PayPal Here card machine review

PayPal Here is a user-friendly card machine and app with a trusted brand. It competes convincingly with rivals on those all-important credit card processing costs, plus it’s the only one that offers free instant access to your hard-earned cash.

With so many retail sales in the UK being paid by card, many small business owners are finding they’re quids-in with a card machine.

But is PayPal Here the best option for you? We put the PayPal portable card reader under the microscope, and compare it with the other leading mobile card readers (Zettle, Square, Worldpay, and SumUp) to help you decide for yourself. Or, for an all-in-one comparison, take a look at our page on the 6 best card machines for small businesses.

You’re probably already familiar with PayPal as that helpful online payments system which makes checking out a breeze – and if you’re already using PayPal for your business, getting the PayPal Here card machine can make your life easier.

It’s a company that has been looking out for the littler business pretty much since its inception, and their card reader offers another helping hand here.

So, does PayPal Here beat its rivals in the all-important areas: cost, ease of use and features?

To help you work out if PayPal Here is the best card reader for your business, let’s explore the nuts and bolts, and get you the best deal.

PayPal Here: The pros and cons

PayPal Here pros

The nifty little PayPal machine comes up trumps for price (if you’re a high earner) and speed, plus you get the added comforts of an intuitive app and a reliable brand.

With PayPal Here, business owners get to benefit from:

• Lowest fees – High volume sellers enjoy low-low fees of just 1.75% – 1% (no rivals stretch as low as PayPal here, but you’ll need to be making £1,500 – £15,000+ a month to cash in)
• Fastest transfers – With an instant settlement time, PayPal is the only card reader that’ll wire your hard-earned cash immediately to your (PayPal) account
• A top app – The intuitive PayPal Here app is one of the top rated on Google Play and the App Store
• Security – PayPal Seller Protection and fraud screening protect your business
• Convenience – Customers find they can pay quickly and easily
• Easy integration – PayPal works with the major e-commerce platforms and devices
• Reduced admin – You can run personalised reports and even send e-invoices

Small business owners rate the PayPal card payment machine for its simple interface and easy navigation. That makes PayPal Here perfect for events, since you can just turn it on and start taking payments on the go.

What’s more, if you’re already using a PayPal business account for your online sales, it can be handy to sync it with your card reader. That way, you’d be able to manage all your online and face-to-face sales together.

PayPal Here cons

PayPal has less competitive transaction fees for small businesses with mini sales volumes (under £1,500 a month).

If your monthly sales aren’t quite exceeding £1,500, you’ll pay lower fees with a more affordable alternative like Zettle by PayPal or Square.

Some small business owners also find the PayPal fee structure more complicated than with the fixed rate plans of competitors, although it can work as a good motivation to keep your sales high. We’ll explain this fully below.

Here are the two main areas to think about when deciding if PayPal Here is the best card reader for your business:

• Fees on a sliding scale – PayPal’s charges are not competitive for smaller earners (it’s 2.75% for monthly sales under £1,500)
• Limited cards supported – PayPal accepts only the main card brands (but not too many customers will insist on USB or Diners these days)
• Not all phones supported – You’ll need an iPhone or Android phone with at least a Bluetooth 2.0 to use PayPal Here (Windows phones are out of luck)

How does PayPal Here work?

PayPal Here lets you process a payment anywhere. That makes it ideal for mobile small businesses like taxi drivers, market stall holders, food delivery services, and festival pop-ups.

Taking payments is easy – you just need to pick up a PayPal Here card reader and download the free app (available on iPhones, iPads and nearly all Android phones and tablets with at least a Bluetooth 2.0). You’ll be able to connect the device to your mobile app via Bluetooth.

Then, you’ll just need to set up a PayPal business account, and make sure you have an Internet connection (either WiFi or mobile data), and you’ll be ready to go.

This video below will walk you through how PayPal Here works:

PayPal Here vs Zettle by PayPal, Square, WorldPay & SumUp

PayPal Here is the cheapest, fastest and easiest way of getting paid if you’re a nice little earner.

These are the most popular card machines for small businesses in the UK today:

• PayPal Here – Great for ease of use and speedy payments
• Zettle – Great for low costs and keeping things simple
• Square – Great for features that go the extra mile
• SumUp – Great for getting started with card payments
• WorldPay Zinc – Great for flexible payment options

Each one is a simple chip and PIN machine with an app attached, and has no monthly fees attached. And here is how they all compare with PayPal Here:

Card Reader	Device Cost	Transaction Fee	Settlement Time
Zettle	£59 (excl. VAT)	1.75%	2 – 3 business days
Square	£39 (excl. VAT)	1.75%	Instant deposits (1% fee applies), bank account times vary
SumUp	£59 (excl. VAT)	1.69%	Mostly 3 business days
WorldPay	£39.99 (excl. VAT)	1.95% – 2.75%	3 – 4 days
PayPal	£65 (excl. VAT)£45 on offer now	1% – 2.75% (depending on sales)	Instantly to PayPal, bank account times vary

PayPal Here Fees

It’s easy to get your hands on the card reader – it usually costs £65, but you can now find it on offer. Then, the app is free to download, and you’re safe from monthly rental charges.

