SumUp Plus Review 

About SumUp 

SumUp revolutionized the market by first offering an affordable mobile card reader, with its fourth version released in 2016.

SumUp accepts credit card and contactless payments anywhere with a very simple installation process.

Since launching its first product, SumUp has since launched other credit card machines, useful for different kinds of businesses. To help you see more clearly, here is a comparison table of 4 of the main SumUp terminal models:

POS	SumUp Plus	SumUp Solo	SumUp Pro	SumUp POS + Loyalty
Hardware price (excl. promo)	$19	$99	$69	From $0/month
Style	Hand-held	Portable	Hand-held	Stationery
Function	Bluetooth with app on mobile device	Palm-sized, mobile touchscreen	Standalone, basic card reader	Stationery device for restaurants & reports/ analytics
Monthly subscr	No contracts/fee	No contracts/fee	No contracts/fee	No contracts/fee
Payment processing	Starts at 2.75%.	Starts at 2.75%.	Starts at 2.75%.	Starts at 2.75%.
Built-in SIM	Yes	Yes	Yes	–
Charging base	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

The SumUp Plus reader in detail

The SumUp Pro is a standalone card reader, which means there’s no need for an additional smartphone or tablet to accept card payments. It accepts chip and contactless payments, works on both WiFi and cellular data, and includes a built-in SIM card and free unlimited mobile data.

Similar to a conventional credit card reader, this mini-terminal allows businesses to: 

• Read and accept bank card payments
• Accept contactless payments
• Accept NFC payments by digital wallet (Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay) 

Note that it is necessary to have a smartphone with WiFi or 3G/4G connection to use the SumUp Plus. 

In terms of ergonomics, you will appreciate its small size compared to traditional payment terminals, which can be rather large and heavy. 

With dimensions of 3.3 inches tall x 3.3 inches wide x 0.9 inches deep and weighing just 5 oz, the SumUp Plus terminal fits in your hand and customers love it. 

It is more ergonomic than other handheld POS machines and cards can be inserted into the bottom of the device, or swiped or tapped using the contactless functionality.

Cards accepted by SumUp Plus

Card type	Accepted?
Debit cards	Yes
Credit cards (Visa, V Pay, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express etc)	Yes
Digital wallets (Apple Pay/Google Pay, Samsung Pay)	Yes
Gift cards	Yes

SumUp makes it possible to accept almost all cards, including international cards and this is one of its many advantages. 

Mastercard and Visa typically allow tap limits of up to $250, introduced post pandemic ensuring fewer consumers need to touch payment machines. This can vary depending on the card provider. The practice, which saves time for each transaction, has seen its use soar since the pandemic. 

For your customers who require it, SumUp Plus also allows you to accept mobile payments (Google Pay and Apple Pay). SumUp Plus also includes a virtual terminal for keyed-in transactions. 

SumUp Plus: Pricing and Commissions

SumUp Plus’s pricing is clear and transparent:

• $19/unit 
• No contracts or monthly subscription fees 

For payment processing costs, SumUp Plus charges:

• In-person transactions: 2.75%.
• Sumup Invoicing paid online: 2.9% plus 15 cents.
• Remote transactions and payment links: 3.25% plus 15 cents.

SumUp Plus allows small businesses, freelancers and retailers to escape the old pricing of credit card payment readers with its simple model: Terminal purchase with software and transaction fees.

Who is SumUp Plus for?

The SumUp Plus can work with a variety of business types, from restaurants to retail and is a  good solution for many small businesses that are starting up, or have limited credit card transaction volumes or who work on the move.

SumUp Plus can be particularly useful for:

• Retail stores
• Quick service dining
• Cafes, restaurants, boutiques, convenience stores, shops, clothing stores and merchants
• Home & field services
• Personal services
• Professional services
• Hairdressers and beauty salons
• Couriers, drivers and taxis

Most of SumUp Plus’s target audience are smaller businesses, as noted above. Some activities are not accepted by SumUp. These mainly include industries that are restricted including gambling or unlicensed professions. 

SumUp Plus order process

Registration for the service can be completed online on the official SumUp website. Customers can add the SumUp product to their basket and checkout, similar to any ecommerce website.  

After adding the SumUp Plus to the basket, customers will need to create a SumUp login.

Sending the terminal is free and can take up to 5 days after validation of the opening of the account.

We recommend that you plan to purchase your SumUp Plus payment terminal at least 7 working days before you need it. 30-day money-back guarantees are also offered. 

