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Payments, explained for people who'd rather be running their business.

Plain-English guides to card machines, gateways and the fees in between — written for UK small and medium businesses, not payments engineers.

How to choose the right card machine for your business

Portable reader, countertop terminal or a full merchant account — the seven questions that actually decide which one fits, before you look at a single rate.

What is a chargeback? A small business guide

Why customers can reverse a payment weeks after you've delivered the goods, how the process actually runs, and the paperwork that wins a dispute.

Card machine or payment gateway — do you need both?

The difference between taking payments in person and online, and why most growing businesses end up running both side by side.

Interchange, scheme fees and markup: what you're really paying for

Every card fee breaks down into three parts. Once you can see them separately, spotting a bad deal gets a lot easier.

How to switch card machine provider without losing money

Exit fees, contract minimums and the questions to ask before you sign anywhere new — plus when switching isn't worth the hassle.

Contactless limits and Strong Customer Authentication, explained

Why some payments suddenly ask for a PIN, what SCA actually checks for, and what it means for your checkout.

PCI DSS for small businesses: what you actually have to do

Almost every UK business taking card payments has some PCI obligation. Here's the realistic version, not the 100-page one.