About SumUp

SumUp is a payment service provider that offers in-person payment processing through its SumUp app and mobile SumUp card reader. The SumUp app is similar to its closest competitors, Square and PayPal Zettle, making SumUp a good option for low-volume and mobile sales. Besides SumUp’s fees being lower than Square’s for small tickets, SumUp’s pocket-sized credit card reader has features the Square mobile reader doesn’t have, giving SumUp a slight leg up on its competition. SumUp’s quality as a mobile processing solution is reflected in the many positive SumUp reviews, at least from international merchants.

At the moment, SumUp offers more payment processing features and merchant services in the UK and Europe than it does in the United States. US merchants don’t yet have access to eCommerce payment processing and can only process a card-not-present transaction by keying it into SumUp’s optional virtual terminal. Nonetheless, it’s still great (and a viable alternative to Square) for mobile and retail-only merchants due to its affordable processing equipment and competitive processing rates.

SumUp App Features

The SumUp app features all of the standard mobile POS features, including:

  • Item library
  • Item variants
  • Quick-sale mode
  • Tipping
  • Cash recording
  • Basic analytics
  • Multiple tax rates
  • Email/SMS receipts
  • Receipt printer connectivity
  • Remote payments (including payment links and virtual gift cards)
  • QR code payments

The remote payment features, even if basic, are nice to have. SumUp lets you send customers a payment link, allowing them to pay you on their phone or computer. You can also share a digital gift card link on your social media, website, or directly with customers. Just keep in mind that you’ll pay the higher card-not-present fee for those types of transactions.

Price

SumUp charges a straightforward 2.65% on all magstripe, chip and contactless payments made using the SumUp credit card reader (virtual terminal transactions cost the aforementioned 2.95% plus 15 cents). SumUp’s per-transaction fee is cheaper than Square (2.6% plus 10 cents per transaction) and PayPal Here (2.70%).

SumUp’s card reader will cost you $19. (Square’s card reader for chip cards and contactless payments costs $49.)

Those are the only real costs to consider when working with SumUp. There is no signup fee, PCI compliance fee, statement fee, payout fee or fee to use the SumUp app. If you experience a chargeback, however, you will have to pay a $10 fee. In terms of contracts, you can use SumUp month-to-month and cancel at any time for no additional fee.

Pros

Ease of use

Between the minimalist website and the glowing customer reviews, it’s not hard to see that SumUp is a very user-friendly product. A business owner can sign up for SumUp and start processing payments within a matter of days. And the app’s clean interface combined with the Support Center’s useful guides make it very easy to learn how to leverage all of SumUp’s features.

Price

SumUp is one of the most competitively priced mPOS systems on the market. Its per-transaction fee of 2.65% is slightly less than its main competitors, meaning if you process a high volume of transactions, you could see some significant savings. The virtual terminal price (2.95% plus 15 cents) is also significantly less than the virtual terminal of a service like Square, which charges 3.5% plus 15 cents. Plus, SumUp’s card reader is available for just $19, which is much lower than comparable card readers on the market.