How long is a card machine contract?

Since 6 January 2023, a UK card machine contract from a directed provider cannot have an initial term longer than 18 months, and after that term it must roll monthly with one month's notice on the merchant's side. That is the Payment Systems Regulator's Specific Direction 16, and it applies to merchants with annual card turnover up to £10 million. Pay-as-you-go readers from SumUp, Square and Zettle have no contract at all.

The cap is the ceiling, not the norm. Many agreements run 12 months, and the important questions before signing are the same regardless of length: what the exit fee is, how notice must be given, and whether the terminal hire is a separate agreement from the card processing.

What Specific Direction 16 requires

SD16 covers merchant contracts that include point-of-sale terminals paid for by scheduled payments. The direction, as varied on 29 May 2024, says such contracts must not have an initial term in excess of 18 months and must thereafter move to a rolling monthly contract: a maximum one-month recurring term, with one month's notice on the merchant's side. Exit and termination fees must be cost based, transparent, and fully explained to the merchant before the contract is entered into.

The directed providers are Adyen, Barclays, Chase Paymentech Europe, Elavon, EVO Payments, First Data Europe, First Merchant Processing (UK), GPUK LLP, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Lloyds Bank, PayPal (UK), Squareup Europe, Square UK, Stripe Payments UK, SumUp Payments and Worldpay (UK). Paymentsense, which trades as Dojo, is not on that list. The direction does, though, catch independent sales organisations and terminal providers that contract through a directed acquirer, so the question for any agreement is which acquirer processes the payments behind it.

Two companion directions matter in practice. Specific Direction 14 stops providers charging for a bespoke summary box or for use of their online quotation tool. Specific Direction 15 requires a trigger message 31 calendar days before a minimum term ends, then monthly, or monthly on an indefinite contract, stating the end date and linking to the quotation tool; it applies up to £50 million of card turnover and has been in force since 6 July 2023.

Contract length by type of provider

Regulatory and contractual terms as published, checked August 2026.

What Dojo's terms say

Dojo's terms and conditions (v1.6) state that the agreement may have a minimum term as set out in the application documents, so the length is in the paperwork you sign rather than the standard terms. You can end the agreement by giving at least one month's written notice at any time; Dojo can end it on two months' notice. Leaving before the end of a minimum term incurs an early account closure fee, which the fees schedule explains how to calculate, plus a charge for any equipment not returned. Card machines must go back within 14 days of termination.

Review sites describe Dojo's typical structure as a 30-day no-commitment period at the start, a 12-month initial term, then monthly rolling with one month's notice. Those are third-party descriptions, not Dojo's published terms, and the figure that binds you is the one in your own application documents.

Older agreements and separate terminal leases

The legacy Paymentsense merchant services agreement ran until termination or the expiry of the merchant's terminal hire agreement, with a cancellation fee of £120 plus VAT for customers outside its Connect-Free arrangement and no less than 30 days' written notice from the merchant. Card processing and terminal hire as separate agreements with separate end dates is the structure SD16 was aimed at.

If you signed before January 2023, or if your terminal lease sits with a third-party leasing company, the 18-month cap may not apply and the paperwork governs. The stuck in a card machine contract page sets out the options, and how to cancel a card machine covers notice step by step.

When a contract is not the right choice

A minimum term makes sense when card turnover is steady enough that a quoted rate saves more than the fixed monthly costs add. It makes less sense for a new business still finding out whether it works, a seasonal trader, or anyone whose takings could halve next quarter. For those, a no-contract reader costs more per transaction but nothing to walk away from, and the break-even page shows where the two cross.

Whatever the length, get the following in writing before signing: the exact exit fee and how it is calculated, the notice period and the address or email it must go to, and confirmation of whether the terminal is hired under the same agreement. If a provider will not put those in writing, the switching guide explains how to compare others.

Common questions