Czech EET returns in January and records card payments too. What taking a card costs a Czech business

Czechs pay by card a lot, and increasingly by phone. The Czech Association for Bank Cards (SBK), the card industry body, counted 3.33 billion cashless payments at merchants in 2025, worth 1.952 trillion korunas, in shops and e-shops alike, and 1.6 billion of them were made with a phone or watch token, up 23% in a year. There were 348,000 payment terminals in the country, and 16.2 million of the 18.1 million cards issued were contactless.

From 1 January 2027 a Czech business also has a new reason to care how it takes them. The revived electronic sales records system, EET 2.0, records card and QR payments taken in person as well as cash. Here is what taking a card costs in the Czech Republic, read from each provider's own Czech price list on 26 October 2026, how a QR bank payment compares, and the rules on surcharges, cash and EET.

Why the price varies so much

The Czech Republic applies the EU Interchange Fee Regulation, which caps the interchange a card issuer receives at 0.2% of a consumer debit card payment and 0.3% of a consumer credit card payment. Business cards are not capped by the regulation, and nor are cards issued outside the EEA. KB SmartPay's published cost breakdown shows interchange of up to 2.10% on Czech-issued business cards, and more on some foreign ones.

So on an ordinary Czech consumer card the unavoidable cost is small, and most of what a business pays is the card scheme's fee and the provider's margin. That margin is where Czech offers differ: a bank terminal with a monthly rental and a low percentage, or an app-based reader with no monthly fee and a higher one.

What card readers and terminals charge

App-based readers and phones

• SumUp (our grade: B+): 1.95% on every in-person card, American Express and premium cards included, with no monthly fee. Its Platby Plus plan, 519 Kč a month, cuts that to 0.95% on debit and credit cards; American Express, premium, international and business cards stay at 1.95%. SumUp says the plan pays off from about 61,000 Kč a month of card takings, and it can be cancelled at any time. The Solo Lite reader costs 899 Kč excluding VAT (1,087.79 Kč including) and the Terminal with printer 4,299 Kč (5,201.79 Kč). Payouts arrive the next day.
• myPOS (B): 1.69% + 0.95 Kč on Czech and other EEA consumer cards, 2.49% + 0.95 Kč on American Express and 2.89% + 0.95 Kč on other consumer and business cards, with no fixed monthly cost, for businesses taking under 250,000 Kč a month by card. Terminals cost from 949 Kč excluding VAT for the myPOS Go 2. Takings land in the myPOS account instantly.
• Viva.com (B), on prices valid from 3 September 2026: 1.69% on Czech consumer cards with a minimum of 0.72 Kč a payment, 2.75% on American Express, and interchange plus scheme fees plus 1.16% on business cards and cards from elsewhere. Its cheapest account plan, Zero, has no fixed fee but a minimum monthly fee of 123.50 Kč and 50 Kč a month per terminal ID; Basic costs 123.50 Kč, Standard 321 Kč and Premium 494 Kč a month. Settlement is in real time, into a Viva account with a Greek IBAN, and a transfer out to a Czech bank costs 15 Kč on Zero.
• Revolut Business (B): 0.8% + 0.60 Kč on Czech and European consumer cards and 2.6% + 0.60 Kč on Czech business cards and all international cards, with Tap to Pay on iPhone adding 2 Kč a payment. Card acceptance comes as part of a Revolut Business plan, so the plan's monthly fee applies; we could not read Revolut's Czech plan prices directly. The Revolut Terminal costs 4,700 Kč plus VAT and the Terminal Lite 3,340 Kč plus VAT. Settlement takes up to 24 hours, and a chargeback costs 470 Kč.
• Stripe (A): 1.4% + 2.25 Kč per in-person payment on an EEA card and 2.9% + 2.25 Kč on a card from outside the EEA. Readers cost 1,490 Kč for the WisePad 3 and 4,990 Kč for the WisePOS E, excluding VAT. The first payout typically takes 7 to 14 days; after that Stripe settles Czech accounts in three business days.

Bank terminals: a lower rate and a monthly rental

Several Czech banks sell card terminals and publish their prices. None of the banks below has a review on this site; we list them because they set the price a small business is comparing against.

