Compare the Barclaycard range
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Card readers make payments quick and effortless and come in a range of shapes and sizes to meet different business requirements.
Barclaycard offers 3 types of card machines: the Flex Mobile card reader, which costs £15 a month, the Smartpay Anywhere card reader, which has no monthly fee but a one-off rental charge of £29 and the Smartpay Touch, which has a monthly rental charge of £29.
The Flex Mobile and the Smartpay Touch readers have 2 different pricing plans. The first is a pay-as-you-go option with a 1.6% transaction fee, which is suitable for seasonal traders or if your annual card turnover is less than £200,000. The second is a tailored pricing option with a variable monthly transaction fee, which is suitable if you take over £200,000 in card payments a year.
Barclaycard Anywhere works on a pay-as-you-go basis.
More about Barclaycard card readers
Below are the key features for each of the Barclaycard card readers:
Barclaycard Flex Mobile
- Monthly cost of plus VAT
- contract
- Accepts up to 700 sales a day on a full charge
- Light and travel-friendly
- transaction fee (for pay-as-you-go pricing plan)
- Accepts all payment types, in store, on the move, by phone and by mail
- Flexible Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPRS connectivity
Barclaycard Anywhere
- One-off rental fee of plus VAT
- Pay-as-you-go contract
- transaction fee
- Accepts credit, debit and digital payments in store or on the move
- Manage payments in real-time via the app
- Export data to make accounting easier
- Add multiple users on a single account
- Option to issue digital receipts and give refunds from your online personalised dashboard
Barclaycard Smartpay Touch
- Monthly rental fee of £29 plus VAT
- 12 month contract
- 1.6% transaction fee (variable depending on plan)
- Accepts credit, debit, digital and telephone payments in store or on the move
- Manage payments in real-time via the app
- Battery life: Designed to last all day
- Settlements take 1-2 working days
How to order a Barclaycard card machine
After you have researched and chosen the best card reader for you or your business, you can start the application process.
To apply for a Barclaycard card reader, head over to Barclaycard's online application, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete. Once your application is accepted, your card reader will be couriered to you.Pros and cons of Barclaycard card readers
Pros
- Different pricing options
- Card readers can be used in store and on the go
- Barclaycard Anywhere makes it easy to track sales
- Easy application process
- Can pay with Chip and PIN as well as contactless on the same device
Cons
- Fees apply
- Approval of application depends on your financial circumstances and borrowing history
- Barclaycard Anywhere only accepts Visa, Mastercard and JCB cards
- App features are somewhat limited
- 18-month contract for Barclaycard Flex Mobile
- Payment settlements can be up to 7 working days if you don’t have a Barclaycard account
Our verdict
With 3 different types of card readers to choose from, plus flexible pricing plans and the option to take payment in store and on the move, there’s certainly a lot to like with Barclaycard.
However, there are also some downsides to consider, particularly with Barclaycard Anywhere. For a start, it doesn’t accept American Express, Diners Club International or Union Pay cards, and secondly, its app is not as advanced as some of its competitors. For this reason, it’s worth checking out other card readers on the market first before making your decision.
Barclaycard customer reviews
Barclaycard doesn’t score well on Trustpilot. It has a rating of 1.3 out of 5 stars, based on over 3,000 reviews, which is considered a “bad” rating (updated October 2023). However, this is based on reviews for Barclaycard as a whole, including all reviews by personal and business credit card users, so the rating doesn’t necessarily represent the views of business customers who use Barclaycard’s credit card readers.
Frequently asked questions
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