Revolut Card Reader at a Glance
Verdict
If you already use Revolut Business, adding the Reader costs £49 and nothing more monthly.
The rate is 0.8% + 2p in person on every plan; Basic, Grow, and Scale all pay the same.
That rate is worth having. We’d struggle to find a simpler, lower-cost path into card acceptance for an existing Revolut Business user.
If you’re opening Revolut purely to get the Reader, the first-year cost is £169 minimum. That changes the comparison.
Best For
If you already run Revolut Business for banking, FX, or expenses, you can add card acceptance in the same app.
If you turn over more than about £1,100 in cards a month, the 0.8% + 2p rate already beats Square’s 1.75% after the plan fee.
Limited companies, LLPs, and partnerships are the accepted structures. The free plan ended in March 2025, so you need a paid plan.
Not Ideal For
If you trade as a UK sole trader, Revolut Business won’t take you at all. Revolut Pro, in the personal app, is where you get sent.
Your entity type decides this. Turnover doesn’t come into it.
If you’d be taking on a £10/month plan just to get the Reader, we’d model your volumes first.
Below roughly £1,100/month in card turnover, Square’s zero monthly fee makes it the cheaper option overall.
Key Facts
Hardware: £49 + VAT (Reader); £169 + VAT (Terminal, standalone, accepts Amex).
In-person rate: 0.8% + 2p on Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, and Google Pay across all paid plans.
Online rate: 1% + 2p standard; 0.5% + 2p via Revolut Pay; 1.7% + 20p for Amex.
Plans: Basic £10/month flat. Grow £35/month billed monthly, or £30 if you pay for the year up front. Scale £125/month billed monthly, or £90 annually. No free tier since March 2025.
If your business uses Revolut for supplier payments or FX transfers, the plan cost is already baked into your operating costs.
Settlement: 24 hours including weekends after a 7-day first-payout hold on new accounts.
No contract on the hardware. Reader is bought outright.
What Is the Revolut Card Reader?
Revolut Reader is a Bluetooth card reader built by Revolut, the UK-authorised business banking and payments group.
It pairs to a phone or tablet running the Revolut Business app. The app handles the sale, routes the payment, and records it against the connected merchant account.
The device is pocket-sized, with a small screen, a contactless zone, and a chip slot, charged over USB-C.
Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, and Mastercard all process at 0.8% + 2p in person.
If you want to accept Amex, the Reader hardware doesn’t support it. Amex cardholders must pay online or via the separate Revolut Terminal.
The paired phone needs Wi-Fi or mobile data for each transaction. The device cannot run standalone.
Funds land in the Revolut Business account within 24 hours, seven days a week.
When you take your first payment with a new account, expect a 7-day hold before money reaches your balance.
After that first hold, the 24-hour cycle runs continuously including weekends and bank holidays.
We confirmed the 7-day hold directly with Revolut’s help centre in April 2026.
Fees and Costs
Card Payment Fees
Revolut Reader charges 0.8% of the transaction value plus 2p per transaction on UK cards in person.
If your average sale is £40, your card fee is 34p. Fifty transactions at £40 each (£2,000 turnover) costs £17 in card fees.
That rate is unusually low for a small-business reader in the UK.
It does not change when you move up plans. Whether you’re on Basic, Grow, or Scale, you pay 0.8% + 2p on Visa and Mastercard.
This trips buyers up because SumUp, Zettle, and most acquirers reduce processing rates on higher plans.
Higher plans add banking allowances (more free transfers, higher FX limits), not cheaper card acceptance.
We checked the Grow and Scale schedules against Basic and confirmed the flat card rate.
Other rates worth knowing: Revolut Pay is 0.5% + 2p; online card payments are 1% + 2p; Amex online is 1.7% + 20p.
Amex in person on the Reader is not available at any rate.
If Amex is common in your client base, the Terminal at £169 is the relevant hardware.
Hardware Costs
The Reader is £49 plus VAT, paid once.
It isn’t rented and doesn’t need to be returned if you close your account. Delivery takes a few working days.
The Terminal is a separate device at £169 + VAT with standalone 4G connectivity and in-person Amex acceptance.
The £120 price gap pays for three things: Amex acceptance in person, standalone operation without a phone, and a built-in printer.
