, or hospitality venue with Amex-carrying customers.
Your reader runs on a free 4G SIM with WiFi as backup. No paired phone or tablet required. An electrician finishing a job with 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 saves you the conversation about whether you accept the card.
Not Ideal For
You will find myPOS a weaker fit if you are a seasonal trader who parks the device over winter. The £15 inactivity fee applies after 10 months with no transactions.
If you insist on printed receipts at the cheapest hardware price, you are pushed to the £169 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
Hardware: £29 + VAT (Go 2); £169 + VAT (Go Combo with dock and printer). No monthly fee. No contract. PAYG.
In-person rate: 1.10% + 7p. Covers Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and Amex. Custom pricing available above £10,000/month.
Settlement: instant to myPOS e-money account. Transfer to UK bank: £1.50 per Faster Payments transfer.
Account type: FCA-authorised EMI (ref 900826). UK IBAN. Not FSCS-protected. Inactivity fee: £15 after 10 months with no transactions.
We verified current pricing, settlement terms, and device details from mypos.com/en-gb in April 2026.
What Is the myPOS Card Reader?
myPOS Payments Ltd is an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (FCA reference 900826). It is not a bank. The account you open alongside the reader is an e-money account with a UK IBAN.
That account comes with a free business Mastercard debit card and multi-currency support. We’d describe it as a payment wallet rather than a bank account.
Your entry-level mobile reader is the Go 2: a pocket-sized 4G terminal with contactless, chip & PIN, and magstripe acceptance.
Your 4G SIM is included free, so the device connects out of the box without a paired phone or a separate data plan. WiFi is available as a secondary connection for indoor use.
When your customer pays, the transaction settles into the myPOS account in about three seconds.
Digital receipts go out by email or SMS from the device. If you need a printed receipt, that requires the Go Combo at £169 with a built-in thermal printer.
Go Combo costs six times the Go 2. Your premium for the printer alone is £140.
- £29 + VAT for the Go 2 hardware; no monthly fee and no long-term contract
- 1.10% + 7p in person on UK consumer cards, at the low end of the UK market
- Amex accepted at the same 1.10% + 7p in person, not surcharged (rare in the UK)
- Standalone 4G with a free SIM plus WiFi: no paired phone or tablet required
- Instant settlement (about three seconds) to the myPOS account, with a free Mastercard debit card for direct spending
- Custom pricing available above £10,000 a month in card turnover
- Funds settle to a myPOS e-money account, not a bank account; transfers to an external UK bank cost £1.50 each
- The e-money account is not covered by FSCS deposit protection
- £15 inactivity fee after 10 months with no transactions
- No built-in receipt printer on the Go 2; the Go Combo adds one at £169
- Online and MO/TO rates are noticeably higher than in-person
- £15 chargeback fee per case and a 1% ATM withdrawal fee (min £2, max £10)
Fees and Costs
Card Payment Fees
In person, UK consumer cards cost 1.10% + 7p per transaction. That covers Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and American Express. We verified these against the myPOS UK fees page in April 2026.
Amex at the same rate is rare in the UK. Your rivals charge extra or decline it entirely.
A £40 sale costs 51p in fees. A market day of 50 transactions at a £40 basket is £2,000 turnover and £25.50 in fees.
At 150 transactions a day you are at £6,000 turnover and £76.50 in fees.
Custom pricing is available above £10,000 a month in card turnover. myPOS does not advertise this prominently. We’d suggest asking before accepting the published rate.
Online rates rise. Payment Request and payment-link flows for standard cards are 1.30% + 15p. Amex online is also 1.30% + 15p.
Hosted checkout for non-Amex cards sits at 2.50% + 15p. MO/TO (card not present, manually keyed) is 2.90% + 15p with an additional 0.5% on top.
If you run a mix of in-person and online, map the split before signing up. The online end of the range is less competitive than the in-person headline.
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.
If you are doing your VAT return quarterly, add the transfer fees to your HMRC payment to the cost model. Paying the VAT bill directly from your myPOS Mastercard removes that fee entirely.
Hardware Costs
The Go 2 is £29 plus VAT, paid once. You own the device outright: no rental, no return on cancellation, no lease paperwork.
In your box: reader, charger and cable, the free business Mastercard debit card, a user guide, a card acceptance sign, and a sticker.
If you need printed receipts, the Go Combo is £169 plus VAT and adds a charging dock with a built-in thermal printer.
Your reader is the same Go 2. The decision is whether printed receipts justify £140 more of hardware.
For a mobile tradesperson emailing receipts anyway, the Go 2 alone is plenty. For a coffee van serving tourists who ask for paper, the Go Combo earns its price.
Further up the range, the Ultra at £119 adds an Android touchscreen, a built-in high-speed printer, and an AppMarket. That is a counter-top proposition.