Of course, a flat fee structure is easier to get your head around than the sliding scale of 1% to 2.75%. But then you wouldn’t get to benefit from lower transaction fees for higher sales volumes. Now, let’s dig into the factors that will determine your PayPal Here fees:

• The plan you’re on
• Your monthly sales
• The type of card used
• The payment entry method (chip, contactless, swipe or manual)
• And the country that issued the card (UK or abroad)

Now, let’s walk through the full costs involved in each of these. The PayPal Here plans

PayPal Here offers a two-tier pricing structure: the Blended Plan and the Interchange Plus Plan.

• The Blended Plan – More predictable pricing (a set rate regardless of the fees charged by cards like Visa and Mastercard)
• The Interchange Plus Plan – More variable pricing (your card provider’s interchange fee – a handling fee, usually between 0.2% and 2.0% – plus PayPal’s fee)

Total monthly sales	Blended Plan Fee	Interchange Plus Plan Fee
Up to £1,500	2.75%	IC + 2.5%
£1,500.01 - £6,000	1.75%	IC + 1.5%
£15,000.01 - £25,000	1%	IC + 0.75

Your monthly sales

The lowest transaction fees (as low as 1%) are available for higher sales volumes.

PayPal counts all your PayPal transactions, not just payments you take through PayPal Here, so it will include any online sales.

Visa and Mastercard can enjoy lower rates of between 1% and 2.75% for monthly sales exceeding £1,500, but AmEx is always charged at the top rate of 2.75% (this is pretty common).

The payment entry method Swipe or manual entry payment methods are processed at higher transaction rates of 3.40% plus 20p.

The card-issuing country PayPal apply charges to are variable (and some of the heftier) fees for foreign cards, so make sure your small business isn’t serving a tonne of international customers with expensive foreign credit cards.

Additional fees: PayPal Here offers extra services at an additional fee: invoices at 2.9% plus 30p per invoice, and 1% for cross-border transfers (both of these are fairly standard).

Free instant deposits: you’ll usually get your payments in your PayPal business account straight away, or within two hours. With Zettle, SumUp and WorldPay, you’ll be waiting days for this settlement, and unlike with Square, PayPal doesn’t charge you for this speedy delivery.There you’ll have the option of spending this money directly via PayPal transfers, or you can just move it straight to your bank account.

Cards supported with PayPal Here include: Mastercard, Maestro and American Express. This is a slightly shorter list than SumUp (which also supports V Pay) and Zettle (which includes Union Pay and USB, Diners), but to be fair, those cards are pretty rare in the UK.

You can also now pay using contactless on PayPal Here with credit cards, debit cards and smartphones for transactions under £30 (or more with Apple Pay).

PayPal Here FAQs – Your top 5 questions answered

1) Do I need an Internet connection to use PayPal Here?
As with most card readers, you’ll need to be connected to the Internet. And remember, your transactions will be fastest via a WiFi network or mobile data with 3G or 4G.

2) Do my customers need a PayPal account?
No, anyone can use the PayPal Here card reader. It works just like Apple Pay and Android Pay,so customers can pay using their debit or credit card, cash or cheque.

3)Which cards are accepted? You can accept chip & PIN, contactless, debit and credit cards from: VISA, Mastercard, Maestro and American Express.

4) Can I use the card reader abroad?
You can only join PayPal Here if your business is UK-based, but you can use it abroad (so long as you charge in pound sterling). As is standard with card payment devices, you’ll also be able to accept supported cards from overseas customers.

5) Can I print receipts using PayPal Here?
Yes, the device is compatible with selected printers which you can find listed here.

Should I choose PayPal Here: What next?

On this page, we have covered:

The above article has covered the pros and cons of PayPal, what PayPal Here is (plus, how it works), a comparison as to how PayPal compares to other card readers and how much PayPal costs.

So, how do you decide? For a fast way to compare PayPal Here with all your options, we’ve made a comprehensive quote-finder for our readers. Just pop what you’re looking for into the form and you’ll be matched directly with the best card machine providers for you.

To access these quotes, fill out our short form with a few details about your business, and see how quickly you can get the answers you need.