Today’s small businesses have more choice of card machines and merchant accounts than ever. eBanks and alternative banking solutions deliver cheaper rates, more transparent fees, and small-business-friendly services.
Teya card machines are one of those services, specializing in delivering localized small business services including an online payment gateway, payment processing, and card machines.
If you’re wondering if Teya card machines are right for your UK business, this article covers everything you need to know. We look at pricing, features, reviews, and how Teya compares with its nearest competitors. Let’s take a look!
What Is Teya?
Teya is a merchant service provider offering payment processing and card machines. The company launched in 2019 and has quickly risen to become one of the fastest growing card machine companies in the EU.
The company has since grown to over 300,000 customers across 16 countries. Those customers are all businesses looking for payment processing services including card machines, and merchant accounts.
Teya is an e-money and financial services account. It offers a business banking solution. It also functions as an acquirer for processing card transactions. This means you’ll only need one account for accepting card payments. However, regulations are lower than those of traditional banks with a banking license.
Teya Card Machines & Offerings
Teya offers multiple card machines in its normal packages. All are priced at a flat rate and are geared for small businesses. In addition, you can opt for Tap to Pay or a business bank service.
Teya Go
The Teya Go is an Android-powered card reader that’s roughly the size of a mobile phone.
It offers contactless and chip on pin payments. It also has a battery that lasts up to 6 hours. The card machine costs £69 upfront.
Teya Essential
The Teya Essential is a PoS with a 5.5” touchscreen, built-in receipt printer, and integrated camera. That means you can use it to scan QR codes and barcodes. You can also integrate your PoS.
The model also offers an up to 6 hour battery. Integrated receipts also mean you can choose to print paper receipts or send digital ones to customers. This costs £179 + VAT.
Teya Pro
The Teya Pro is a portable card machine with integrated barcode scanner, receipts, and camera. You can accept chip and pin and contactless payments.
It also offers a 10-hour battery. Plus, with a 6” touchscreen, it’s easy to navigate for most.
Teya Bespoke
You can negotiate a custom plan with Teya including your own transaction rates, machines, and Point of Sale support.
Tap to Pay
Teya offers an app where you can accept contactless payments via your phone. This is a great choice for starters and micro businesses, as you’ll only pay transaction fees.
This payment method supports pinned transactions. However, it does not support American Express cards.
Business Bank Account
Teya offers a business bank account, complete with cards. Here, you get next-business day settlements on inbound transactions.
Business Funding
Teya offers business funding up to £1.5 million. However, you’ll need a Teya account to qualify.
Teya Benefits
Teya stands out as a small-business oriented card machine provider. For example, the business establishes local support and local customer service in every area it sells card machines. It also offers free support.
Every Teya card machine also comes with a lifetime warranty and accident cover, which is better than any other competitor.
- Lifetime warranty on all card machines
- Flat-rate fees
- Card machines cost less than most competitors
- Plenty of extras
- Local support
However, Teya isn’t perfect. For example, you can’t use it to set up online payments. If you run omnichannel sales or also want to sell with a web shop, you’ll need a different merchant account. That can be a hassle, which may make Teya less of a great offer.
In addition, it does not offer a monthly plan or a payment plan for card machines. This means you’ll have to buy the machine outright and upfront. That can be a bad deal if you’re not sure what kind of model you want yet.
Teya Card Machine Pricing
Teya charges very simple rates for all of its products. Here, you pay a flat rate for a card machine.
Teya card machines stand out with no monthly fees. That means there’s no monthly fee to hire the machine and no monthly fee to use the machine. You’ll pay a flat rate upfront and then just transaction costs. For a small business owner, that means your operating costs could be significantly lower.
