Ranked
Best Card Machine for a Small Business in SA (2026)
The same field, worked through by type of business: what a spaza, a salon, a restaurant, a market stall and a mobile trader each need, and which machine wins for each.
Some links here are referral links, and where a provider gives our readers a better price than its own site, that is the price you get by using one. It costs you nothing extra, and every option here is judged on the same test either way.
"Small business" is not a thing you can just buy a card machine for. A salon and a spaza shop are both small businesses and they need almost nothing in common: one takes four payments a day at R350 each and books appointments, the other takes ninety at R28 and gets asked for airtime the whole time.
So the question is never really which machine is best. It is which of a very short list fits the way your business actually runs, and two things about your counter settle it.
Below is my 2026 ranked guide for this month with actual card machine prices on one-year cost, worked through by business type instead. Find yours, read the two paragraphs, and you are done.
The two questions that decide it
First, does anyone at your till ask you for something you do not sell? Airtime, data, electricity, a DStv payment, a betting voucher. Not would they. Do they, this week, already. If the answer is yes, a card machine that can sell those and keep a commission is earning on hardware you were buying anyway, and the fee difference stops being the point.
Second, how soon do you need the money? If you buy stock every morning, waiting one to two business days for Friday's takings is a real cost, and it is priced very differently by each provider. If you can wait, this question costs you nothing and you can ignore it.
That is genuinely it. Everything else, the printer and the battery and the app and the colour of the thing, is a preference rather than a decision, and it will not cost you money in a year.
Two numbers to hold while you read, both Excluding VATThe rate before 15% VAT is added, which is how almost every South African provider quotes. A rate of 2.30% excl. VAT actually bills you 2.645%, so two quotes are only comparable once you know which basis each is on.What the rates below really bill2.30% bills 2.645% and 2.75% bills 3.1625%. On R30 000 a month that is R794 against R949, so the gap between the two is about R155 a month before anything earns it back.Every card machine rate in South Africa is quoted excluding VAT, which makes the providers directly comparable to each other with no conversion at all. It stops being safe the moment you compare one of them to a bank, because some banks quote including VAT and the same rate then looks cheaper on one page than on another. Most small counters are not VAT-registered, so you do not claim it back and the inclusive number is your real cost. Add 15% to every rate on this page and you have what actually leaves the till.See every term in the glossary because that is how all of them publish. Yoco charges 2.30% and takes nothing to pay you. iKhokha charges 2.75% and takes R2.50 every time it settles. On R30 000 a month that gap is about R220, and whether it matters depends entirely on the first question above.
Spaza shops, tuck shops and kiosks
The clearest answer in this article, and it is not the cheapest machine.
For these types of small businesses, buy the iKhokha iK Flyer Lite at R699. Notice that I am not recommending the Yoco Khumo 2, even though it costs the same and works out a little cheaper in fees. And here is the actual reason:
A spaza shop gets asked for airtime, vouchers and electricity all day, often by people who have never bought from you before, and if you do not sell them, you are sending that traffic to someone else. This same card machine sells airtime, data, electricity, DStv, bill payments and betting vouchers, and you keep a commission on all of it. Those commissions help cover the machine's costs, and the customers stay yours.
The fee is higher and it does not matter here. What matters is that a customer who came in for R30 of airtime is standing in front of your shelves while the voucher prints, which is a reason to walk in that a card machine on its own never gives anybody.
Two things to go in knowing about iKhokha's prepaid selling. First, you pre-fund the prepaid balance yourself, so a few thousand rands of your working capital sits on the counter as stock before it earns anything. Second, the commission is released in the first week of the following month. It is a cash-flow decision before it is an income one.
And most tuckshop owners are sole traders, which unlocks iKhokha's same-day card even without a Nedbank account. If you buy stock daily, that is worth more than the fee gap costs you. The spaza guide works that counter through in full, and the payout guide prices the same-day route properly.
Here is the current price for the iKhokha iK Flyer Lite, notice that you will also get an extra 10% discount through us on top of the already reduced price of R699 if you choose to buy it today.
iKhokha iK Flyer Lite
Accepts
- Tap & chip
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Amex
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
From ikhokha.com, checked 24 Sep 2026
Who it's for
The clearest answer in this article, and not the cheapest machine. The same terminal sells airtime, electricity and vouchers, so the demand your counter already turns away becomes commission instead.