For occasional mobile traders, those are features you’d probably not use. For a fixed retail counter, we’d usually call them decisive.
Receipts are digital by default, sent by email or text from the Revolut Business app. The Terminal has a built-in printer; the Reader does not.
There is no accessory ecosystem around the Reader: no counter stands, cash drawers, or kitchen display systems.
Monthly Fees and Contract Terms
The Revolut Business plan is required for the Reader to work. Basic is £10/month, flat, and it is the tier almost every Reader buyer will sit on.
Grow and Scale need reading twice. Revolut fronts them as £30 and £90 a month, but those are annual-equivalent rates you only get by paying a year up front.
Billed monthly, Grow is £35 and Scale is £125. The number on the pricing page is the discounted one, and it is the number nearly every comparison site has copied out, us included until we checked the billing terms.
The advertised price isn’t the price most buyers pay. The catch is the billing term, not the tier.
Committing for a year costs £360 on Grow or £1,080 on Scale. That is roughly 14% off Grow and 28% off Scale, which is a real saving if you can stomach paying twelve months in advance.
None of it touches the card rate. Whichever tier you land on, the Reader still charges 0.8% + 2p in person.
The free plan was withdrawn in March 2025. New customers must choose a paid plan from signup, and no Reader-only tier exists that skips the banking plan.
If you already use Revolut Business, the plan fee is a sunk cost and the Reader adds nothing monthly.
If you’re opening Revolut purely for the Reader, your first-year total is £49 hardware plus £120 in Basic fees.
That’s £169 before you take a penny over the counter: a different conversation to Square’s £19 with no ongoing commitment.
There is no contract on the hardware. The Reader is bought outright.
Payouts and Settlement Times
Standard Settlement Times
Standard settlement is 24 hours, seven days a week. We verified the payout cycle in April 2026.
If you trade Saturday markets, takings arrive in the Revolut Business account on Sunday.
That’s a real difference from older acquirer products that only settle on working days.
The first payout is held for 7 days, a caveat most comparison sites miss.
Revolut reviews your transaction history before releasing funds on the standard 24-hour cycle.
After the first successful payout, subsequent takings follow the 24-hour cycle continuously.
Funds land in the Revolut Business merchant account, not directly in an external UK bank.
If you use a separate bank for payroll or supplier payments, moving takings out of Revolut is an extra step. On Basic, UK local transfers are included up to the plan allowance.
Faster Payout Options
If you’re hoping for instant payouts in the Square or SumUp sense, Revolut isn’t that product.
The speed advantage comes from funds already sitting inside the Revolut Business account after the 24-hour cycle.
If you keep operating cash inside Revolut, that’s effectively instant availability once the first-payout hold has cleared.
You can spend directly from your Revolut card or account without an external transfer.
If you want funds in your high-street bank account immediately, we’d look at MyPOS or Square’s paid instant transfer instead.
Card Reader Features
Accepted Payment Types
The Reader takes chip & PIN, contactless, Apple Pay, and Google Pay on Visa and Mastercard.
It does not accept American Express in person, and it does not accept Revolut Pay.
Both are supported elsewhere in the Revolut stack: Amex online runs at 1.7% + 20p, and Revolut Pay is available on the Terminal and online at 0.5% + 2p.
This gap matters if you work in premium retail, hospitality with corporate diners, or B2B services where Amex is common.
If you expect a meaningful Amex share in person, we’d budget for the £169 Terminal rather than starting on the Reader.
Refunds are processed through the Revolut Business app against the original transaction.
Connectivity and Portability
The Reader is Bluetooth-only. It pairs to the merchant’s phone running the Revolut Business app.
The paired phone needs Wi-Fi or mobile data for each transaction. Standalone operation is not possible.
If you lose the paired phone or run out of phone battery, the Reader cannot take a payment on its own.
The Terminal (£169 + VAT) is the standalone alternative: built-in 4G eSIM, no paired phone needed.
For pop-ups and market stalls, phone dependency is acceptable. For a fixed retail counter, we’d usually recommend the Terminal.
The card rate is identical on both devices: 0.8% + 2p on Visa and Mastercard in person.
Battery Life and Reliability
The Reader charges by USB-C and covers a typical trading day on a single charge.