SumUp Plus setup

Customers will receive your pre-configured SumUp Plus, typically arriving pre-charged with 50% battery. There is no need for a technician, so you can carry out the setup by yourself in approximately 10-15 minutes. 

Make sure that you have finished your SumUp enrollment and that your account is activated before proceeding with the setup of your credit card reader.

You will be requested to register your profile by putting your cellphone number into the appropriate form when you are in the process of registering for the service.

A text message with an activation code of four digits will be sent to you within the next few seconds. In the appropriate area, enter the code, and then click the “Confirm code” button.

To get started:

• Make verify that your profile has been enabled by receiving an SMS verification.
• Launch the application and log in.
  • The Checkout screen will appear for you.
  • Enter $1.00 into the keypad, and then hit the “Charge” button.
  • Make sure that “Card Reader” is selected as your mode of payment.
  • After that, your gadget will begin a search for the POS card reader.
  • When the card is inserted, the reader will switch on by itself, and blue lights will start to flash.
• Verify the connection request on your mobile device, whether it a phone or a tablet.
  • Do this by contrasting the last three numbers displayed on your monitor with the final three digits of the serial number printed on your card reader.This is something that may be found on the rear of your card reader.
  • Select “Connect” from the menu.
  • Press the checkbox to the left of the green circle that appears on the screen of your app to validate the Bluetooth connection.
  • After that, your connection will have been established successfully.
• You can begin a test transaction by putting your card in the reader, tapping it, or swiping it.
  • After the completion of the transaction, you will be given the opportunity to send a receipt to the recipient.

After fully charging, the device should last for up to 8 hours for the average SMB.

How to receive funds from your SumUp Plus transactions

If you have SumUp Plus, you may utilize the free SumUp App to collect payments on your mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

The LCD display and keypad that are located on the front panel of the SumUp Plus, as well as the SumUp logo that is located in the bottom right corner, may be used to identify the device.

SumUp will then process your transactions and deposit the monies, less the SumUp charge (which is 2.75 per cent for face to face transactions and 3.25% plus 15 cents for virtual transactions), to your company bank accounts as quickly as they can.

You may pick your desired payment frequency by sending an email to the support staff at support@sumup.com. If you do not want to receive payouts on a daily basis, this option is available to you.

From the date of the transaction to the day the money are deposited into your bank account might take anywhere from one to three business days, depending on the settlement methods used by your bank. On business days only, financial institutions may transfer money.

Payouts management

You will get an email with a complete analysis of all the activities and sales history that are included in a payment as soon as it is deposited into your bank account. This email will arrive as soon as the payout is done.

You may keep tabs on your own payouts with the help of the SumUp app and dashboard at sumup.me.

Following the successful completion of a transaction, you will be able to see it on the Sales page of the SumUp as well as in the SumUp app itself. Along with the amount charged, the moment of the transaction, the transaction identification number, and card information should also be included in each transaction.

After a payment has been completed into your checking account, you will see a green banking sign with a payout date printed beneath the transaction time. This will appear after the payout has been finalized.

The date of the payment will be shown to you via SumUp in the form of a green bank symbol and the corresponding date. To put it another way, the day on which we deposited the money into your business checking account.

It is also possible that you may not see the money on your financial statements for an extra one to two days, depending on the bank that you use.

Bank Statement payouts

Your bank statements will show the following information as the source of payouts: ‘SumUp Payments Ltd – PID123-SUMUP.’

How to take payment from customers with the SumUp Plus

Simply input the quantity, and the consumer will complete the transaction in the same manner as they would at a traditional terminal by inserting their card, typing in their PIN, and validating the transaction.

Swipe the card through the larger gap at the front of the reader with the back of the card facing you in order to recognize a card that has a magnetic stripe.

The successful completion of the transaction is indicated by a checkmark in green, and customers with suitable printers have the option of printing their credit card receipts.

With any SumUp Card Reader, you have the capability of accepting Near Field Communication (NFC) payments made via Google Pay and Apple Pay. Tap the card for one to two seconds straight in front of the reader’s display to confirm that you are willing to accept a wireless transaction.

On a single charge, the SumUp Pro is capable of processing around 500 separate transactions. Don’t forget that even when your SumUp POS machine is being charged, you may still conduct transactions with it.

You may power your card machine by connecting it to a computer via the USB Type C connector that is supplied in the box for the SumUp Pro.

Simply attach one end of the cable to the charging connector located at the bottom of the card reader, and then plug the other cable’s other end into your laptop or a power source (such as a wall charging block).

Finally, you will be notified if the payment terminal software is updated. Updates are quite simple to perform and an update check is even performed by default when your device is connected to the application. 