Monthly Fees and Contract Terms
No monthly service fee, no annual fee, no account-opening fee. PAYG pricing with no contract.
No minimum term or early-exit charge is published on the primary source pages. If exit flexibility matters to your cash flow, confirm that detail with myPOS before signing up.
The cost to watch in the absence of monthly fees is the inactivity charge: £15 is deducted after 10 months with no transactions.
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. We confirmed this against myPOS’s own timing description.
No batch processing overnight, no weekend delays, no bank holiday cut-off on this 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.
SEPA euro transfers are £4 each. International SHA transfers are 0.25% with a £9 minimum.
The free myPOS Mastercard debit card is the lever here. If you pay your suppliers, fuel bills, or VAT to HMRC from your myPOS balance, you skip the transfer fee entirely.
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
Settlement to the myPOS account is instant by default, with no extra charge. There is no instant payout upsell of the kind Square and SumUp run.
Your first leg of settlement already is instant.
If instant needs to mean in your bank account rather than in your myPOS account, the £1.50 external transfer is the relevant number.
myPOS does not publish a premium faster-transfer option for external payouts beyond the standard fee.
Card Reader Features
Accepted Payment Types
The Go 2 accepts Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and American Express through contactless, chip & PIN, or magstripe. Apple Pay and Google Pay work via the contactless reader.
American Express processes at the same 1.10% + 7p in-person rate as Visa and Mastercard. That is the standout point for tourist-facing and corporate-spending venues.
Square, Revolut Reader, and most traditional acquirers either surcharge Amex, route it at a higher internal rate, or decline it outright.
A hotel, restaurant, or retailer with regular American Express customers pays an extra 0.5%–1.5% on those transactions elsewhere. On myPOS Go 2, you do not.
Digital receipts are sent from the device by email or SMS. Printed receipts require the Go Combo dock.
Connectivity and Portability
The Go 2 is 136.6 x 67.6 x 21mm and weighs 181.6g with the battery in. It fits in an apron pocket and charges by USB-C.
Your 4G SIM is free and included. The reader also supports 2.4GHz WiFi and switches between the two.
If you run an indoor counter, you can use WiFi during service and fall back to 4G if the router drops. No paired phone needed for PIN entry: the PIN pad is on the Go 2 itself.
Your 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.
We verified the 4G + WiFi dual-connectivity spec against the myPOS Go 2 product page in April 2026.
Battery Life and Reliability
myPOS quotes a full day on a charge but does not publish hours or transaction-count figures.
If you trade through long days, treat the published battery claim with caution. Heavy users carry a small power bank as backup.
We’d suggest testing battery endurance on a quieter trading day before a high-volume event.
App, Dashboard and Reporting Features
App Features
The Go 2 is a payment terminal first, a POS second. The on-device interface handles payments, refunds, basic item entry, tipping prompts, and digital receipts.
Deeper reporting, transaction history, multi-user controls, and account management sit in the myPOS mobile app and the web dashboard.
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 £119 is the better fit.
Your myPOS account also includes a full remote payment toolkit: Payment Request (a one-time link), Payment Tag (reusable, customer sets amount), PayLink (fixed amount), PayButton (embeddable), Virtual Terminal, and hosted checkout.
Confirmed ecommerce integrations are WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, and PrestaShop. If you run Shopify or Wix, check current plugin availability before committing.
Online rates on these tools are higher: 1.30% + 15p for payment links on standard cards, 2.50% + 15p for hosted checkout. Map your channel mix honestly before ordering.
Reporting and Analytics
The myPOS app and web dashboard handle real-time transaction reporting, daily and monthly summaries, refund management, and multi-user access for staff and accountants.
CSV and PDF exports are available from the dashboard. That covers most small businesses passing data to a bookkeeper at month end.
We’d recommend exporting a test CSV in your first week to confirm your bookkeeper can import it cleanly.
Integrations
Direct Xero or QuickBooks integrations for the Go 2 account specifically are not confirmed on the primary UK product pages. Verify the current integration list at mypos.com/en-gb before committing.
Because the myPOS account is e-money rather than a traditional bank, it may not appear as a conventional bank feed in accounting software even where integrations exist for the Ultra device.
CSV export at month end stays reliable for accountants who prefer that workflow. We’d verify live integration availability directly with myPOS before committing.
Security, Compliance and Chargebacks
Payment Security and PCI Compliance
Your transactions run through myPOS Payments Ltd, an FCA-authorised Electronic Money Institution (ref 900826). PCI DSS compliance is managed by myPOS through their platform.
All card transactions are encrypted at the point of entry on your Go 2 device. The reader handles PIN entry locally, which keeps sensitive data off your phone.