- Transaction feeFrom 2.75% excluding VAT, stepping down with turnover
- Before you buyYou pre-fund the prepaid balance yourself, so working capital sits on the counter
What iKhokha gives everyone
- Unlimited digital invoices, free, from the iK Invoice tool
- Same-day payouts, twice a day, on Nedbank or the iK Debit Card for sole traders, at R2.50 each
Checked 24 Sep 2026
you'll go to www.ikhokha.com's sign-up page with your extra 10% discount applied
Salons, barbers and beauty
Buy the Yoco Khumo 2 at R699, and the reasoning here is nothing to do with the fee.
A salon takes few payments at high value, so a 0.45 point fee difference on twenty transactions a month is small change. What a salon actually runs on is the admin around the chair: who is booked, what they had, what it cost, who has not paid. Yoco's POS app and digital invoicing are included free on Core (Yoco's plan)Yoco's standard plan, and the one almost every small business is on. It costs R0 a month, charges 2.30% excluding VAT per local card sale, and includes the dual-SIM mobile data free for life. Instant Payout costs R17.25 for a payout of up to R1 000 and 1% above that, up to R10 000 a day.What a small business gets on itR0 a month, the 2.30% rate, the data, the POS software and digital invoicing. Appointments, loyalty and multi-location sit on the paid plans.Core is Yoco's free plan and the one almost every small business is on. Every Yoco figure in this guide is quoted on it. Yoco also sells Plus at R249 a month and Pro at R499, which take local debit to 2.10% and 1.95%. Those only pay for themselves at volume: on R30 000 a month, R249 of plan fee buys about R60 of rate saving, so Core stays the cheaper plan until you are turning over a great deal more than that.See every term in the glossary.
Appointment management is not. It sits on Plus (Yoco's plan)Yoco's middle plan at R249 a month per location. It is the tier that carries appointment management, a built-in loyalty programme and multi-location management, and it lowers the card rate to 2.10% excluding VAT on local debit up to R50,000 a month. Nothing on Core is taken away to make it; Plus adds. The plan above it is Pro at R499 a month, which is the only tier where fast payouts are free.What it buys a salonAppointment management is a Plus feature, so a salon that wants the diary inside the till is choosing a R249 subscription, not a machine.Plus is Yoco's middle plan at R249 a month per location. It lowers the local debit rate to 2.10% excluding VAT up to R50 000 a month and adds appointment management, a loyalty programme and multi-location management. Nothing on Core is removed to make it; Plus adds. Above it sits Pro at R499 a month, which is the only tier where fast payouts are free.See every term in the glossary at R249 a month, so a salon that wants the diary built in should price that in rather than assume it.
Your customers are also waiting, though, which is the one argument for the other machine. A client under a dryer for forty minutes will buy airtime, and iKhokha can sell it to her.
My read is that it is not enough on its own to move a salon. If your chairs are busy, the admin saves you more time than the commission makes you money, and time is the thing you are short of.
Take Yoco unless the walk-in traffic past your door is genuinely heavier than the traffic in your chairs. Our salon guide goes further into the booking side.
Again, you get R100 off the Khumo 2 when you buy it through us today, so you pay R599 instead of R699.
Yoco Khumo 2
Accepts
- Tap, chip & swipe
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Amex
- SASSA
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Samsung Pay
From yoco.com, checked 24 Sep 2026
Who it's for
A salon takes few payments at high value, so the fee difference is small change. What it runs on is the admin around the payment, and that is where Yoco spends its effort.
- Transaction fee2.30% excluding VAT on local cards, on the free Core plan
- The diaryAppointment management sits on Plus at R249 a month, not on Core
What you get with the extra Yoco discount
- R100 off your card machine, which Yoco takes off when you sign up through our link
And everything Yoco gives everyone
- Sign up in 5 minutes, and it works with the bank account you already have
- Paid out in 1 to 2 business days into that same account
- A 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee
Checked 24 Sep 2026
you'll go to www.yoco.com's sign-up page with your extra R100 discount applied
What Yoco works withRead 2 Oct 2026
-
POS software
On any Yoco plan
- LightspeedConnected
- LoyverseConnected
- TallOrderConnected
- SalonBridgeComing soon
-
Accounting
Needs the Plus plan, R249 a month
- XeroConnected
- SageConnected
- QuickBooksConnected
- StubConnected
-
Online store
Yoco's ecommerce plugin
- ShopifyConnected
- WooCommerceConnected
- ShopstarConnected
- WixConnected
Restaurants, takeaways and bottle stores
These are the types of local businesses where customers expect a printed receipt, so the budget doubles before anything else is decided.
