The Card Machine forBusiness That Takes Pay by Bank

What is a card machine?

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  • A card machine, also called a card terminal, card payment machine, PDQ machine or POS terminal, is the device a business uses to take payments in person. The customer taps a contactless card or phone, inserts a card and enters a PIN, or pays with a mobile wallet such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, and the machine authorises the payment and sends the money to your account through your payment provider.

  • A card machine for business needs to do a little more than that. It has to keep up at a busy counter, work at the table or on the shop floor as well as beside the till, report every payment into one place across several sites, and cost you a sensible amount per transaction once the monthly fees are added up. The Atoa card machine does all of that, and it also takes Pay by Bank, so a customer can approve a payment straight from their own Bank app on the very same device.

Atoa allows customers to pay via all major bank apps and cards

Take a payment in three steps

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An Atoa card terminal showing a GBP 119.00 amount entered on its number pad Step 1

Ring up the sale.

Enter the amount on the terminal screen.

The terminal's Select Payment Method screen offering Pay by Bank with 12-plus banks and Card Payment Step 2

The customer pays their way.

They tap or insert a card, use Apple Pay or Google Pay, or scan to pay from their Bank app, whichever suits them. They choose; you just confirm.

A transaction details screen confirming a GBP 119.00 payment with its summary, payment source and reference Step 3

Payment confirmed, sale recorded.

The payment shows on the terminal and in your Atoa dashboard across every till and site.

The PAX A920 Pro: Card Terminal and Pay by Bank in one

Atoa runs on the PAX A920 Pro, a smart terminal with a touchscreen, a built-in receipt printer and USB-C charging. As a credit card payment machine it takes contactless, chip and PIN and mobile wallets; as a Pay by Bank terminal it shows the customer a QR code on the same screen so they can approve the payment in their Bank app. It connects over WiFi or mobile data, so it works at the counter, at the table or out on the floor, and every payment appears in one Atoa dashboard however many tills and locations you run.

PAX A920 Pro with Atoa

Contactless, chip and PIN, digital wallets and Pay by Bank on one portable terminal.

FeaturePAX A920 Pro with Atoa
Card payments Visa, Mastercard and American Express, contactless and chip and PIN
Wallets Apple Pay, Google Pay and any NFC phone
Pay by Bank Yes, the customer approves in their own Bank app on the same device
Screen and printer Touchscreen with a built-in receipt printer
Connectivity WiFi and mobile, 4G data
Charging USB-C, 5,150 mAh battery
Portable Yes, for the counter, table service or shop floor
Multi-site One account, unlimited tills and locations, one dashboard
Contract No long-term tie-in; cancel any time
Hardware cost £338.30 to buy or £20 a month to rent
Card fee From 1.3%*
Pay by Bank fee From 0.7% + VAT
Compliance PCI DSS; Atoa FCA authorised (FRN 1007647); card services by Rapyd (FRN 900688)
PAX A920 Pro with Atoa
Card payments
Visa, Mastercard and American Express, contactless and chip and PIN
Benefit to business
Wallets
Apple Pay, Google Pay and any NFC phone
Benefit to business
Pay by Bank
Yes, the customer approves in their own Bank app on the same device
Benefit to business
Screen and printer
Touchscreen with a built-in receipt printer
Benefit to business
Connectivity
WiFi and mobile, 4G data
Benefit to business
Charging
USB-C, 5,150 mAh battery
Benefit to business
Portable
Yes, for the counter, table service or shop floor
Benefit to business
Multi-site
One account, unlimited tills and locations, one dashboard
Benefit to business
Contract
No long-term tie-in; cancel any time
Benefit to business
Hardware cost
£338.30 to buy or £20 a month to rent
Benefit to business
Card fee
From 1.3%*
Benefit to business
Pay by Bank fee
From 0.7% + VAT
Benefit to business
Compliance
PCI DSS; Atoa FCA authorised (FRN 1007647); card services by Rapyd (FRN 900688)
Benefit to business

Every way your customers want to pay

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The Atoa mark surrounded by Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay and Apple Pay logos

Cards and wallets

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay, by contactless or chip and PIN.

The Atoa mark surrounded by UK bank logos including Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, Monzo, Starling, Revolut, Halifax, Nationwide, Natwest and RBS

Pay by Bank

The customer approves in their Bank app, straight from the same terminal. No extra hardware needed.

