Card payments
for tradespeople.
Plumbers, sparks, joiners, gas engineers. Big invoices, slow payers, and half the money collected from a van rather than a counter. The percentage rate matters here in a way it doesn’t for a coffee shop.
- Card takings a month
- £18,000
- Average sale
- £240
- Payments a month
- 75
- Card fees (1.4% + 10p)
- £271.00
- Plan fee
- £19.00
- Total a month
- £290.00
An effective rate of 1.61% all in. The card rate is the same on every plan. Pro, for invoicing and recurring payments — the quote becomes the invoice becomes the paid job. Illustrative — put your own numbers in below.
Three things tradespeople keep telling us.
Get paid at the door
Taking the card before you pack the tools away is worth more than any rate. Tap to Pay on your phone means there’s no reason to leave without payment.
Deposits before you order materials
Send a payment link from the quote. Materials get paid for by the customer’s money, not your overdraft.
The percentage is the whole cost
On a £240 job the 10p fixed fee is 0.04% and the 1.4% is £3.36. Across £18,000 a month the percentage is the whole bill, which is why pay by bank is worth offering on the big invoices, and why a payment link costs a little more (1.5% + 20p): the card schemes charge more when the card is not present.
Start from a real basket, not a round number.
Set up for tradespeople: £18,000 a month, a £240 average sale, and about 45% taken remotely rather than face to face. Drag any of it.
45% online or by link
All UK and EEA cards
An effective rate of 1.61% on £18,000 across roughly 75 payments.
- Percentage fees (Stripe's rate)
- £260.10
- Fixed fees per payment
- £10.90
- Plan fee
- £19.00
- Total cost
- £290.00
The card fees above are the same on every plan. Changing plan changes only the plan fee: Starter £0 · Pro £19 · Scale £79.
What tradespeople ask
How can a tradesperson take card payments on site?
Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android lets a tradesperson take contactless card, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments on their own phone at the customer’s property, with no card reader to carry. For larger jobs, a payment link can be sent by text before materials are ordered so the deposit clears first. Both are included on every Cheekypayments plan.
How much does it cost a trade business to take card payments?
Every Cheekypayments plan charges Stripe's published rate of 1.4% + 10p per in-person payment on UK and EEA cards. For a typical trade business taking £18,000 a month across roughly 75 sales at an average of £240, that is about £271.00 in card fees. On the Pro plan (£19 a month) the total is about £290.00 — an effective rate of 1.61%.
Can tradespeople take card payments without a card machine?
Yes. Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android turns a phone you already own into a contactless card reader, accepting Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay with no extra hardware. It is included on every Cheekypayments plan, including the free one. A card reader is available for £29 as a one-off purchase if you would rather have a separate machine, or a traditional countertop machine on your own Verofy account.
How quickly does a trade business get the money?
Payouts run daily once your account is verified. How quickly a given sale lands depends on your account's schedule. It is the same on every plan. Money taken on a card is settled to your own bank account rather than held in a separate balance you have to withdraw from.
Trading by this afternoon.
No long contract. Cancel whenever you like. Start on the free plan and move up when you want the software, not to chase a better rate.
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