Payment Processing · Buyer guide
Cyprus is one of the most card-heavy economies in the euro area. Cards made up 75% of all non-cash transactions in the second half of 2025, the highest share in the euro area, according to Central Bank of Cyprus figures reported by the Cyprus Mail. The law pushes the same way: since 2021 a long list of consumer-facing businesses must accept card payments, and from 1 January 2026 the fine for not doing so can be up to €6,000. A Cypriot business may not add a fee for paying by any payment instrument, and since 2024 a business cannot take more than €10,000 in cash for a sale.
Below is what providers publish for Cyprus, read on their Cypriot pages on 15 November 2026, followed by the rules. Card fees are compared on the same basis: in person or online, on consumer cards issued in the European Economic Area unless we say otherwise. Cyprus charges VAT at 19%, and hardware and plan prices are flagged where the provider says they exclude it.
JCC Payment Systems, Cyprus's domestic card processor and acquirer, does not publish its merchant service charges: its merchant FAQ tells you to call its helpline. We found no published card-acceptance price at Bank of Cyprus or Hellenic Bank either. Vpayments sells terminals and acquiring in partnership with Worldline, also without published prices. The only domestic figures we found are dated: in February 2023 the Cyprus Mail reported kiosk owners as saying each credit card transaction cost them 1.2% to 2.5%. Of the providers we review elsewhere in Europe, Teya has no Cypriot site, and we found no Cypriot merchant offer from Nexi.
Take a kiosk or café with 160 card payments a month of €25 each: €4,000 of takings, all on Cypriot consumer cards. On the published rates, before hardware:
On SumUp's own rates, Payments Plus pays for itself from about €1,790 a month on standard consumer cards, well below the €3,200 it quotes, because the plan cuts more than a percentage point off every eligible payment. The card mix matters as much as the rate. Visitors' cards issued outside the EEA fall outside the EU interchange caps, and they cost 2.6% + €0.02 at Revolut, 1.95% at SumUp, 2.9% + €0.10 at Stripe, 2.89% + €0.05 at myPOS and interchange and scheme fees plus 1.16% at Viva.com. Stripe charges UK cards its 1.4% + €0.10 EEA rate, and SumUp's no-plan 1.95% is the same on every card. A seaside café whose takings are half on non-EEA cards should price its quote on that mix, not on the headline rate.
On a €40 order paid with a Cypriot consumer card that works out at €0.60 with Revolut, €0.72 with myPOS, €0.85 with Stripe on a standard card, €1.10 with SumUp and about €1.15 with Viva.com once one 3-D Secure check is counted. Mollie (our grade: B+) lists Cyprus among the countries it supports; it publishes no Cypriot price page, and its general price list charges 1.80% + €0.25 on EEA consumer cards online.
Under section 30A of the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law and the decree issued under it (K.D.P. 259/2021, published on 18 June 2021), businesses in the listed activities must accept card payments from consumers. The original list covered 87 activity codes, including retail shops, hotels, restaurants, lawyers, accountants, architects, schools and medical services, and later decrees added taxis, laundries, funeral services and wellness and other personal services. The duty covers cards from four-party schemes, which the decree gives as Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, UnionPay “and other similar” schemes; accepting American Express is optional. A mobile or virtual terminal counts, but offering a bank transfer does not, and the business must show at its entrance and till that it takes cards.
The maximum fine was €2,000 when the rule began and €4,000 from March 2022 (Law 15(I)/2022, published on 4 March 2022). Law 243(I)/2025 raised the maximum to €6,000 from 1 January 2026, so guides that still quote €4,000 are out of date. The fine is halved if paid within 30 days, or if within 30 days of the complaint or inspection the business gives the Tax Commissioner an invoice for a terminal. No fine applies where the business shows written proof that a licensed payment provider turned down its application, or that a terminal it applied for before the deadline was held up by the bank. Because the duty is defined by activity, check your activity code against the decree and its amendments rather than assuming you are outside it.
Cyprus's Payment Services Law of 2018 (Law 31(I)/2018) goes further than the EU minimum. Section 62(5) says a payee may not request charges for the use of a specific payment instrument, so the ban is not limited to consumer cards: a surcharge on a business card or an American Express card is also forbidden. A 2023 amendment closed a gap in the older text that had seemed to allow a surcharge as long as it was disclosed in advance. The Consumer Protection Service enforces the rule and can fine up to €2,000, plus up to €100 for each day the breach continues. You can still build payment costs into your prices.
Since the end of 2024, Law 172(I)/2024 has limited a business selling goods or services, property included, to receiving or paying up to €10,000 in cash for a transaction, linked transactions included. Payments between private individuals not acting in a business capacity are exempt, as is cash paid in, deposited or used to repay a loan at a bank, e-money institution or payment institution. On conviction, a breach carries a fine of up to 10% of the cash received, imprisonment of up to five years, or both. An EU-wide limit of the same amount takes effect on 10 July 2027.
The EU Interchange Fee Regulation caps interchange, the fee your provider passes to the cardholder's bank, at 0.2% of a consumer debit card payment and 0.3% of a consumer credit card payment. The caps do not cover commercial cards or cards issued outside the EEA, which is why every provider above charges more for them. As a euro-area country, Cyprus's banks have had to receive instant euro transfers since 9 January 2025 and send them since 9 October 2025, may not charge more for an instant transfer than for an ordinary one, and must check that a payee's name matches the account. E-money and payment institutions have until 9 April 2027.
Cyprus has no live account-to-account instant-payment scheme like Greece's IRIS. JCC plans to develop a mobile-number transfer service with the Greek interbank operator DIAS, modelled on IRIS, aimed mainly at everyday transfers between people and targeted at the first quarter of 2027, which the Cyprus Mail described as a target rather than a confirmed date. No merchant price has been published. For comparison, see our guide to card and IRIS fees in Greece.
For other euro-area markets, see our guide to card fees in Slovenia and our guide to card fees in Croatia.