SumUp Plus features

SumUp Plus functions in a manner very similar to that of a mobile operating system (OS), except that it processes payments rather than taking phone calls. The SumUp Plus is compatible with a wide variety of iOS and Android smartphones and can run the full version of the SumUp POS.

In the event that you want a full-fledged register or counter POS system, you are able to get one of these and augment it with the SumUp POS and Loyalty devices.

Because of this, orders that were started on one device may be finished on another device, which is a vital feature to have when working with consumer devices and mobile personnel.

Contactless payment

Like any good mobile payment reader, SumUp Plus allows you to accept:

• Contactless payments
• Payments by digital wallet (Google Pay, Apple Pay)

This feature is highly appreciated by small traders because it saves a lot of time and avoids lines.

Payment processing

Processing payments is cheap, quick and easy. Example: A business with a lawn mowing service charges $100 for a medium-sized lawn. 

If you process your customer’s card payment with your SumUp Card Reader, you would have $97.25 paid to your bank account in 1-2 business days.

SumUp Card

At the beginning of 2020, SumUp launched the “SumUp Card”, which is essentially a debit  card, which allows you to pay for purchases with the purchase cashed in your SumUp account. 

The SumUp Card is a preloaded Mastercard that can be loaded with funds through your SumUp Business Bank account and used to make in-store and online purchases, as well as cash withdrawals.

Your first three monthly ATM withdrawals are on the house with your SumUp Card, and there are no order or monthly fees. Each additional domestic or foreign withdrawal made in a given calendar month costs an additional 2%.

Create employee accounts

It is possible to create one or more “employee” accounts to allow your sales team or to conduct sales with their own SumUp access, allowing owners to analyze sales activities per employee. 

Help with accounting

More than a payment terminal, SumUp allows you to track your financial activity. You thus benefit from a daily or monthly statement on the history of transactions, sent by email.

Directly from the app or the web interface, you can consult an overview of its activity which includes the sales, volume of transactions, the amount of the transactions. 

Receipt management

SumUp doesn’t charge anything for chargeback fees, a big plus for merchants. 

Customers can also quickly share digital receipts via SMS and email or connect to a mobile printer for physical receipts as well as manage multiple employee accounts and make taxes easy with customizable reporting. Businesses can also create custom tax rates to expedite the checkout process.

Refund management

Refund management is very simple and can be done in 2 ways on the dashboard of your SumUp profile or directly in the application.

All you have to do is select the transaction to refund, then click on “refund”.

Troubleshooting

If you’re having issues connecting to your SumUp Plus Card Reader, try the following:

• Check if your smartphone/tablet meets the SumUp Plus Requirements
• Restart your smartphone/tablet to restart your Bluetooth chip
• Check if an update of the SumUp App is available in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
• Check in the settings of your smartphone/tablet to see if there’s an update available for your operating system. If yes, we recommend installing it and try the set up again.

Security

SumUp operates in compliance with the highest security requirements of the card payment industry, including the following, to safeguard your transactions from being accessed in an unauthorized manner by other parties.

• The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is the most stringent data security standard currently in use in the credit card industry. It governs both the transport and storage of sensitive customer information.
• Both SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and TLS are examples of ‘encryption protocols,’ which are used to safeguard information while it is being sent over the internet. SumUp employs 256-bit encryption, the most secure level that can currently be achieved.
• A worldwide standard for the safe storing of personally identifiable information is known as PGP, which stands for “Pretty Good Privacy.”

Support and Customer Service

For most common operations or basic troubleshooting, SumUp offers complete customer support. 

If you have questions, you can call SumUp Support Monday – Friday between 9am – 7pm EST at 1-888-250-2164 or you can reach our Support team anytime by email (support@sumup.com).

SumUp Plus: Customer Reviews

SumUp does have a page on Trustpilot, but it’s not specific to SumUp Plus. The SumUp Plus reviews are generally positive, with customers appreciating its ease of use and convenience for my mobile small business.

There are various negative user reviews of SumUp Plus to be found online with common complaints including slow customer support and accounts closed due certain business activities not being supported by SumUp. 

SumUp Plus: Overall verdict

The SumUp Plus is an excellent choice for small businesses with the affordable pricing and easy setup compared to traditional payment terminals.

The fact that the SumUp plus can be purchased for $19, with no monthly subscription fees, no hidden fees and payment processing from 2.75% per transaction represents excellent value for customers. 

Not without its downsides, SumUp has been called out by some customers for slow customer support but the Pros far outweigh the Cons with this POS and service and get a resounding two thumbs up from our team.