• Fio banka, on a promotional price list valid until 31 December 2026: 0.59% on regulated cards for monthly card takings up to 1 million Kč, 0.49% above that and 0.39% above 10 million Kč, with 1.89% on business, premium and non-EU cards and 200 Kč a month per device. Fio says the fee is final, with no extra interchange or scheme charges, and pays out the next day, weekends included. From 1 January 2027 its planned list starts at 0.89% for the first 10,000 Kč of a month's takings and steps down to 0.79% and then 0.69% above 100,000 Kč, with 1.99% on unregulated cards, though Fio says the promotion may be extended.
• Komerční banka quotes fees from 0.95% of each payment and terminal rental of 290 Kč plus VAT a month, with packages from 580 Kč plus VAT, for holders of a KB business account. Its phone-based PayPhone, for contactless Visa and Mastercard, charges 1.45% plus interchange and scheme fees, with no monthly fee. Its terminal business is run with KB SmartPay, part of the Worldline (B-) group, whose card rates are agreed individually.
• Česká spořitelna sells terminals to its clients through Global Payments (C). Its current offer charges 99 Kč a month plus 0.65% + 0.50 Kč for eight months on the Genius Terminal; after that, it costs 799 Kč a month plus 1.3%, and Genius Mobile Pay on a phone 1.65% + 0.99 Kč. The page does not say whether the monthly prices include VAT.
• Raiffeisenbank and Moneta publish the same table, run by EVO Czech Republic, a Global Payments company: 1.09% to 1.19% on Visa and 1.19% to 1.29% on Mastercard depending on average sale, plus 0.29 to 0.89 Kč a payment and 1% more on business and non-EU cards. Terminal rental is 235 Kč to 295 Kč plus VAT a month on 36- to 12-month terms, plus 150 Kč a month for a SIM in a portable terminal. Leaving early costs 4,200 Kč in the first 12 months, falling to 1,800 Kč in the third year of a 36-month contract.
• ČSOB's START offer, for ČSOB business-account holders taking up to 50,000 Kč a month, charges 299 Kč plus VAT a month (200 Kč in a month under 5,000 Kč) plus 0.37% + 0.50 Kč. Its price list, issued in October 2022, shows that this is the bank's own fee, with interchange and the scheme fee added on top: about 0.75% + 0.50 Kč in total on a Czech Visa debit card at the time.

The Česko platí kartou programme, backed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the card schemes and extended to 31 March 2028, gives a business that has not accepted cards in the last 12 months, and has not used the programme before, a free terminal for up to 12 months through participating providers. Comgate's Start plan, for example, is free for six months on up to 50,000 Kč a month of card payments under it.

What that means for a typical shop

Take a shop that takes 800 card payments a month of 250 Kč each, all on Czech consumer cards: 200,000 Kč of takings. On the published prices, before VAT on any rental:

• Stripe: 1.4% + 2.25 Kč, 4,600 Kč a month. myPOS: 1.69% + 0.95 Kč, 4,140 Kč. SumUp: 1.95%, 3,900 Kč. Viva.com: 1.69% plus 50 Kč for the terminal ID, 3,430 Kč.
• Česká spořitelna Genius Terminal after the promotion: 799 Kč + 1.3%, 3,399 Kč. SumUp Platby Plus: 519 Kč + 0.95%, 2,419 Kč.
• Komerční banka at its lowest quoted rate: 290 Kč + 0.95%, from 2,190 Kč. Revolut Business: 0.8% + 0.60 Kč, 2,080 Kč plus the Revolut Business plan fee.
• Fio banka on its promotional list: 200 Kč + 0.59%, 1,380 Kč. On its planned 2027 list the same month would cost about 1,700 Kč.

At this volume Fio, Komerční banka and Revolut cost roughly a third to two-thirds of what the app-based readers do. The readers make sense for a business with low or seasonal takings, where a rental would eat the saving, or one that wants to start with no contract at all. Check the minimum term and exit fee before signing a bank's offer: Raiffeisenbank's cheapest rental needs 36 months.

