Lloyds Bank is best known as one of the big five high street banks. But, for small business owners looking for an all-inclusive payment solution, it also offers a surprisingly competitive and high-rated option.
Lloyds Bank Cardnet is a payment processing service including card machines, online payment gateway, and business banking. Unlike many other high street bank offerings, Lloyds also offers flat rate pricing, clear monthly fees, and fixed transaction fees.
That makes Lloyds Bank Cardnet a tempting option, even for startups and micro businesses. The following review looks at features, offerings, and reviews to help you decide if Lloyds Bank Cardnet is the right payment solution for your small business.
What Is Lloyds Bank Cardnet?
Lloyds Bank Cardnet is a self-service payment service offering merchant account services, business banking, online payment gateway, card machine rental, and virtual terminal.
Lloyds charges flat rate fees for some products and offerings. For example, most of its card terminals are available for a flat monthly fee. In addition, most of its transaction fees are transparent.
However, for some plans, monthly fees and transaction fees are custom to your account. That means you’ll still have to request a custom quote and ideally compare it with competitors to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
Lloyds is one of the largest banks in the UK. That means it’s a great place to go if you’re already banking with Lloyds, if you want the reliability of a big bank, or if you want to build customer trust.
Lloyds Bank Cardnet Costs & Pricing
Lloyds Bank Cardnet uses a semi-transparent fee structure. This means you can see some fees and others, you can’t.
For example, you can expect the following fees:
- Card terminal rental: £21-£23 per month or a one-off fee
- Service charges: Minimum Monthly Fee is £10 for authorisation fees
- Debit card transaction fee: 0.5% + 3p
- Payment gateway fee: 13p
- SIM from £10 per month
- Card not present fee: 0.2%
- Additional fees such as card not present, international card payments, online payments, refunds, & chargebacks
In most cases, you’ll have to request custom pricing. For example, higher volume sales mean you’ll normally pay a lower transaction rate.
In addition, you’ll get a custom monthly rate for items such as monthly fees for payment gateways. That means Lloyds isn’t entirely transparent about pricing.
Lloyds Bank Cardnet Features
Lloyds Bank Cardnet offers a full-service payment processing service with everything you need to accept payments in-person or online. When paired with a Lloyds business bank account, you won’t need any additional services to take payments.
Merchant Account Services
Lloyds Bank is a merchant account service, meaning you can set up payment processing via card terminal, online payment gateway, or virtual terminal.
- Online Payment Gateway – You get an online payment gateway complete with apps for integration and integration assistance. You’ll have some branding options. However, monthly fees and transaction rates are fully custom based on expected volume of sale.
- Virtual Terminal – You can accept payments via link, QR code, or over the phone with a virtual terminal. Again, all pricing is fully custom.
Card Readers
Lloyds Bank Cardnet offers a selection of card machines. Here, you’ll pay a monthly fee plus transaction costs.
- MPOS – This small chip and pin card reader is ideal for starters and micro businesses. It offers contactless and chip and pin payments. You can also connect it to your phone, 4G, or Wi-Fi. It also costs just £49 upfront with no monthly fees. Lloyds Cardnet also offers a fixed transaction rate at 1.75% for all cards except American Express. That makes this option ideal for small and micro businesses that need fixed rates. You’ll have a minimum £10 per month transaction cost. However, the contract is monthly with no long-term commitments.
- Castles Saturn – The Castles Saturn is available from £23 per month. If you sign an 18-month contract, it’s free for the first 6 months. This card reader offers a touchscreen, Android interface, app store, integrated camera, and integrated printer. You can use it to scan barcodes and QR codes. You can also choose when to print receipts. That makes this ideal for retail stores and shops needing an all-purpose portable card reader.
- Clover Flex – The Clover Flex is designed to be a PoS and inventory management system, complete with barcode scanner, printer, and even financing. It costs £21 per month plus VAT. You’ll also pay £10 per month if you want a 4G SIM card.
