Card machine leases: how to get out of one (and avoid the next)
Published 12 November 2026 · 2 min read
Many UK card machines sit on long, hard-to-cancel leases with a separate finance company. How to check your lease, your options and what to sign next time.
Many UK businesses discover the same problem when they try to switch card provider: the card machine itself is on a separate lease, often with a finance company, running for several years and very hard to cancel.
How these leases work
- The card machine is supplied under a lease agreement, separate from the card processing contract.
- The lease is often with a third-party finance company, not your card provider.
- Terms of three to five years are common, and many are non-cancellable.
- Over the full term, the total cost can be many times the price of the terminal.
Cancelling your card processing contract usually does not end the lease.
Check your lease
Find the agreement and look for:
- Who the lease company is.
- The start date, term and monthly amount.
- Whether early termination is allowed, and at what cost.
- Whether it auto-renews or continues month to month at the end.
Your options
- Run it out: if only a few months remain, it may be cheapest to wait and switch processing provider now, using the leased terminal if compatible.
- Settlement figure: ask the lease company for an early settlement amount.
- Complaint: if you think the lease was mis-sold, you can complain to the lease company. Whether the Financial Ombudsman Service can help depends on your business size and the type of agreement.
Next time
- Prefer a terminal you buy outright or rent monthly, with no long term.
- Make sure the processing contract and the terminal are from the same provider and end together.
- Never sign a lease without the total cost over the full term in writing.
What you can do
- Check your lease today, before you renew anything.
- Ask for a quote with a monthly or purchased terminal.