Card machines for mobile hairdressers and beauty therapists

The short answer

A small terminal with its own 4G SIM, or Tap to Pay on your iPhone with no hardware at all, plus payment links for deposits. Sole traders are accepted by Dojo and by the pay-as-you-go providers. If card takings are modest, a reader with no monthly fee is the cheaper route. If most clients pay by card every week, an individually quoted Dojo account is worth pricing up, with the quote set against what you pay now rather than against a headline rate.

This page is for stylists, nail technicians, lash and brow technicians, massage therapists and anyone else who works in clients' homes. For a fixed salon counter, see card machines for salons and beauty.

Portability and connection

Do not plan around a client's Wi-Fi. The terminal needs its own mobile data or has to pair with your phone. The Dojo Pocket has a 4-inch screen, a 4G SIM and no printer, and independent reviews put its battery at around 12 hours or 780 transactions, which is several days of appointments between charges. Receipts go to the client by the app, which suits home visits.

Tap to Pay on iPhone goes further: the phone is the terminal, the client taps their card or phone on the back of yours, and there is nothing else to carry or charge. Dojo offers it through the Sidekick app; SumUp, Square and Zettle offer it through their own apps. Square requires an iPhone XS or newer.

More: Dojo Pocket, Tap to Pay on iPhone, mobile card machines.

Deposits, no-shows and remote payments

The cost of a no-show for a mobile stylist is the fuel, the travel time and the slot that could have gone to someone else. A deposit paid at booking changes behaviour. The Dojo Sidekick app lists creating and sending payment links, accepting phone payments, managing pre-authorised payments and processing refunds remotely, so a deposit can be taken by text before the appointment and the balance tapped in person. Pay-as-you-go providers have their own remote-payment tools; check the rate, because a link is card-not-present and may be priced differently from a tap.

Set out your deposit and cancellation terms in writing at the time of booking. A refund processed through the app is cleaner than cash back through the letterbox, and Dojo's terms reference a per-refund fee in the fees schedule, so ask what it is.

Options side by side

Rates and hardware prices checked August 2026, standard UK consumer cards.

Battery and hardware figures for Dojo are from independent reviews, not from Dojo directly. Full rate tables and a calculator: fee comparison.

Sole traders and settlement

Most mobile stylists are sole traders, and that is not a barrier. Dojo's terms accept a UK resident over 18 who has a legitimate business in the UK, subject to identity checks and a credit assessment through credit reference agencies, with a nominated UK bank account for settlement. Card-terminal hire is not itself an FCA-regulated activity; the acquiring behind it is, which is why the provider runs those checks.

Dojo's terms commit to transferring takings by the end of the business day after the transaction is processed, with business days excluding weekends and bank holidays; reviews report next-day settlement including weekends on qualifying accounts. SumUp states 7am next-day payouts including weekends into its business account. For someone buying colour and product week to week, that timing is worth confirming in writing.

When a contract terminal is not the right choice

• Most clients still pay cash or bank transfer. At a few hundred pounds of card a month, a reader with no monthly fee wins.
• You are part-time or between chairs. Dojo's minimum term is set in the application and ending takes one month's written notice. Dojo states there is no early closure fee if you end within the first 30 days, but other fees are still billed.
• You work rural rounds with patchy signal. Dojo terminals need a connection to take a payment, according to reviews. A payment link sent the day before avoids the problem.
• You want paper receipts. Choose the Dojo Go rather than the Pocket, and accept the extra size and weight.

Common questions

Related: best card machines for salons and barbers. If you run a salon as a limited company or LLP and are looking at funding for a fit-out, CapExpand can introduce you to lenders: see salon funding. Finance introductions are for limited companies and LLPs only.