Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
What payment processors and card readers do members recommend for UK drinks businesses selling online and offline?
Members recommend several options depending on your transaction volume and setup needs: **Zettle** is a popular choice for card readers. It offers tiered transaction fees that decrease with volume, integrates easily with accounting platforms (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage), fast delivery, and quick payment settlement. The reporting is solid. **Square** is recommended for businesses with low monthly transaction volume and no monthly fees. Transaction fees are around 1.75%, with a card reader available for around £20. You can accept card payments over the phone, online, and via their free website option. **Stripe** works well linked to invoicing and accounting software. Standard UK online charge is 1.4% when using Shopify Payments. **Tyl from NatWest** has very low fees and has saved members money compared to previous solutions, though you may need a NatWest business account. **WorldPay** offers much lower transaction fees than Square but charges monthly fees, so it's better suited to higher-volume traders. Members also mention **SumUp** as a working option. For event/POS sales, Square is noted as particularly easy to set up quickly. One member mentioned using both Stripe and Square together works well.
Which card payment reader systems work best for events and festivals?
Members strongly favour dedicated hardware card readers over phone-only systems for event and festival use. A recent poll showed **Square** and **iZettle** as the most popular choices, with **Dojo** emerging as a strong alternative that performs well on cost per transaction and technical support. **Specific recommendations:** - **Square** — 12 votes in the poll; successfully deployed at large-scale events (60,000+ capacity) with Starlink connectivity; reliable handheld terminals. - **iZettle** — 11 votes; long track record (users report 10+ years of reliable event use); PayPal now remits takings next-day (previously 3 working days). - **Dojo** — Recommended strongly by members; won competitive tenders for major hospitality operators on cost per transaction, tech support, and kit quality; works with phone plus handheld hardware. - **Stripe** — 0 votes; not favoured for events despite broad awareness. - **SumUp** — 6 votes; less popular than top choices. **Key caveat:** Members strongly advise against asking staff to use their personal mobile devices as the sole payment system—devices can be dropped, lost, or stolen. Dedicated hardware is safer and more professional. For connectivity-dependent systems, consider redundancy with a data-only eSIM (e.g. **Airalo**) to cover signal failures.
What payment processing solutions work for taking card payments at consumer events without a UK business entity?
Several members have tested card readers at events without UK business entities. **Square** is the most recommended option—members report it's easy to set up, offers good reporting and functionality, and crucially allows you to input event coordinates to disable location services, which prevents the struggles other systems face in high-volume environments. **Zettle** (via PayPal) requires a UK business entity and members warned it has poor location services that cause problems at busy events. **Stripe** was suggested but not discussed in detail. **TYL by NatWest** was mentioned as a possible option, though members were uncertain whether it requires a UK entity. Members confirmed they are VAT registered, suggesting that registration alone doesn't solve the entity requirement for most providers. The key differentiator for Square is its event-location flexibility—you can manually set coordinates for each venue to avoid GPS drift in crowded spaces.