An Atoa Scan to Pay QR stand showing the QR code and the bank and card logos it accepts

No terminal? QR code

Customers scan a QR code on any screen and pay by bank or card, with nothing to download. Useful as a second payment point at peak, or where a card terminal is not practical.

Which Card Machine Is Best for a Business With Several Sites?

A single-site business can get by with almost any terminal. The moment you run two or more locations, the questions change: can head office see every till in one place, can you add a terminal to a new site without a new contract, and are you paying a separate monthly fee per machine. With Atoa, every terminal sits under one account and one dashboard, so a five-site group sees the same reporting a single café does, and adding a location is a matter of switching on another terminal rather than signing another agreement. Staff can be given cashier or supervisor roles per site, refunds and tips are handled in the Atoa Business app, and where you run an integrated EPOS such as Epos Now, pointOne, Tevalis or Till Tech, the payment closes the sale in the till as a tender type. If you are still choosing a till, our restaurant POS comparison covers the main UK systems.

A card machine that costs you less

Lower fees

Cards from 1.3%* and Pay by Bank from 0.7% + VAT, up to 50% lower than typical card fees on the same sale.

FCA authorised

Atoa Payments Limited is FCA authorised (FRN 1007647), Card services are provided by Rapyd (FRN 900688).

No chargebacks on Pay by Bank

The customer approves in their own Bank app under Strong Customer Authentication, so there is no card network to reverse the payment. Refunds are yours to issue from the dashboard.

No lock-in

No long tie-in. Cancel any time, whether you buy or rent the terminal.

Fast settlement

Pay by Bank settles in seconds over Faster Payments; larger businesses can choose end-of-day payouts. Card payments typically settle within two working days, excluding weekends and public holidays.

*Card rates vary based on card type, business size and average transaction value. Business cards and American Express typically attract higher rates.

A trusted partner
for businesses in the UK

Meet the companies that use our solution to power
growth and save more with every payment they accept

INCREDIBLE
“Since moving to Atoa, we save about £6,000 a month in transaction fees. 96% of our payments are now taken via Atoa.”

Jason Drury

Ponko Motor Company

SUPER CHEAP
“Amazing payment service. Increased our deposit payments by up to 265% in 1 month. Payments super cheap & instant”

Harminder Singh Bains

The Beauty Wardrobe

THE BEST
“Atoa is easy to use for both the customer and consultant. The payment arrives immediately for us… Highly recommended!”

Andy Price

Just Wills & Legal Services

ALL IN ONE
“It’s so nice to see that there are still systems on the market that are not ripping you off with their fees.”

Dora Maries

Holimed Beauty

SIMPLICITY
“We have been very impressed by the ease and simplicity of the payment links. Thanks Atoa, you make fee collection simple!”

Shepsi Haider

Family Law Cafe

SUPERB
“Superb piece of software to simplify taking payments for businesses.”

Malcolm Beattie

MB Motors

BRILLIANT CONCEPT
“Wish we used it earlier! Brilliant concept that is easy to use and saves the company so much on fees.”

Nicolas Colombo

LDN Physio

INSTANT CASH FLOW
“Improves cash flow and saved us over £2,000 a month in payment fees… would 110% recommend it to any other business.”

Lee Shayler

Richlee Motor Company

See how much you can save with Pay by Bank

Book a short demo to see how Atoa helps businesses reduce fees, improve cash flow, and streamline payment operations.
  • Up to 50% lower payment fees
  • Faster access to funds
  • One platform for modern payments
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How Much Is a Card Machine? Clear Pricing, No Lock-In

How much a card machine costs depends on three things: the hardware, any monthly fee, and the rate you pay on each transaction. The third is almost always the largest over a year, which is why a low headline rental can still be the expensive option. With Atoa the terminal is £338.30 to buy outright or £20 a month to rent, there is no long-term contract either way, and there is no separate monthly fee for the account on the Basic plan.

Atoa
Terminal to buy£338.30 one-off
Terminal to rent£20 a month, cancel any time
Card transactionsFrom 1.3%* (UK debit and credit)
Pay by Bank transactionsFrom 0.7% + VAT
Monthly account feeNone on Basic; Growth £79 and Advanced £149 per location per month add features such as Google Reviews prompts and custom roles
ContractNone, no long-term tie-in

*Card rates vary by card type, business size and average transaction value. Business cards and American Express typically attract higher rates. See the pricing page for current rates.

