Home · Guides

Over three years the fees on card payments are often the largest part of the cost of a cash register. Some vendors offer two rates: one with no monthly fee and one with a monthly fee and a lower percentage. Which one pays off depends on card takings and on which cards customers use.

The rates in the price lists

The subscription threshold

With the SumUp subscription you pay 19 € more a month and save 0.60 percentage points on consumer cards (from 1.39 to 0.79%). It pays off when the saving exceeds the fee: with consumer cards only, from about 3,167 € a month of card takings (19 divided by 0.60%).

Business and premium cards cost 1.39% even with the subscription, so the threshold rises with their share:

The share can usually be found in the payment provider’s statements, which split fees by card type. Above 10,000 € a month of card takings SumUp offers individual terms in Germany, which are not public [1].

An example over three years

With 5,000 € a month of card takings, 180,000 € go through over three years. Without the monthly fee SumUp costs 2,502 € in fees; with the subscription from 2,106 € (consumer cards only) to 3,186 € (no consumer cards). Without the share the calculator therefore shows a range: try the example with 5,000 € a month. With a 20% share the subscription costs 2,322 € and pays off: same example with 20%.

The subscription can be cancelled at any time, according to SumUp [1]: if takings change with the season, the threshold can be checked again month by month.