Comparison · May 2026
Wedge vs SumUp
Both Wedge and SumUp help UK tradespeople take card payments without a high-street merchant account. They sit at different ends of the workflow. SumUp ships a physical card reader and a free invoicing app — designed for in-person trades who tap a customer's card at the end of the job. Wedge is WhatsApp-native — designed for trades whose customers aren't always present when the job's done, or who prefer not to chase someone for a card.
Wedge
RecommendedSend a WhatsApp message, get a professional invoice with a Pay Now button. No reader to carry, 1% (max £50) only when you get paid.
- 1% per paid invoice, capped at £50 — no monthly fee, no hardware to buy
- Customer pays from their own phone via card or Pay by Bank
- Pay by Bank invoices have no chargebacks — your money is yours
- AI parses plain English: "Invoice Sarah £450 for EICR remedials"
- Built for UK trades: CIS, retentions, NICEIC details on every invoice
SumUp
Physical card reader for in-person card payments, plus a free invoicing app. Strong choice for trades who finish jobs face-to-face and can take a card on the day.
- Card reader hardware — Air £39, Solo £79, Solo Lite £49 (one-time)
- 1.69% per UK consumer card transaction (no monthly fee)
- Free invoicing app with payment links
- Pay-outs to bank account next working day
- No chargeback protection beyond Mastercard / Visa scheme rules
Side-by-side comparison
Feature-by-feature breakdown of Wedge versus SumUp.
| Feature | WedgeRecommended | SumUp |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly subscription | None — ever | None for the basic plan |
| Hardware required | Just WhatsApp | Card reader £39–£79 one-time |
| Pricing model | 1% per paid invoice, capped at £50 (any method) | 1.69% per card transaction (uncapped) |
| Pay only when you get paid | On a per-transaction basis | |
| Send invoices via WhatsApp | App or web | |
| AI parsing of plain-English job descriptions | ||
| App download required | SumUp app | |
| Customer pays remotely | Card or Pay by Bank link in WhatsApp | Payment-link feature; primary flow is card-present |
| Setup time to first invoice | Under 60 seconds | Order reader, wait for delivery, then ~10 minutes |
| VAT (standard, reduced, zero, reverse-charge) | Standard VAT only | |
| Pay by Bank (Open Banking) — no chargebacks | ||
| Same-day payouts available | Stripe Instant Payouts (+1%) | Next working day standard |
| CIS-aware invoicing for subcontractors | ||
| Staged payments and retentions for builders | ||
| Trade qualifications shown on invoice (Gas Safe, NICEIC) | ||
| Automatic late-payment reminders | Manual reminder send | |
| Built specifically for UK trades | Generic SMB / retail tool |
When SumUp is the right tool
If your job ends with you and the customer in the same room — a hairdresser, a mobile mechanic taking a tap-to-pay at the kerb, a market stall — SumUp is genuinely brilliant. The reader is cheap, the app is fine, and 1.69% per card tap on the day beats a 30-day chase by a country mile. Take the payment before you leave; don't worry about invoicing afterwards.
Where SumUp struggles for trades
Most trades work doesn't end with the customer present. The plumber finishes at 9pm; the customer is upstairs. The electrician finishes the EICR but the landlord's in another county. The builder hits a stage payment milestone two weeks after the deposit. In all of those, you need an invoice the customer can pay later from their phone — and SumUp's payment-link feature works, but it's bolted on rather than the primary workflow. You end up sending the link by email or text and chasing it the same way you would without SumUp.
Where Wedge is structurally different
Wedge starts from the assumption that the customer isn't standing in front of you when the invoice goes out. Send a WhatsApp message describing the job, Wedge generates the invoice with a Pay Now button, the customer taps to pay by card or Pay by Bank from wherever they are. No reader to carry, no app for them to install. For high-ticket jobs over £1,000, Pay by Bank is the bigger story: bank-authorised payments can't be charged back, so the money's actually yours.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Wedge if
- Your customers usually aren't present when the job's done
- You don't want to carry hardware or an extra device
- You'd rather have one fee structure for every payment method
- Chargebacks on big jobs scare you and you want Pay by Bank
- You want CIS, retentions, or trade-specific compliance built in
Choose SumUp if
- You take payment in person, on the day, most of the time
- Your customers expect to tap a card reader
- You don't need invoicing — just a way to take cards
- You're already running a SumUp till and want one fewer tool
- You want a hardware option as a card-present backup
Get paid the day the job ends
No card reader to carry, no monthly fee. Send a WhatsApp message — the customer pays from their phone.
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