Not only VISA and Mastercard: our terminals can handle any card

The more cards your terminal accepts, the more money people can spend with you. It’s that simple. And it is great that our payment terminals can handle all cards, both plastic and virtual. Also meal vouchers and cards from companies other than the major Visa and Mastercard.

There are more than 15 million payment cards issued in the Czech Republic and it is good that the vast majority of them are easy for customers to pay with. All you need is our terminal. And if this number is too small for you, there are also foreign cards and meal vouchers. And mobile phones, smartwatches and rings that have these cards loaded on them. From which the money can fly directly into your cash register.

Supported cards and payment methods

In the Czech Republic, it’s either VISA or Mastercard

In the Czech Republic, VISA holds a 57% share of the Czech debit card market. Right behind it is another big player – Mastercard. It can be said that Czechs do not use other cards – banks don’t even offer them. Often people are not even sure if they have a Visa or Mastercard in their wallet. They simply don’t care. It doesn’t matter if you pay at Czech terminals or payment gateways, accepting both is taken for granted.

Foreign cards are also no problem 

The two major card companies are likewise dominant in most other countries. The important thing is that when it comes right down to it, terminals operated in the Czech Republic can also handle American Express and Japanese JCB cards. Fortunately, having to worry about whether your card would be accepted by the terminal is a thing of the past.

“Plastic” is being used less and less. Mobile phones, watches and rings are trending

You may be surprised to learn that almost half of Czechs (44 %) have tried mobile phone payment. More specifically, using a card uploaded to a mobile phone via services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Alternatively, you can use Garmin Pay on your smartwatch. The terminals cannot tell that the card is only “virtual”, i.e. uploaded to a smart device. They treat them exactly the same as if you were paying with a contactless plastic card.

Are you allowed and willing to accept meal vouchers? No problem

Paper meal vouchers are disappearing, but not meal vouchers as such. Companies have been favouring meal voucher cards for several years now. Technically, these are just payment cards. And if you work in a food business and are interested in your share of meal vouchers, the payment terminal will accommodate you. Just be careful – you must also have contracts with the issuers of the meal voucher cards you want to accept.

Terminals from ČSOB can accept the following meal voucher cards:

Of course, you can accept as many types of cards as you want, and it still may not always work out. However, if you have a ČSOB payment terminal and your customer’s card payment cannot go through, the problem is probably somewhere else. Most commonly, a lack of funds, exceeding their weekly limit, expired or blocked card or even a damaged NFC chip inside the card. And there is nothing you, as the merchant who rents the terminal, can do about it.

TIP: Do you want to try a payment terminal but are afraid of the fees? Take advantage of the Czechia Pays by Card promotion and try accepting cards for six months for free.