Fully in the grips of the digital age, it seems safe to say that cash is no longer king. With speed, ease and overall convenience the calls of the day, people are increasingly turning to alternative payment methods, be it credit cards, automatic online transactions or otherwise. 

The big worry that this presented was that small businesses, particularly mobile ones (think freelance plumbers, hairdressers, delivery drivers, etc.) could very well have been left behind, unable to afford to often costly software, devices, transaction fees and waiting times previously necessary to facilitate cashless payments. With the emergence of services like SumUp, however, that is all about to change. 

With significant technological advancements having been made in recent times, mobile card readers have come on leaps and bounds, with the EMV card reader from SumUp presenting a range of benefits that specifically help smaller companies who were otherwise under threat of being squeezed out of the market due to an inability to accommodate the modern preference for cards over cash. These include: 

• Full compatibility with both Android and iOS smartphones via Bluetooth. 
• The ability to accept payments via contactless, magnetic stripe or EMV chip cards, and Apple/Android Pay, all using one device and the mobile app, so you never have to turn away a customer. 
• A fixed, competitive transaction fee of just 2.75%. 
• Direct payment into your account. 
• It’s easy to get started, taking just 5 minutes to be up and running. 
• It’s based entirely online, with no confusing contracts or paperwork to stress over. 
• They’re well established, being the leading mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) company in Europe, with 5 years of experience under their belt. 
• They’re safe and reliable, being fully registered by the Financial Conduct Authority. 

So much of a small business’s success depends on being able to operate alongside the big names and international brands, and with the offering of electronic payments no longer such a costly mountain to climb, they’re now one (crucial) step closer to being on an even playing field.