Buy the Yoco Khumo Print 2 at R1 499 for a restaurant or takeaway. Customers expect a slip, the kitchen wants order dockets, and it is the same machine as the Khumo 2 with a thermal printer in it, on the same fee and the same free plan. Through us it is also R100 off, so you pay R1 399.
Yoco Khumo Print 2
Accepts
- Tap, chip & swipe
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Amex
- SASSA
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Samsung Pay
From yoco.com, checked 24 Sep 2026
Who it's for
For a restaurant or takeaway, where customers expect a slip and the kitchen wants order dockets. A bottle store or tavern should take the iK Flyer at the same price instead, because it prints the prepaid vouchers too.
- Transaction fee2.30% excluding VAT on local cards, on the free Core plan
- The alternativeiKhokha iK Flyer, R1 499, prints slips and prepaid vouchers
What you get with the extra Yoco discount
- R100 off your card machine, which Yoco takes off when you sign up through our link
And everything Yoco gives everyone
- Sign up in 5 minutes, and it works with the bank account you already have
- Paid out in 1 to 2 business days into that same account
- A 1-year warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee
Checked 24 Sep 2026
you'll go to www.yoco.com's sign-up page with your extra R100 discount applied
Buy the iKhokha iK Flyer at R1 499 instead if you are a bottle store or a tavern. Same price, prints the same slip, and it is the only one of the two that prints prepaid vouchers rather than reading a number off a screen at a queue.
In a bottle store or tavern the voucher requests never stop, and a printer is what makes serving them fast enough to be worth doing. Through us the iK Flyer also comes with an extra 10% off the R1 499 price.
iKhokha iK Flyer
Accepts
- Tap, chip & swipe
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Amex
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
From ikhokha.com, checked 24 Sep 2026
Who it's for
The one that prints the prepaid vouchers as well as the receipts, so a queue of voucher requests moves as fast as the card payments do.
- Transaction feeFrom 2.75% excluding VAT, stepping down with turnover
- PrintsReceipts and prepaid vouchers
What iKhokha gives everyone
- Unlimited digital invoices, free, from the iK Invoice tool
- Same-day payouts, twice a day, on Nedbank or the iK Debit Card for sole traders, at R2.50 each
Checked 24 Sep 2026
you'll go to www.ikhokha.com's sign-up page with your extra 10% discount applied
Above a certain size neither handheld is the answer any more. If you are running staff, stock and a real till, iKhokha's iK POS is R7 499, down from R9 999, plus a monthly package from R660 excluding VAT. It has a built-in printer and its own SIM, and it takes no cards itself, so a card machine sits beside it.
That is a different purchase with a different justification, and the test is whether you are managing a product range or just taking payments. A counter that only takes payments does not need a till system, however busy it gets. The iKhokha review covers the POS tier and what else comes with the brand.
Market stalls, food trucks and mobile traders
The kind of business where the machine has to survive the day rather than sit on a counter, which changes what you are buying.
Buy the Yoco Khumo 2 at R699. It is standalone with dual SIMs, so it is not leaning on your phone for signal or battery, and if one network drops at a busy market it moves to the other.
Yoco includes that data free for life, which on a stall matters more than it sounds. There is no Wi-Fi to fall back on, and no month where you can skip the connection.
iKhokha's equivalent needs its two SIMs at R75 a month, or your own Wi-Fi, and a market stall has no Wi-Fi. That is R900 a year for the same capability Yoco includes, and it is the single clearest reason this type of business goes the other way from the spaza counter even though the two look similar from outside.
The exception is a stall that already sells airtime alongside the food. If that is you, the commission clears R75 a month easily and iKhokha is back in front. Our market trader guide is written for that stall.
And if you would rather not spend R699 up front, WAPPoint rents the SquarePOS RX, and the rental falls away in any month you take more than R15 000. A busy weekend market can clear that; a quiet month cannot. Treat it as a way to start, not a way to stay.
WAPPoint SquarePOS RX
R200 to start, then R189 a month, which falls away in any month you take more than R15 000.
Car washes, mechanics and businesses that keep people waiting
Buy the iKhokha iK Flyer Lite at R699, and the reason is the waiting itself.
A car wash holds a customer for twenty minutes with nothing to do. That is the most sellable twenty minutes in South African retail, and a card machine that can sell them airtime, data or a voucher while they stand there is converting dead time into a second income line. A machine that only takes card payments earns nothing from it.