It is pocket-sized and lightweight for mobile traders.
Reliability in the field depends on your phone’s battery and mobile data signal, not just the Reader hardware.
For high-volume fixed locations, we’d note that the Terminal’s standalone design removes the phone as a single point of failure.
App, Dashboard and Reporting Features
App Features
Revolut Business is a banking app first. The Reader is surfaced inside it as a payments module, not a full point-of-sale system.
It covers simple sale entry, receipt dispatch, refunds, and transaction history.
What you don’t get, in the way Square or Zettle supply, is inventory, multi-staff logins with per-role permissions, CRM, or gift cards.
For services businesses taking a few cards a week (consultants, tradespeople, mobile therapists), the lean interface is a feature, not a bug.
If you run a retail shop that needs SKU-level stock tracking or a restaurant with a floor plan, the Revolut app on its own won’t cover it.
Sector-specific POS apps are not published by Revolut the way Square offers Restaurants, Retail, and Appointments.
If you need a full POS layer, we’d pair the Reader with a third-party system such as Shopify POS or Epos Now.
Reporting and Analytics
Inside the Revolut Business app and web dashboard, you get transaction history, payout history, and basic sales reporting.
Because card takings land in the Revolut Business account, the same bank statement covers both your banking and your card processing.
That simplifies reconciliation compared to a separate acquirer settlement file.
Revolut Business integrates with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, and FreeAgent for bank feeds.
The quality of feed, VAT treatment of fees, and whether processing fees appear as separate line items vary by integration.
If you’re VAT-registered, check with your accountant whether the Revolut feed separates processing fees before your first VAT return, the treatment varies by integration.
For POS-level reporting depth, sales by item, sell-through, staff performance, it usually has to come from a third-party POS, not the Revolut app.
Integrations
Revolut Business has a full online payments stack alongside the Reader.
The Payment Gateway comes with pre-built Shopify and Magento plugins and a Merchant API for custom checkouts.
Payment Links let you send a shareable link to any customer without needing a website.
Tap to Pay on iPhone turns a supported iPhone into a contactless reader with no hardware at all.
The Merchant API is available on Grow and above, which is where the stack starts to compete seriously with larger acquirers.
If your customers use Revolut, Revolut Pay (the one-click option) is 0.5% + 2p online.
Pay by Bank (Open Banking) has been added to the Gateway as a lower-cost alternative to card payments.
Security, Compliance and Chargebacks
Payment Security and PCI Compliance
Revolut is FCA-authorised and provides PCI DSS compliance through the Revolut Business infrastructure.
Revolut Bank UK Ltd launched as a fully authorised UK bank on 11 March 2026, when the PRA lifted the mobilisation restrictions on the licence it had held since July 2024, which brings FSCS protection of up to £120,000 to deposits held with its bank entity.
Don’t assume your takings are covered the moment you sign up. New applicants are usually onboarded straight to the FSCS-protected bank entity, but Revolut is phasing the rollout, so some new signups still get parked on the Revolut Ltd e-money account temporarily.
Check which entity your terms name before you route a week’s takings through the Reader. Safeguarded e-money is not the same as FSCS cover. A business told its float is protected when it is merely safeguarded has been sold false comfort.
Existing accounts stay as safeguarded e-money until Revolut migrates them to the bank in phased batches, with notice before each move, so check which applies to you.
Neither regime spares you the friction of a fund hold, so protection is not the same thing as reaching your money on the day you need it.
We read the current safeguarding and FSCS position on revolut.com/business/legal before writing this section.
We’d describe the compliance setup as solid for a digital-first business account of this type.
Fraud Checks and Account Holds
Revolut runs automated risk checks on new accounts and unusual transaction patterns, as most digital-first business accounts do.
Sudden jumps in average sale value, first large transactions, and higher-risk sector codes can trigger a temporary fund hold.
We’d flag this as a known Revolut pattern that affects new accounts more than established ones.
If you’re an established small business with consistent volumes, you mostly won’t encounter this.
If you’re a brand-new account taking an unusually large first sale, that combination is the one most likely to trigger a hold.
Before routing a high-value transaction through a fresh Revolut account, we’d contact support in advance to flag it.