We’d note that PCI DSS compliance is managed by myPOS rather than you, which reduces your compliance burden compared to a self-hosted payment page.
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. Risk-management holds are standard across UK acquirers, not specific to myPOS.
We’d suggest keeping support contact details to hand in your first month. That way, if your account is held, you can resolve it quickly without missing 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 the same as FSCS deposit protection, which covers your deposits up to £120,000 if a UK bank fails. We’d not treat the myPOS balance as a long-term savings vehicle.
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 fee applies regardless of whether the dispute is resolved in your favour. If you operate in a high-dispute environment, that stacks quickly.
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
Mobile tradespeople fit myPOS well: plumbers, electricians, gardeners, mobile mechanics, locksmiths, and dog walkers all benefit from the standalone 4G SIM.
The reader works on its own, anywhere with a signal, without depending on a customer’s WiFi or a paired phone with battery.
Hospitality and retail venues with Amex-carrying customers fit too: hotels, restaurants, boutique retailers in tourist areas, and venues serving corporate clientele.
Your in-person Amex rate matches the Visa and Mastercard rate. That is a real cost saving most UK rivals do not match.
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 £1,000/month in card payments, you pay around £11 in card fees with no monthly overhead. At £5,000/month, the cost is roughly £55.
Against Square, myPOS wins on rate at every turnover level: 1.10% + 7p versus 1.75% flat.
Against Tide and Revolut Readers, your comparison is less about rate and more about where funds land. myPOS uses its own e-money account; Tide and Revolut use the business accounts you already run.
When to Consider Alternatives
Weaker fits: seasonal traders who park the reader for more than 10 months run into the £15 inactivity fee.
Businesses that insist on printed receipts on the cheapest hardware are pushed to the £169 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
You contact support by email and through the myPOS app. Live chat and phone support availability were not confirmed on the public site for all account tiers.
We’d suggest testing support response times during your first week rather than waiting for a live chargeback to discover the lag.
Customer Review Themes
Positive review patterns highlight the speed of settlement, the reliability of the standalone 4G connection, and the Amex rate parity.
The £29 hardware price and the lack of monthly fees also draw favourable mentions. These align with the product’s core strengths.
Common Complaints
Recurring complaints in public myPOS reviews cluster around two themes: onboarding verification friction and support response times during peak periods.
Neither is unusual in the UK card acceptance market, but both directly affect your first few weeks of using the reader.
Account verification is the variable. Straightforward applications clear inside a day; complex structures can extend the timeline significantly.
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. Three alternatives each solve a specific myPOS trade-off.
If the £1.50 transfer fee or the e-money account structure is a deal-breaker, we’d suggest Square: closest like-for-like on hardware simplicity, with next-day settlement straight to your normal bank.
If you already bank with Revolut or Tide, their own readers remove the account-opening step and keep your card takings flowing to where your invoices already land.
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 rate (1.10% + 7p versus 1.75%) and on standalone connectivity. Square wins on settlement simplicity: no intermediary wallet, no £1.50 transfer fee.
For businesses with monthly Amex volume, myPOS is the clear choice. For sole traders wanting the simplest possible setup, Square removes more friction.
myPOS vs Revolut Reader
Revolut Reader requires an existing Revolut Business account. Takings land in the Revolut balance instantly, inside the same app you already use for FX and expenses.
If you already bank with Revolut Business, we’d consider the Reader seriously: it keeps card takings, FX, and expense control in one place.
Against myPOS: Revolut wins on account breadth; myPOS wins on Amex parity and 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.
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?
At £29 plus VAT, 1.10% + 7p in person, and Amex at that same rate, the myPOS Go 2 is the strongest value standalone 4G reader in the UK market right now.
The case for it is clear: mobile businesses, Amex-carrying venues, and anyone who needs a reader that works without a phone. Standalone 4G connectivity is genuinely rare at this price.
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 recommend it without hesitation for market traders, mobile tradespeople, and hospitality venues with regular Amex business.
We’d steer you toward Square if direct bank settlement matters more than rate, or toward Tide/Revolut if you already hold a business account with either provider.
The free myPOS Mastercard is the under-discussed piece of the product. The version of the Go 2 we’d recommend is the one paired with it, used as a dual settlement and spending account for day-to-day business costs.
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, Maestro, and American Express. 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. There is no premium instant-transfer option 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 at the same 1.10% + 7p in-person rate as Visa and Mastercard. No surcharge applies. This is rare among UK card reader providers.
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.
How we reviewed myPOS
What we assessed. We evaluated myPOS on pricing, contract terms, features, and eligibility. These are the factors that matter most to UK small businesses considering this provider.
Data sources. myPOS’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. Some links on this page are affiliate links, see our editorial policy.