Mechanics and panel shops are the opposite case despite looking similar. The waits are longer but the customer usually leaves and comes back, the ticket is high, and the payment is often an EFT or a card on collection, so there is no walk-up demand to sell into.
For those, take the Khumo 2 on the fee. And if you invoice more than you take on card, both companies do payment links, which is a better fit than either machine.
If you have not taken a card payment yet
Buy nothing, for now. Both companies will turn a phone into a card machine for free, and that answers the only question you actually have, which is whether your customers will use it.
iKhokha's iK Tap on Phone is free on an Android or Huawei phone, and Yoco's Tap to Pay is also free, on an iPhone. Customers tap the back of the phone. There is no hardware, no rental, no monthly fee, and no way to lose money finding out. The cheapest card machine guide prices the free route against buying one.
If you are trading properly and the R699 is genuinely the thing stopping you, WAPPoint is the way in: R200 to set up on the SquarePOS RX, then R189 a month rental that falls away entirely in any month you take more than R15 000. POS software is included at R0 and there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Watch the threshold, though. Under R15 000 a month the rental and its R50 insurance run to about R2 868 a year for a machine you never own, where R699 buys one outright. It is the cheapest way to start and one of the more expensive ways to stay, so move to owning as soon as you can.
Every type of business, and what it lands on
The whole article in one place, for anyone who scrolled straight here.
Seven types of business, and the two questions that decide each one. Every price is once-off and every rate excludes VAT.
Which machine each type of business lands on
| The machine | Why this one | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Spaza, tuck shop, kiosk | iKhokha iK Flyer Lite, R699 | Walk-up demand for airtime is already there, and most owners are sole traders, which unlocks the same-day card | See iK Flyer Lite |
| Salon, barber, beauty | Yoco Khumo 2, R699 |
|
See Khumo 2 |
| Restaurant, takeaway | Yoco Khumo Print 2, R1 499 |
|
See Khumo Print 2 |
| Bottle store, tavern | iKhokha iK Flyer, R1 499 | Prints receipts and prepaid vouchers, and the voucher requests are constant in this type of business | See iK Flyer |
| Market stall, food truck | Yoco Khumo 2, R699 | No Wi-Fi to fall back on, and Yoco includes the dual-SIM data free where iKhokha charges R75 a month | See Khumo 2 |
| Car wash, and anywhere people wait | iKhokha iK Flyer Lite, R699 | Twenty idle minutes per customer is the most sellable time in retail, and only this one can sell into it | See iK Flyer Lite |
| Not trading yet | Free on your phone |
|
mashjoy.com, from each company's own prices and rates.
Yoco takes three of the seven and iKhokha takes three, which is the honest result of asking about the counter rather than the rate. The seventh is the one nobody should spend money on yet.
If your type of business is not on this list, answer the two questions at the top and you will land on the same short list anyway.
Two absences worth explaining.
First, WAPPoint appears above only for the business that cannot put R699 down. That is not a slight on the machines; for a business that can afford to buy, owning simply beats renting inside the first year.
Second, Adumo, and the banks, publish no rate at all. Private pricing on real turnover genuinely can beat a published one, so you cannot compare them until you have asked for your number, which you can ask Adumo for here. Treat "we will quote you" as a step, not an answer. Our fees guide explains what a quote is actually made of.
What actually goes wrong in year one
Four things turn a good choice into an expensive one, and none of them are on a spec sheet.
Is there Wi-Fi where you sell?
Yoco includes its mobile data for life. iKhokha's two 4G SIMs are R75 a month, and R0 if the machine runs on your own Wi-Fi.
R900 a year, and it is why a market stall and a spaza shop land on different machines. A fixed counter with Wi-Fi can ignore this; a stall cannot.Do you buy stock before you have been paid?
Standard settlement is one to two business days everywhere. Getting it sooner costs R17.25 or 1% a payout on Yoco, and on iKhokha it carries no percentage but needs a Nedbank account, or the iK Debit Card for sole proprietors with a GoTyme Bank account.
For a daily-stock business this outweighs the rate difference, and it is the question most buyers never think to ask.Is your business a registered company?
If it is, iKhokha's same-day route is closed to you, because it runs through a personal account.
The feature most likely to be sold to you is the one most likely not to apply to you.Will you actually use the prepaid menu?
