Best Tap to Pay Solutions
We ranked these five on the rate you actually pay and the phone you actually own, not the headline number alone. Here’s where we landed.
If you’re starting cold with no provider, we put SumUp first: 1.69% flat, nothing monthly, and it runs on Android as well as iPhone. That’s the one to beat.
If you already run Stripe, Square or PayPal for your online orders, we’d keep your in-person takings in the same place. Reconciling a second provider before your quarterly VAT return costs more than the few pence a lower rate saves you. The rate is rarely the whole decision.
Each pick below answers a specific question: which phone you run, whether you already use a provider, and how fast you need the money. The rate is identical to each provider’s hardware reader, so the trade is convenience for nothing.
Best Overall
SumUp Tap on Phone. The fee is 1.69%, identical to the SumUp Air reader, with no monthly fee, no contract, and no setup cost. On pay-as-you-go that is the lowest published flat softPOS rate for a UK business with no monthly commitment.
It runs on iPhone XS or later (iOS 16+) and Android 11+, the broadest device support here. If volume climbs, Payments Plus at £19/month drops the rate to 0.99% on domestic consumer cards, breaking even against pay-as-you-go at roughly £2,600/month.
Not right if: you want an EPOS layer to grow into. SumUp’s thin ecosystem means you may end up moving to Square later anyway.
Visit SumUpBest for Existing Stripe Merchants
Stripe Tap to Pay. The in-person rate is 1.4% + 10p on EEA-issued cards, below every flat-rate competitor once a sale clears roughly £21. Card-present sales land in the same dashboard you already use for online payments.
The catch: it is delivered through the Stripe Terminal SDK, so you need a developer integration or a third-party wrapper. A sole trader hoping to download an app on the bus should pick Square or SumUp instead.
Not right if: Tap to Pay would be your only Stripe touchpoint. The integration overhead is real, and you pay for ecosystem you are not using.
Visit StripeBest Inside the Square Ecosystem
Square Tap to Pay. The rate is 1.75% flat across all card types and wallets, the same as the Square Reader, with no monthly fee. Settlement is next business day, weekends included, so a Sunday market trader sees Saturday’s takings on Monday.
Where the 1.75% earns its keep is inside Square’s free EPOS layer: tipping prompts, itemised receipts, inventory counts and staff timesheets. A cafe owner can hand a phone to a second staff member during a rush without buying another Reader.
Not right if: you are not already on Square. That 1.75% buys you nothing Zettle doesn’t match, and it costs more than SumUp on every transaction.
Visit SquareBest for Fast Settlement
PayPal Zettle Tap to Pay. The fee is 1.75%, matching Square, with no monthly fee. Settlement is the fastest of the five: money lands in the PayPal Business account within minutes of the tap, with a same-day transfer to your bank.
For a plumber who needs Wednesday’s payment in the bank before paying a supplier that afternoon, that timing matters. The trade-off is two-step settlement: an extra balance to monitor and another set of statements at year-end.
Not right if: you have never used PayPal Business and don’t want a second balance to reconcile. Square’s direct next-day bank settlement is simpler.
Visit ZettleBest for Existing Dojo Merchants at Volume
Dojo Soft POS. The consumer card rate is 1.4% + 5p for businesses under £150,000 annual card turnover; business cards land at 1.8% + 5p. It runs on iPhone XS or later (iOS 16.4+) only, and the Dojo Go monthly fee is £15–20 + VAT.
It is a feature for existing Dojo Go account holders, not a standalone offer. The phone steps in when the terminal is packed away or flat. The cost maths only works above roughly £7,500/month, where the lower rate claws back the monthly fee.
Not right if: you are an Android user, a low-volume sole trader, or shopping cold for a phone-only setup. It is the wrong tool.
Visit DojoTap to Pay Solutions Compared
How to Choose the Best Tap to Pay Solution
How tap to pay works
The phone’s own NFC chip reads the customer’s contactless card or digital wallet, then speaks to the card using the EMVCo contactless standard, the same one physical readers use. The only architectural difference is where the antenna sits.
Card data is encrypted at the point of NFC read and tokenised before it reaches the processor. On iPhone, Apple’s Secure Enclave isolates payment processing; on Android, a Trusted Execution Environment does the same. The card number is never written to disk.
The £100 contactless ceiling
The hard limit is £100 for physical contactless cards. SoftPOS reads contactless only; it doesn’t do chip and PIN. A customer presenting a physical Visa for a £150 deposit cannot pay on a phone-only setup. They will need a terminal.
Apple Pay and Google Pay sit outside this cap, because the customer’s own biometric authentication clears the transaction. Individual banks sometimes set their own wallet limits, but in most cases digital wallets clear well above £100.
SoftPOS versus a physical reader
SoftPOS wins where you would otherwise carry, charge and remember a piece of kit: a plumber on a driveway, a Saturday market stall, a delivery driver at a doorstep. The rate matches the Bluetooth-reader equivalent, so the trade is convenience for nothing.
A physical reader wins at a busy queue, where a dedicated terminal beats a phone also running the EPOS, and in high-ticket retail where chip and PIN on physical cards above £100 is non-negotiable. Most growing businesses end up running both.