Teya transaction rates are also simple:
- 1.49% for credit and debit cards
- 1.59% for tap to pay transactions
- 1.9% for all Amex cards
In addition, you’ll pay the following rates for card machines:
| Card Machine | Teya Go | Teya Essential | Teya Pro | Teya Bespoke |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase Cost | £69 | £179 | £179 | Custom |
| Transaction Fee | 1.49% -1.9% | 1.49%-1.9% | 1.49%-1.9% | Custom |
Those rates are highly competitive. In fact, if you go to the next section, you’ll see that Teya is extremely competitive in terms of costs.
Teya vs Competitors
Teya is extremely popular for being small business-friendly. Its offerings include choices for different business needs, transparent and low rates, and local customer support.
Let’s take a look at how Teya card machines compare with other top providers.
Teya’s top competitors include Handepay, EVO Payments, Stripe, PayPal Zettle, Adyen, Square, and Worldpay. Of these, Teya is the only option to not offer an online payment gateway.
| Provider | Teya | Handepay | EVO Payments | Stripe | PayPal Zettle | Adyen | Square | WorldPay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction Cost | 1.49%-1.9% | 0.5%-3%, included for first 400 online transactions | Included in fee (Rates work out to an average of 2.2%+) | 2.5% + 25p for UK cards, 1.5% + 25p for EU cards | 1.2% -3.5% + fixed fee | 11p + provider cost (typically 3%) | 1.4%+ 25p or 2.5% + 25p | 1.4%-3.95% + fixed rate |
| Card Reader | £69-£179 | £10-£30 monthly | £33-£94 monthly | £19.99+ monthly | £79.99+ | NA | £59 one time fee | Custom |
| Online Payment Gateway | No | £19.99 | £33-£94 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0-£29+ | £2.95-£25+ |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.5 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
As you can see, Teya card machines compare favourably on price and transaction fee. However, keep in mind that if you’re primarily processing UK payments, some alternatives will offer transaction fees from as little as 0.70%, so it’s still important to request and compare quotes before making a decision.
How much does that matter? You’d need to process about £2,500 in local UK card transactions to save £20. Considering that’s the monthly fee for most card machine companies offering domestic rates at 0.75%, that should be your cutoff point. And, you’ll want to look at other fees too.
Teya Reviews & Ratings
Teya is overall very well rated by customers across the UK and the EU. Customers cite ease of use, low and transparent prices, and great customer service.
- Setup is fast and you can get your card machine in just a few days
- Customer service solves problems in days not weeks
- Machine is reliable and fast
- Fees are competitive
- No monthly fees
- Card machines are very competitively priced
- Machines are replaced same-day when they stop working
- Card machine warranty is unmatched
Of course, not everyone is completely thrilled with Teya. For example, some customers complain that Teya froze their accounts while verifying their identities. You also won’t get many integrations for other software or hardware you already have, which can be a hassle if you want to set up and use it with a till or register.
Otherwise, Teya looks like a great solution and its customers love it.
Who Should Use Teya Card Machines?
Teya is a great low-cost card machine provider, but is it for everyone? No!
Teya has multiple drawbacks including a lack of services, lack of features, and lack of support for more complex businesses. Users often report that Teya is a great basic payment processing application but if you want more flexibility from the app, it’s just not there.
Still, that leaves a lot of room for Teya to be a top choice for many businesses. For example, startups, brick and mortar companies without online sales, and contractors are all likely to not just benefit from Teya, but also to save a great deal in costs.
On the other hand, more complex businesses like retail shops with web shops, restaurants that need to integrate PoS and back of house, etc., probably want to look at other services.
Getting The Best Card Machine For Your UK Business
Teya is just one card machine provider in the UK. It stands out with low card machine costs, no monthly fees, and competitive transaction rates. In most cases, you can start for nothing but the cost of the card machine. From there, you’ll pay based on sales you actually make. Teya’s actual transaction costs can be higher for domestic UK cards than some competitors. However, with no monthly fees, that is likely to balance out for low-volume business and micro-businesses.
If you’d like to make sure you’re getting the best deal on your card machine, use the form below. Tell us what you need, your transaction volume, and required services. We’ll request quotes from top providers on your behalf, select the best ones, and pass the savings on to you.