Card machine for your corner shop

Affordable payment solutions optimised for the smaller transactions common in Corner Shops - allowing you to reliably take fast, contactless and Chip & Pin card payments - with no complicated setup.

Common challenges

  • Customers increasingly expect to pay by card for small purchases
  • Per-transaction fees on small items like newspapers and milk
  • Need something simple and reliable
  • Long hours mean the terminal must be dependable
  • Don't want to be locked into expensive contracts

Published:

Recommended solutions

PAX A800

Portable/countertop Android terminal with 5.7-inch touchscreen and Payment & POS functionality. Built-in Wi-Fi & 4G connectivity, along with thermal printing. Includes merchant branding on-screen, an intuitive over-the-phone payment flow, on-board POS features, and is configurable for full POS integration.

  • 5.7-inch HD touchscreen
  • Built-in printer
  • Wi-Fi & 4G
  • Contactless, Chip & Pin, over-the-phone
  • Fast contactless transacting
  • Integrates with its provider's own POS only
  • Android POS and payments
Contract
negotiable

PAX A920

Portable/countertop Android terminal with 4.9-inch touchscreen, built-in Wi-Fi & 4G connectivity, and thermal printing. Its form-factor means it's ideal when payments need to be taken away from the counter. Easily handles over-the-phone payments, and is configurable for full POS integration with many third-party POS systems.

  • 4.9-inch HD touchscreen
  • Built-in printer
  • Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity
  • Contactless, Chip & Pin, over-the-phone
  • Can be integrated with multiple POS systems
  • Android payment-only terminal
Contract
negotiable

Why corner shops choose uno

The days of “card minimum £5” signs are numbered. Customers expect to pay by card even for a pint of milk, and if they can’t, they’ll go somewhere they can. A card machine keeps your regulars happy and your sales up.

No minimum awkwardness

With competitive rates, you can accept card payments on any amount without worrying about fees wiping out the margin on small purchases.

Simple and reliable

Corner shops don’t need complicated technology. A countertop terminal that handles contactless, Chip & Pin, and mobile payments - that’s it.

Honest pricing

We compare rates across providers and explain exactly what you’ll pay. No hidden fees, no surprises on your monthly statement.

What you get from uno

  • A simple terminal suited to corner shop trading
  • Competitive rates compared across providers
  • On-site installation and walkthrough
  • UK-based support when you need it

Common questions from corner shop owners

We'd rather deal with cash only but customers increasingly expect to pay by card - even for small transactions. But it's at our cost!

Taking card payments doesn't necessarily have to cost any more than banking cash - but it's crucial that your business is using the best card machine for your transactional profile. A business whose typical transaction values are modest is often best served by a solution where no 'per transaction fee' is applied - instead a small percentage is levied against the cost of the sale.

What about all the hidden fees - rental, different card types, monthly charges - that sort of thing?

We have providers that offer a single 'blended' rate that includes rental and all card types - including foreign - so you always know precisely what each transaction has cost you. For a business where most sales are lower value, this would be cheaper than deals offering low headline rates, but add separate fees and charges.

Are we allowed to refuse transactions below our 'minimum spend for cards'?

Minimum spend policies aren't illegal, but card schemes like Visa and Mastercard prohibit them in their merchant agreements - meaning you could risk losing your card acceptance if a provider enforces the rules. But the better question is why you'd need a 'minimum spend' policy when there are solutions that charge a tiny percentage of the sale. A refused card doesn't just lose that sale - research consistently shows that customer won't come back.

We already have an ePOS we want to keep. Can you integrate with it?

uno offers card machines that integrate with the majority of tills and POS systems typically found in Corner Shops.

We're open 6am to 11pm. What time do we do our 'End-Of-Day'?

None of the solutions that uno recommends require you to do an 'End-Of-Day', as modern machines run an overnight batch settlement - which happens automatically without any user involvement. But of course you can do your own End-Of-Day report on each machine, anytime you wish - in addition to having instant access to all of your transactional data at any time, from anywhere.

General questions about uno
Which card machine is right for my business?

The right card machine depends on how the business trades. A fine-dining restaurant in Covent Garden, a market trader at Glasgow's Barras and a pub beside Cardiff Arms Park take payments in completely different ways, and no single machine suits all three. uno starts by understanding how a business actually operates, and only then recommends - from a range of providers rather than from one.

Do all the card machines uno recommends take contactless?

Yes, every one of them. Apple Pay, Google Pay and contactless cards are accepted as standard on every machine uno recommends; contactless is how most UK customers now pay, and every machine features it as standard.

Will I be able to take 'over-the-phone' payments?

For most merchants, yes - available on-screen along with contactless and Chip & Pin. The small minority of high-risk business-types that are not offered over-the-phone payments by default are the exception - for the vast majority, 'over-the-phone' payments will be offered as standard.

How can we process refunds?

From the card machine, in a few taps. Refund a sale on the same day and it is cancelled outright, with the money never leaving the customer's account; refund it after the provider's daily cut-off and the customer's bank typically takes 3-5 days to return it. Every machine uno recommends handles both, and the difference is only in how quickly the customer sees the money.

Is PCI compliance as much of a chore as it is with my current provider?

With several of the providers uno works with the merchant does nothing at all, because the provider handles PCI on their behalf; with the others it is a few minutes once a year. Nobody uno works with makes it complicated, and uno tells a merchant which they are getting before anything is signed.

How long does it take to get set up?

Most businesses are up and running within a few days. uno handles the installation and configuration, then walks the merchant and their staff through everything.

Ready to choose the right card machine?

We make the effort to understand how you operate, and only then recommend the solution that's right for your business - not the provider's.

Get Started 07395 451520