For the full anatomy of what card machine providers charge, including rental, PCI fees and exit charges, see what card machines really cost.

Buy, Rent or Pay As You Go?

Card machine providers sell terminals three ways. You can buy the hardware outright and pay only a transaction fee, rent it for a monthly charge, or take a pay-as-you-go reader with no monthly fee but a higher rate per transaction. Buying suits a business that knows it will use the terminal every day for years; renting suits one that wants to spread the cost or expects to add and remove terminals as sites open and close; pay-as-you-go readers suit very low volumes and are usually the most expensive route once a business is taking regular payments. With Atoa you can buy or rent, and because there is no long-term contract on either, switching between the two is a conversation rather than a penalty.

A Chip and PIN Machine That Also Takes Contactless and Bank Payments

Chip and PIN is still the fallback every business needs: for payments above the contactless limit, for cards that will not tap, and for customers who prefer to enter a PIN. The Atoa terminal is a full chip and PIN machine as well as a contactless one, so you are never turning a payment away, and unlike a phone-based reader it has a proper PIN pad the customer can use themselves.

How to Get a Card Machine for Your Business

Getting a card machine with Atoa takes three steps. Sign up online with your company details; Atoa works with UK-registered companies, and most applications are verified within a working day. Choose to buy or rent the PAX A920 Pro and we ship it to you; connect it to WiFi or mobile data when it arrives and it is ready to take payments. Set up your tills, sites and staff roles in the dashboard, and if you use Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, connect them so every payment reconciles automatically.

Frequently asked questions

Have other queries?
Email us at hello@paywithatoa.co.uk
to get in touch.

What is a card machine for business?

A card machine for business is the terminal you use to take payments in person by contactless, chip and PIN or mobile wallet. The Atoa card machine, the PAX A920 Pro, also takes Pay by Bank on the same device, so a customer can approve a payment from their own Bank app without a separate QR stand.

How much does a card machine cost in the UK?

With Atoa the terminal is £338.30 to buy or £20 a month to rent, with card payments from 1.3% and Pay by Bank from 0.7% + VAT, and no long-term contract. Across the UK market, card machines range from free pay-as-you-go readers with higher transaction rates to rented terminals on multi-year contracts, so compare the total cost over a year rather than the headline.

Can I rent a card machine, or do I have to buy one?

Either. The Atoa terminal is available to buy outright or to rent by the month, and neither option ties you into a long-term contract. Renting suits businesses that expect to add or remove terminals as sites change; buying suits a terminal that will be in daily use for years.

Which card machine is best for a business with several sites?

Look for one account and one dashboard across every till and location, terminals you can add without a new contract, per-site staff roles, and integration with your EPOS and accounting software. Atoa provides all of those, which is why it suits multi-site retail, hospitality, automotive and clinic groups.

Does the Atoa terminal take chip and PIN, contactless, Apple Pay and Google Pay?

Yes. The PAX A920 Pro takes contactless and chip and PIN on Visa, Mastercard and American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay and any NFC phone, and Pay by Bank on the same device. Atoa does not turn your own phone into a card reader; customers tap on the terminal or scan a QR code to pay from their Bank app.

Do I need a contract for a card machine?

Not with Atoa. There is no long-term tie-in whether you buy or rent the terminal, and you can cancel at any time. Many card machine providers still sign businesses to 12, 36 or 48-month agreements with early-exit charges, so check the term before you sign anywhere.

Does the card machine also take Pay by Bank?

Yes, and that is the point of it. The customer chooses Pay by Bank on the terminal screen, scans the QR code and approves the payment in their own Bank app. The money settles in seconds over Faster Payments, there is no chargeback, and the fee is from 0.7% + VAT rather than a card rate.

How do I get a card machine for my business?

Sign up online with your company details, choose whether to buy or rent the terminal, and we ship it to you. Connect it to WiFi or mobile data, set up your sites and staff in the Atoa dashboard, and connect Xero, QuickBooks or Sage if you use them. Atoa works with UK-registered companies and charities.