Read Revolut’s current terms at revolut.com/business/legal for your sector and transaction profile.
Chargeback Handling
Chargebacks are managed through the Revolut Business dashboard under the standard disputes process.
Because card takings and banking sit in the same account, chargeback documentation and account history are in one place.
We’d note that Revolut’s dispute tooling is less mature than Stripe’s for high-volume online merchants.
For in-person Reader transactions, the standard chargeback process is the same as any card acquirer.
Keep transaction records and customer documentation within the Revolut Business app where possible.
Who the Revolut Card Reader Is Best For
Best Business Types
Revolut Reader is your clean fit if you’re a limited company or LLP already running Revolut Business.
Adding the Reader keeps payments, banking, FX, and expenses in one account with no extra subscription cost.
An international micro-firm, a sole consultant through a limited company, or an e-commerce brand with a physical channel all fit well.
Higher-volume in-person businesses (£5,000–£20,000/month in card takings) benefit from the 0.8% + 2p rate outright.
If you trade as a UK sole trader, Revolut Business won’t accept your application. It is your entity type that shuts the door, not your turnover or your sector.
Revolut Pro is where UK sole traders get sent: a separate account inside the personal app, with no subscription fee. Reader access there is unconfirmed, so check before you buy hardware.
Best Sales Environments
Mobile traders, consultants, and service businesses taking a few cards a week are well served by the Bluetooth Reader.
The lean POS interface is a good match if you don’t need inventory management or staff-level permissions.
If you run a hospitality venue expecting Amex cardholders, we’d push you toward the Terminal upgrade rather than the Reader.
For fixed retail or café counters, the standalone Terminal removes phone dependency and adds a printer.
When to Consider Alternatives
Take £1,000/month in cards at a £40 average sale and Revolut costs £18.50: £8 on the rate, 50p in 2p fees, £10 for Basic. Square costs £17.50 and charges no monthly fee.
They are level, in other words, at a thousand pounds a month. The crossover sits at roughly £1,100, not the £2,000 that gets repeated across the comparison sites.
Below a grand a month, Square wins. That’s the deal.
Below that line the plan fee eats Revolut’s rate advantage. Above it, the 0.8% compounds in your favour every month you trade.
We’d still run your own average sale value through both rates, because a low average sale drags the 2p component up and pushes the crossover higher.
Square is simpler if you’re a sole trader or want zero monthly commitment.
MyPOS suits traders who need the reader to work without a paired phone.
Tide Card Reader is the logical choice if your banking already sits with Tide.
Customer Support and Reviews
Support Channels
Revolut’s support model is chat-led. There is no dedicated phone line for Revolut Business accounts.
Getting to a human agent via in-app chat can take longer than a traditional bank’s phone line.
Compliance hold queries are handled by email, not chat, a slower route when it matters most.
If you run a weekend market stall and your reader stops working on a Saturday afternoon, that is a real operational consideration.
We’d recommend running a test transaction well before your first live trading day to catch any setup issues early.
Customer Review Themes
Public Revolut Business reviews show recurring praise for the low 0.8% + 2p rate and the convenience of one account.
Multi-currency capabilities and FX savings come up frequently for businesses with international clients.
The 24-hour settlement including weekends is cited positively compared to older acquirer products.
We’d characterise the review landscape as broadly positive for existing Revolut Business users who add the Reader.
Common Complaints
The 7-day first-payout hold generates the most new-account frustration in public reviews.
It is published in Revolut’s help centre but rarely surfaced prominently during signup.
Account holds during compliance reviews are a documented pattern. New accounts and unusual transaction profiles are most exposed.
We’d note that the in-app chat support is a recurring complaint in reviews, particularly for time-sensitive problems.
A second theme is the expectation that upgrading plans would reduce the card rate. It doesn’t, and we’d flag that clearly before signup.
Revolut Card Reader Alternatives
Revolut Reader is strong when you’re already on Revolut Business, and weaker when you’re not.
The three alternatives below each address a specific Revolut limitation.
Revolut vs Square Reader
Square charges 1.75% flat in person with no monthly fee and £19 hardware.
Below roughly £1,100/month in cards, Square is the cheaper option overall once the Revolut Basic plan fee is counted.