Count a week of requests you currently turn away. Not the ones you imagine, the ones that happen.
A counter that never sells airtime is paying a higher rate for a feature it ignores, which is the single most common way this decision goes wrong.There is a fifth that is not a cost at all, and it is the one I would relax about.
Neither Yoco nor iKhokha locks you in. No contract, no minimum, no monthly fee on the entry plans, and both machines are yours once bought. If you pick wrong, a second machine is R699 and plenty of counters run both on purpose: the lower transaction fee on one, the prepaid menu on the other. The head-to-head sets out where each one actually pulls ahead.
So which one, for your business
So the choice comes down to which of the two problems you actually have.
If your shop sells things and takes cards for them, take the Yoco Khumo 2 at R699. Lowest fee without switching banks, nothing monthly, nothing charged to pay you, and the free software does the admin. That is most salons, most market stalls, most restaurants once you add the printer, and most people reading this.
If people ask you for airtime, electricity or vouchers, take the iKhokha iK Flyer Lite at the same R699. The commission on demand that is already walking past your till is worth more than the fee difference costs, and no rate card can show you that.
If you have not started, start free on your phone. If you are trading but R699 is out of reach this month, WAPPoint gets you going for R200 and you move to owning later.
Not sure which of the two questions you fall on? Answer the three below for your own counter, because they are the three that decided every type of business above.
Interactive · 30 seconds
Which one for your business?
Answer for how your business actually runs, and the recommendation updates as you go.
1Does anyone at your till ask for airtime, electricity or vouchers?
2Is there Wi-Fi where you sell?
3Do your customers expect a printed slip?
Before you answer
The Yoco Khumo 2, for most small businesses
R699 once, 2.30% excluding VAT, nothing monthly and nothing charged to pay you, with the POS and invoicing tools included free.
The trade-off: you cannot sell airtime for a commission, and pulling your money forward early costs a percentage.
Prices and rates come from each company's own website, checked 2 September 2026. We work every type of business against the same two questions, which is why Yoco wins three of the seven and iKhokha wins three, and why the seventh should not buy anything yet.
Questions people actually ask
Choosing
What is the best card machine for a small business in South Africa?
For most small businesses it is the Yoco Khumo 2 at R699 once-off: 2.30% excluding VAT, no monthly fee on the free Core plan, no settlement fee, and free POS and invoicing tools.If customers at your till ask for airtime, electricity or vouchers, the iKhokha iK Flyer Lite at the same R699 is the better buy, because it sells those for commission. Checked 2 September 2026.
Which card machine is best for a salon?
The Yoco Khumo 2 at R699.A salon takes few payments at high value, so the transaction rate matters less than the admin around the chair. Yoco's POS and invoicing tools come free on the Core plan. Appointments are a paid add-on at R249 a month, which is a real cost, and a small one against a chair that sits empty. iKhokha only makes sense for a salon with heavy walk-in traffic past the door that would buy airtime while waiting.
Which card machine is best for a spaza shop?
The iKhokha iK Flyer Lite at R699.A spaza counter already gets asked for airtime, data, electricity and vouchers, and the card machine sells all of it for commission on hardware you were buying anyway. Most spaza owners are also sole traders, which unlocks iKhokha's same-day payout through the iK Debit Card and a GoTyme Bank account, even for shops that do not bank with Nedbank.
Costs
Is there a card machine with no monthly fee for a small business?
Yes. Yoco's Core plan and iKhokha both charge no monthly fee: you buy the machine once and pay only the transaction rate.iKhokha's two 4G SIMs are an optional R75 a month and free if the machine runs on your own Wi-Fi. WAPPoint charges a monthly rental but waives it in any month you take more than its turnover threshold, which is R15,000 on the entry machine.
Do I need a registered company to get a card machine?
No. Yoco, iKhokha and WAPPoint all onboard sole proprietors and pay into a personal bank account.Being a registered company closes one option: iKhokha's same-day card runs through a personal GoTyme account, so registered businesses cannot use it. They can still get same-day payouts by banking with Nedbank, or next-business-day settlement on FNB or Absa.
Getting started
Can I try a card machine before buying one?
Yes, free. iKhokha's iK Tap on Phone turns an Android or Huawei phone into a card machine at no cost, and Yoco's Tap to Pay does the same on iPhone.Neither charges hardware, rental or monthly fees, so you can find out whether your customers will actually use card payments before spending R699. Neither prints receipts, and your phone becomes the card machine.