- Clover Mini – This tabletop Point of Sale offers a full-service card reader and mini till solution ideal for retail and shops. It costs from £23 per month. In addition, you’ll have access to point of sale and eCommerce apps, finance management, and even employee management and payroll directly through the app. A 4G SIM is £10 per month. Contracts are also fixed for 18 months.
- Clover Station – This is a full-service PoS, complete with printer, till, and Clover Flex. Pricing is custom and contracts have a minimum of 18 months.
Benefits Of Lloyds Bank Cardnet For Small Businesseses
There are plenty of reasons Lloyds Bank Cardnet stands out for small businesses.
- Fully Scalable – Lloyds Bank offers fixed monthly rate and fixed transaction costs for micro business and startups. However, it scales as far as you need it to, with a maximum processing speed of 600 transaction per second. If you stick with Lloyds, you’ll only ever need one payment processing service no matter how much you grow.
- Big Bank Trust – Lloyds is a top five bank, you’ll benefit from business trust and consumer trust.
- Omnichannel Support – Lloyds supports online, virtual, and face-to-face transactions. In addition, it offers apps and direct integrations for many major eCommerce platforms and shopping carts so you can easily set up online payments without coding.
- Multiple Card Reader Offerings – Lloyds Bank Cardnet offers multiple card reader offerings including a full Clover PoS setup, which you can rent with Lloyds payment processing included.
- Includes Business Banking – Lloyds offers a complete business bank account with an opening deposit of £1. That qualifies you for business finance, business debit cards, and a place to deposit payments as they come in.
What about cons? Lloyds isn’t as transparent as many eBanking or alternative banking providers. This means you could end up with higher fees, or less of an idea of what you’re paying upfront.
However, you can often get around this by comparing your options upfront and making sure you have a good quote before you sign.
Lloyds Bank Cardnet vs Competitors
Lloyds Bank is just one of the many payment processors you can choose. Its nearest competitors include Tyl by NatWest, Handepay, Takepayments, Tide, SumUp, and Square.
Let’s take a look at how they compare:
| Provider | Lloyds Bank Cardnet | Tyl by NatWest | Handepay | Tide | TakePayments | SumUp | Square |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardreader Cost | £21-£23 monthly or £54 upfront | Included in Monthly | £10-£30 monthly | £79-£199 | Custom | £34-£349 | £19-£599 |
| Monthly Fee | Custom | £9.99+ | £9.99 | £0 | Yes | £0-£19 | £0-£29+ |
| Transaction Fee | From 1.75% but usually custom | 1.39% + 5p - 1.99% + 5p | Included in monthly | 1.5%-1.95% | 0.3%-2.5% | 0.99%-1.69% | 1.75%-2.5% |
| Online Payment Gateway | Custom Pricing | £14.99 | £19.99 | NA | Custom | Free | Free |
| Payouts | Next day | Daily | Next day | 1-3 Business Days | Next day | Next day | 1-2 business days, Instant |
| Tap-to-Pay | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Trustpilot Rating | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
Essentially, Lloyds compares very well, even to other high street banks. However, with pricing that isn’t as transparent, it can be harder to see what you’re paying without getting a custom quote.
Lloyds Bank Cardnet Reviews & Ratings
Lloyds Bank Cardnet is generally well reviewed with an average of 3.8 stars online. Customers quote high quality card readers, good choice of services, and great service.
- Card readers are high quality and come with everything you need to get started
- Complete service with no other accounts needed
- Good customer service
Some reviewers quote that account updates can take longer than they’d like. Some people also cite hidden fees or unexpected fees.
Who Should Use Lloyds Bank Cardnet?
Lloyds Bank Cardnet is a great option for business owners looking for a major bank to do business with.
In addition, it offers scalable services, making it a great fit for starters, scale-ups, and for businesses that can already negotiate good rates with the bank. Plus, if you’re a starter, you can get an instant decision on credit for business financing.
Choosing The Best UK Small Business Payment Provider
Lloyds Bank is a popular payment processing service with everything you need to accept payments online and face-to-face. It also offers competitive rates, plenty of card machine options, and direct integrations for its online payment gateway. Still, pricing is not fully transparent, so it’s important to compare your options so you can ensure you’re getting the best value.
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