QR Platba and online payments

QR Platba is the Czech Banking Association's open standard for a QR code that pre-fills a bank transfer: the account number, amount and reference. Customers scan it in their banking app. The standard is free, and a code you generate with your own account details produces an ordinary transfer into your account with no card fee, though your bank's own account charges apply. The trade-off is that you have to check the money arrived. Czech instant payments run through the Czech National Bank's CERTIS system up to 2.5 million Kč, but bank participation is voluntary, so an incoming payment is not always instant.

Online, the published Czech prices are:

• GoPay (B-), now the Czech branch of Worldline: 0.95% with no fixed fee on cards, online bank transfers and QR Platba alike. New merchants start with a free period: on the Start plan, card payments are free for 12 months on up to 50,000 Kč a month, while transfers and QR Platba cost 0.95% from the start; on the Growth plan, everything is free for three months or until 500,000 Kč of takings. The monthly operating fee is 80 Kč for businesses taking up to 50,000 Kč a month, each payout to your bank costs 10 Kč and a chargeback 990 Kč.
• Stripe: 1.5% + 6.50 Kč on standard EEA cards, 2.8% + 6.50 Kč on premium EEA cards, 2.5% + 6.50 Kč on UK cards and 3.15% + 6.50 Kč on international cards, plus 2% where currency conversion is needed.
• myPOS: 1.30% + 5 Kč on EEA consumer cards and 2.90% + 5 Kč on other cards. Viva.com: 2.19% + 10 Kč on Czech consumer cards. Revolut Business: from 1% + 6 Kč. SumUp: 2.50% on online payments and payment links.

Larger online merchants can also negotiate interchange-plus pricing from Adyen (A-), whose public price list does not show a Czech koruna processing fee.

The rules

No surcharge on consumer cards

Section 254 of the Payment System Act (Act No. 370/2017) says a payee is not entitled to any charge for using a payment instrument whose interchange fee is capped under the EU regulation, which covers ordinary consumer debit and credit cards, and asking for one can be fined up to 500,000 Kč. On other cards a charge is allowed but may not exceed the payee's direct costs.

EET 2.0 from 1 January 2027

The electronic sales records system that the Czech Republic abolished at the end of 2022 is coming back. The Electronic Sales Records Act, No. 180/2026, takes effect on 1 January 2027. The Financial Administration's guidance says it applies to income from business received as a contact payment, meaning in person, at the premises or in the business's vehicle: cash, payment card, QR code, bank transfer and vouchers alike. Cash is always recorded. A payment made remotely, through an e-shop's gateway or by a customer paying an invoice from home, is not.

The new version is lighter than the old one. Businesses record a minimum of data, do not have to print receipts, and small traders get a free web app, MOJE eet, from 1 December 2026; certificates are available in the MOJE daně portal from 1 November. Some sole traders in the first band of the flat-tax regime can opt out under EET OFF by paying a surcharge of 1,400 Kč a month on top of their flat-tax advance. The law also brings back a tax credit of up to 5,000 Kč for individuals who start recording sales.

For card acceptance the practical point is that your card terminal and your sales records now have to agree. If you are buying a terminal or a till before January, ask whether it records EET 2.0 sales itself or works with your till software or MOJE eet.

Cash

The law on the circulation of banknotes and coins says everyone must accept Czech banknotes and coins, with limits such as more than 50 coins in one payment. The Czech National Bank has said the law sets no penalty for refusing, and as of October 2026 we found no law adding one.

Neighbouring countries apply the same EU rules with different local prices; see our guides to Germany and Poland.

What to check before you sign

• Whether the rate is all-in or the bank's margin with interchange and scheme fees added on top, as at ČSOB.
• Whether a low rate is promotional, and what it becomes: Česká spořitelna's offer lasts eight months, Comgate's a few months, Fio's runs to the end of 2026.
• The rate on business, premium and non-EU cards, typically 1.9% to 2.9% and sometimes more.
• Terminal rental, minimum contract term and the early termination fee.
• Whether prices include VAT: hardware and rental are usually quoted excluding it.
• How the terminal or till will record EET 2.0 sales from 1 January 2027.