Barclaycard offers three different types of card readers, aimed at different types of businesses. Furthermore, the company offers different pricing plans with each card reader so businesses can better deals based on their turnover and industry.
Compared to other card reader services, Barclaycard’s wide range of card machines is a plus point. It gives businesses a chance to opt for a more specific solution.
That said, the company also has some setbacks; for example, since the card machines have a branded payment gateway, it can negatively affect your website’s user experience, among other things.
In any case, in this Barclaycard review, we’ll dive deeper into the different card reader machines Barclaycard offers, along with their services and pricing.
Let’s get started.
Sections
Barclaycard Overview
Barclaycard is part of the Barclays Bank and Barclaycard International Payments Limited groups. For businesses, Barclaycard provides a wide range of services and corporate solutions. However, one of their primary products includes three different types of card readers.
- Smartpay Touch – The Barclaycard Smartpay Touch is the best card reader option offering a full touchscreen and interface. It has a minimum 12-month contract lower limit and no initial costs. However, it has the highest monthly cost among all options at £29 while the transaction cost is 1.6%.
- Flex Mobile – The Barclaycard Flex Mobile is the ‘middle’ option with a large screen and a traditional design. It has a minimum 18-month contract lower limit, the highest among all three but has no initial setup costs. It has a £10 monthly cost and individual transaction fees are at 1.6%.
- Anywhere – The Barclaycard Anywhere is the most basic card reader available and is a simple chip-and-PIN (and contactless) card reader. It has no monthly costs but has an initial cost of £29 while transaction fees are at 1.6%.
All three card readers accept Visa, Mastercard, Google Pay, and Apply Pay. However, the Smartpay Touch and Flex Mobile card readers also support American Express.
Other than that, there are two different pricing plans: a pay-as-you-go option and a tailored pricing option.
Here is how each Barclaycard card reader differentiates from each other, and card readers from other companies.
Barclaycard Smartpay Touch
The Barclaycard Smartpay Touch is the company’s top offering, an all-in-one POS solution for businesses.
The device allows you to monitor stock levels, get real-time data reporting, and has the ability to integrate with your business’s accountancy software.
It brings all your business-related matters in one place, offering a simpler business administration experience. On top of that, the device’s UI and UX are designed to offer additional functionality to assist business owners in running their businesses.
According to their website, this card reader is best for businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure industries. Other than that, businesses that offer professional services can also utilize it because the device has features like automated booking confirmation, text reminders, and the ability to create personalised experiences for customers.
Other than various booking tools, the card reader also provides full reporting capabilities and dashboards to allow you to track business performance at all times.
All in all, the SmartPay Touch acts as a POS solution that makes doing business simpler, accepts all payment types, offers real-time insights, and only has a fixed monthly charge of £29 + VAT per month.
As for the pricing plans, it offers a fixed 1.6% fee per transaction if your annual card turnover doesn’t exceed £100,000. If it does, you can opt for a variable monthly transaction fee through Barclaycard’s tailored pricing package.
Barclaycard Flex Mobile
The Barclaycard Flex Mobile is the company’s middle offering aimed at businesses that are looking for a cheaper card machine alternative.
It supports all major payment types, including in-person, mail, and through the phone. The company also claims next-day payouts are possible with the card machine.
Furthermore, the card machine supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS, and mobile data networks, allowing users to freely switch between them based on their preferences and conditions.
The machine is built to speed up payments and can take up to 700 sales per day on a full charge. It’s a light machine, weighing 320g and as big as a typical smartphone.
As for the pricing plans, it also offers two plans with the first one being a ‘pay-as-you-go’ plan with a 1.6% fixed fee per transaction. It’s ideal for seasonal businesses, especially if your annual card turnover doesn’t exceed £100,000.
The second tailored pricing plan offers a variable monthly transaction fee based on your turnover. Both plans have a fixed £10 + VAT per month rental fee.
Barclaycard Anywhere
The Barclaycard Anywhere is the company’s low-tier and simple offering that utilises a simple card machine with a small TFT LCD.
It can take credit, debit, and digital payments on the move and in-store, and it’s ideal for individual sellers and seasonal businesses.
While the card machine itself doesn’t have a screen, you can use the Barclaycard Anywhere app on your smartphone to keep track of all your payments and manage them.
You can connect your card reader to your smartphone using Bluetooth.
To take card payments, you:
- Open the Barclaycard Anywhere app on your phone and enter the total amount
- Ask the customer to take their card and tap it on the machine or insert their card, and then await confirmation
- On the app, tap the customer’s email so a digital receipt can be sent to them directly through mail
All in all, it’s a simple card machine that is made better with a smartphone app that lets you track your payments, export data, and have multiple users at any given time.
As for pricing plans, it has a one-off rental fee of £29 + VAT with a pay-as-you-go plan at 1.6% per transaction fee.
Barclaycard Review
While Barclaycard card readers are not the best in the business, they are certainly among the better ones. With a minimum contract length of 12 and 18 months, they’re a commitment and businesses need to think carefully before opting for them.
When it comes to rates, Barclaycard terminals tend to have better rates than other merchant service providers. This is great for small businesses, especially the ones with an annual card turnover below £100,000.
On top of that good transaction rates, the company provides assistance with PCI compliance. Furthermore, they have good quality card machines that have all the basic features.
That said, the card machines are running with outdated technology, especially when there are fully touchscreen-enabled all-in-one card machines out there.