Square also accepts sole traders, which Revolut Business does not.
Above £1,100/month, Revolut’s 0.8% + 2p pulls ahead and keeps pulling. That is a lower bar than the £2,000 you will see quoted elsewhere, and it puts Revolut in play for a lot of businesses that were told to write it off.
Revolut vs myPOS Go 2
MyPOS Go 2 operates without a paired phone, using a built-in SIM for connectivity.
Funds land in a MyPOS wallet instantly rather than waiting 24 hours (or 7 days on a new Revolut account).
The trade-off is holding cash in a MyPOS wallet and paying a fee to transfer it to a UK bank.
We’d recommend MyPOS for traders who cannot rely on phone battery or signal in the field.
Revolut vs Tide Card Reader
Tide Card Reader pays directly into a Tide business account, the same account used for invoicing and expenses.
A Tide business account is a prerequisite, just as Revolut Business is required for the Revolut Reader.
For businesses already banking with Tide, the Tide reader removes the need to open a second provider account.
For businesses weighing the two, the decision usually comes down to which banking ecosystem better fits your existing workflow.
For a full comparison across all options, see our best card machines for small businesses roundup.
Final Verdict: Is the Revolut Card Reader Worth It?
For businesses already on Revolut Business, the Reader is close to a no-brainer.
£49 of hardware, 0.8% + 2p in person, and takings in the same account as your banking. We’d be hard-pressed to improve on that combination.
For anyone opening Revolut purely for the Reader, the maths is harder, though less harsh than the received wisdom suggests.
The first-year minimum is £169 before a single transaction. But the rate gap covers the £10 plan from about £1,100 a month in takings, not the £2,000 usually quoted.
We’d also flag the 7-day first-payout hold, the Amex gap on Reader hardware, and the in-app-chat-only support.
And we’d flag the pricing page itself. Grow and Scale are advertised at £30 and £90 when the monthly-billed prices are £35 and £125, which is a trap for anyone who hasn’t read the billing terms.
That £2,000 rule of thumb doesn’t survive the arithmetic.
None of those are deal-breakers for the right buyer. They are the real costs, and they are worth whittling down against your own numbers before you order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Revolut Reader transaction fee?
The in-person rate is 0.8% + 2p per transaction on Visa and Mastercard across all paid Revolut Business plans. It is the same on Basic (£10/month), on Grow (£35/month billed monthly, £30 if you pay annually), and on Scale (£125/month billed monthly, £90 annually). Upgrading does not reduce it.
Do I need a Revolut Business account?
Yes. You need a Revolut Business plan to use the Reader. The free plan was discontinued in March 2025. The minimum is Basic at £10/month. No Reader-only tier exists that skips the banking plan.
Does Revolut Reader accept American Express?
No. The Reader hardware does not accept Amex in person at any rate. The Revolut Terminal (£169 + VAT) accepts Amex in person. Online Amex is accepted at 1.7% + 20p.
How long does the first Revolut Reader payout take?
The first payout on a new Revolut Business account is held for 7 days before the standard 24-hour cycle begins. After the hold clears, subsequent takings settle within 24 hours, seven days a week including weekends.
What is the difference between Revolut Reader and Revolut Terminal?
The Reader (£49 + VAT) is Bluetooth-only and requires a paired phone. It does not accept Amex in person. The Terminal (£169 + VAT) is standalone with built-in 4G eSIM, accepts Amex in person, and has a built-in printer. The card rate is 0.8% + 2p on both devices for Visa and Mastercard.
Can sole traders use Revolut Reader?
Not through Revolut Business. In the UK, Revolut Business accepts limited companies, LLPs, and partnerships only, and sole traders are not an eligible entity type. This is an entity rule, not a hardware limitation. UK sole traders are directed to Revolut Pro, a separate account in the personal Revolut app that carries no subscription fee. Whether Revolut Pro users can access the Reader and at what rate is not confirmed on the public Revolut site. We’d recommend checking revolut.com/business directly before purchasing as a sole trader.
How we reviewed Revolut
What we assessed. We evaluated Revolut on pricing, contract terms, features, and eligibility. These are the factors that matter most to UK small businesses considering this provider.
Data sources. Revolut’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.