Taking card payments in a small South African shop
Card acceptance is two purchases that are usually sold as one: a device that reads the card, and an arrangement with whoever settles the money into your bank account. Separating them in your head makes the pricing legible.
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What you are actually paying for
There is a device cost — rented monthly or bought outright — and a transaction cost, charged as a percentage of each sale and sometimes with a few cents added per transaction.
The percentage is not one fee. It is an interchange component set by the card schemes, a scheme fee, and the acquirer's own margin. You will normally be quoted a single blended rate, which is fine; just make sure you know whether it is blended across card types, because a premium credit card or an international card can be charged at a materially higher rate than a local debit card.
Ask how long settlement takes
The money does not arrive when the sale goes through. Next business day is common; two to three days happens; some arrangements settle weekly.
For a business buying stock weekly, the difference between next-day and weekly settlement is a working-capital decision, not an administrative detail. Ask for it in writing.
The machine and the software are separate decisions
A standalone card machine works perfectly well next to any till. The cashier rings up the sale, reads the total off the screen, types it into the machine, and records on the till that the payment was by card.
An integrated machine receives the amount from the till, which removes the retyping and therefore the wrong-amount mistakes. It is genuinely better, but it is a convenience and a control improvement, not a requirement — and integration is usually the thing that locks you to one provider.
BAG records card sales taken on any standalone machine on every plan, including the free one. Direct integration depends on the provider publishing a till interface, which not all of them do.
Watch the contract term
Device rentals frequently run on 24- or 36-month terms with an early-settlement charge. That is the part of the deal that outlives your opinion of the provider.
If you are unsure, a bought device or a month-to-month arrangement costs more per month and far less to walk away from.
Where the card details go
Neither your till nor your staff should ever handle a card number. On a compliant setup the card is read by the machine and the number never reaches the software — which is why a card machine cannot simply be replaced with a form on the till.
If anyone proposes that you type card numbers into a screen, stop. That is a different regulatory category entirely, and it is not one a small shop wants to be in.
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Where this page describes a legal requirement it reflects the legislation as commonly applied and legislation changes — confirm anything that matters with SARS or your own accountant.