Furthermore, because of the longer contract lengths, there’s a good chance that your costs end up accumulating. Also, while Barclaycard claims next-day payouts, they are only possible if you have a Barclays bank account.
For non-Barclays bank account holders, the settlement period ranges between 3-7 days.
As for customer support, there are long waiting times and support isn’t as helpful according to a lot of customers.
That said, the Barclaycard Anywhere car machine is the best choice if you’re going for Barclaycard. It’s a simple chip-and-PIN machine that integrates with a smartphone app.
It has no monthly fees or lock-in and has a low fixed card rate. It has among the lowest fixed-percentage fee in the industry and fulfils most business requirements.
All in all, Barclaycard card readers are ideal for small businesses that want a traditional card machine and predictable and low transaction rates.
Pros
The following are some major pros of using Barclaycard card readers.
- Two different pricing plans based on annual turnover
- Simple application process
- All card readers can be used in-person and remotely
- Barclaycard Anywhere allows customers to track sales and manage payments through the app
- No monthly fee or lock-in for Barclaycard Anywhere
- Different card reader options for different kinds of businesses
- Short settlement period
Barclaycard offers various choices and payment plans to help businesses get a better deal with their card reader.
Cons
The following are some of the drawbacks of Barclaycard card readers.
- Application approval is heavily reliant on your borrowing history and financial circumstances
- Barclaycard Anywhere does not support American Express
- App features are limited compared to other card reader providers
- Barclaycard Flex Mobile has a minimum 18-month contract while the Smartpay Touch has a 12-month minimum
- Without a Barclaycard account, payment settlements can take up to seven days
- The app is rarely updated
- Refunds tend to cost extra
On top of that, Barclaycard uses old card reader models.
User Reviews
Currently, Barclaycard has a 1.2 rating on Trustpilot in the Bank category. This rating is based on approximately 2,800 reviews from various customers. According to Trustpilot, this is considered a ‘Bad’ rating.
However, it’s important to note that Barclaycard also offers consumer-facing services, including debit and credit cards. That means the reviews on Trustpilot are a combination of all their services, so it may not be the exact experience of card reader customers.
That said, the general rating of a company does say a lot about how well its services are. Even if they provide good card readers with decent plans, there is a lack of customer service, updates, and general concern of the customers, as seen from the experience of Barclaycard’s customers.
In any case, here’s a positive review of Barclaycard on Trustpilot.
Five-star reviews only make up 7% of all reviews. Meanwhile, 89% of all reviews are one-star reviews. Here’s an example of a negative review of Barclaycard.
After some digging, we found that a lot of negative reviews were about Barclaycard’s business services, which include Barclaycard card readers.
Therefore, there’s general consensus that Barcalycard’s business services do not get as much attention as their consumer services.
Other than that, the Barclaycard app on the Play Store has a 3.8 rating from 44,000 reviews. Meanwhile, its app on the App Store has a 4.5 rating with 38,000 reviews.
Lastly, the Barclaycard Anywhere app has a 2.0 rating on the App Store with 40 ratings.
Barclaycard Pricing and Fees
Barclaycard provides a clear outlook on its prices and fees on its website. While there may be some hidden fees, they are often tied to value-added services.
Other than that, each card reader has two pricing plans and packages.
Here’s how the Barclaycard Smartpay Touch fees work:
- Monthly Rental – £29 plus VAT
- Cancellation Costs – £0
- Contract Length – 12 months minimum
- Transaction Costs – 1.6% per transaction if the annual card turnover doesn’t exceed £100,000. If it does, you get tailored pricing based on your business turnover, industry, and company size.
The following are the fees and prices of the Barclaycard Flex Mobile device:
- Monthly Rental – £10 plus VAT
- Cancellation Costs – £0
- Contract Length – 18 months minimum
- Transaction Costs – 1.6% per transaction if the annual card turnover doesn’t exceed £100,000. If it does, you get variable monthly transaction fees.
The following are the fees and prices of the Barclaycard Anywhere device:
- One-Off Rental Fee – £29 plus VAT
- Cancellation Costs – £0
- Contract Length – Pay as you go
- Transaction Costs – 1.6% per transaction regardless of the turnover.
There are no joining fees for any of the card reader deals. Other than that, there may be a PCI fee for non-compliant transactions. However, these fees are often communicated by Barclaycard representatives and depend on what card reader and plan you opt for.
What’s the Verdict?
All in all, Barclaycard has a backed-up system and multiple card reader offerings based on different business types. However, their card reader models are relatively outdated compared to their counterparts.
Other than that, their app is not as well designed as you would expect and there aren’t as many updates as there should be. As for the pricing plans, there are only two different pricing packages, offering little choice to businesses, especially if their turnover exceeds £100,000 per year.
However, there aren’t many hidden fees involved and there is rarely any downtime with their services. Customer support may be lacking but Barclaycard’s services tick all the necessary marks.
Therefore, Barclaycard card readers are recommended for small businesses, especially the ones with a turnover lesser than £100,000 that want a relatively simple deal.
Barclaycard User Reviews
Review Summary
Recent Reviews
Worst merchant service provider
One of the worst worst worst service provider, they blocked my account for just one chargeback, that also when it was customer’s mistake, barclays didn’t give my business any support…to make things worst they held my funds for 6 months and also black listed my business on MATCH, this way it gets very difficult to apply for any other merchant….barclays literally killed my business for just one chargeback …..do not do business with barclays they are the worst in the industry…they will not only block your account, they will also hold your funds for 6 months and also black list you on match…..they don’t even deserve one star ….Useless barclays