Device requirements
Every provider needs iPhone XS or later (2018 onwards) on iOS 16+, with Dojo wanting iOS 16.4. Face ID or Touch ID must be set up: the Secure Enclave is what makes Tap to Pay on iPhone possible. An iPhone 8 or earlier will not work.
Android support varies: Stripe and Square need Android 9+, SumUp needs Android 11+, Zettle needs Android 8.1+ with Google Play services. Dojo is iPhone only. NFC must be toggled on before the payment app will detect it.
Fees and Costs to Watch
Transaction Fees
Published softPOS rates, lowest first: Dojo 1.4% + 5p (iPhone, consumer cards under £150k/year), Stripe 1.4% + 10p (EEA cards), SumUp 1.69% flat, Square 1.75%, Zettle 1.75%. The fixed pence component on Dojo and Stripe makes flat-rate SumUp cheaper on small sales.
Stripe’s 1.4% + 10p beats SumUp’s 1.69% on any sale above roughly £48. Below that, the fixed 10p makes Stripe more expensive per pound. Run the numbers against your own average transaction before assuming the lowest headline rate is cheapest.
Monthly Fees and Break-Even
SumUp, Stripe, Square and Zettle charge no monthly fee on pay-as-you-go. SumUp’s Payments Plus at £19/month drops the rate to 0.99% and breaks even at roughly £2,600/month in card turnover.
Dojo is the exception: the Dojo Go monthly fee of £15–20 + VAT means the lower percentage rate only saves money above roughly £7,500/month. Below that, the monthly fee swallows the rate advantage.
Settlement and Payout Costs
Zettle settles to PayPal within minutes; Square pays next business day including weekends; Stripe is T+2 standard with paid Instant Payouts; SumUp runs 1 to 3 business days, or same-day with a SumUp Business Account.
Watch where the money lands as well as when. Zettle settles to a PayPal balance first, not your bank, so a same-day bank transfer is an extra step. Square and SumUp settle direct to your business bank account.
Tips and compliance costs
The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2024 requires employers to pass 100% of card and wallet tips to workers without deduction. Square and Zettle both support tipping prompts; tip amounts added at checkout must be tracked separately and passed in full.
The payment provider handles collection; the employer handles distribution and the three-year record-keeping obligation. If tipping volumes are significant, set up a compliant tronc arrangement with an accountant: this sits outside what any processor manages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Tap to Pay for transactions above £100?
For physical contactless cards, no. The UK contactless limit is £100, and softPOS reads contactless only; it can’t process chip and PIN. A customer presenting a physical card above £100 needs a physical terminal. Apple Pay and Google Pay are different: the customer’s biometric authentication verifies the payment, so digital wallets usually clear well above £100. If you regularly take payments over £100, carry a physical reader for physical-card customers.
Is Tap to Pay secure?
Yes. Tap to Pay uses the EMVCo contactless standard, the same one that governs physical card readers. Card data is encrypted at the point of NFC read and tokenised before reaching the processor. On iPhone, Apple’s Secure Enclave isolates payment processing; on Android, a Trusted Execution Environment does the same. The card number isn’t stored on the device or accessible to the merchant app. PCI DSS compliance sits with the provider, not you, so your own obligations are minimal.
What is the cheapest tap-to-pay option in the UK in 2026?
On pure pay-as-you-go, SumUp Tap on Phone at 1.69% is the lowest flat rate published on both iPhone and Android. Square and Zettle both sit at 1.75%. Stripe’s 1.4% + 10p (EEA cards) beats SumUp on any sale above roughly £48; below that, the fixed 10p makes Stripe dearer per pound. For businesses above roughly £7,500/month, Dojo’s 1.4% + 5p (iPhone only) starts to undercut the flat-rate providers even with the monthly fee.
Do I need a separate card reader if I use Tap to Pay?
Not necessarily, but plan around the gaps. SoftPOS can’t process chip and PIN, so any customer presenting a physical card above £100 needs a terminal. If your average sale is well under £100 and most customers pay by digital wallet or contactless card, a physical reader may be optional. In practice many businesses run softPOS alongside a reader: the phone handles overflow, the reader handles chip and PIN for larger amounts. All five providers charge the same rate for softPOS as for their hardware.
Does the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2024 affect tips taken by Tap to Pay?
Yes, if you operate in hospitality. The Act came into force on 1 October 2024 and requires employers to pass 100% of tips and service charges to workers without deduction, including tips taken by card or wallet. Square and Zettle both support tipping prompts; amounts added at checkout must be tracked separately and passed in full under a written tipping policy. The provider handles collection; the employer handles distribution and the three-year record-keeping obligation.
How we reviewed Tap to Pay solutions
Ranking criteria. We ranked providers on transaction rate, platform support, settlement speed and whether softPOS is a standalone offer or a bolt-on. Rate carries the heaviest weight because it compounds on every sale.
Data sources. Every rate, settlement timing and device requirement was checked directly against provider pricing pages (stripe.com/gb, squareup.com/gb, sumup.co.uk, zettle.com/gb, dojo.tech) and the FCA Financial Services Register for each named entity authorisation, in May 2026.
Update cadence. We re-verify every provider when it changes its published rate or platform support. Some links on this page are affiliate links (Square and SumUp); this doesn’t affect our assessments. See our editorial policy.