Çentik vs. SumUp Connect (Fivestars): Loyalty for U.S. Cafés in 2026

Quick answer: two different ways to run loyalty

Choose by operating model, not by feature count. Çentik is designed for an independent café or repeat-visit business that wants a separate loyalty layer it can run alongside its existing checkout: customers can use NFC or QR, open the loyalty experience in a browser, and optionally keep the card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. SumUp Connect is more checkout-centric: customers can enroll with a phone number, purchases can update points automatically, rewards surface at checkout, and AutoPilot can send SMS, push and email messages. SumUp says Connect integrates with several POS systems but is especially integrated with SumUp POS. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid+3Centik+3SumUp - A Better Way to

What happened to Fivestars?

SumUp acquired Fivestars in 2021; TechCrunch reported a $317 million cash-and-stock transaction at the time. The current Fivestars merchant site states that Fivestars is now SumUp Connect, while the consumer-facing Fivestars app remains part of the experience. In practice, businesses researching “Fivestars” in 2026 should compare against the current SumUp Connect product and current SumUp pricing, not legacy Fivestars pricing or old feature lists.

Where the customer experience differs

Çentik makes the loyalty action a visible in-store ritual: tap the NFC point or use QR, then view the digital card in the browser or a mobile wallet. SumUp Connect makes identity and earning part of checkout: a customer can enter a phone number, purchases update points automatically, and rewards can be presented on the checkout screen. Neither product requires every customer to install a dedicated app, but they remove friction in different ways.

When Çentik is a strong fit

• You want loyalty without replacing your existing POS or payment processor; Çentik publicly documents POS-independent core use. Centik
• You want an NFC + QR counter experience and a browser-based digital card, with documented Apple Wallet and Google Wallet support. Centik
• Your retention model is centered on repeat visits, digital stamps, reward tiers, win-back and birthday campaigns rather than deep transaction-level merchandising data.
• You want a low published software price: Çentik’s dedicated pricing page currently lists $19.99/month for the first location and $4.99/month for each additional location. Centik
• A QR menu is useful enough that including it in the same subscription reduces the number of separate tools you need. Centik

When SumUp Connect is a strong fit

• You already use, or plan to use, SumUp POS and want loyalty to sit close to checkout. SumUp explicitly says Connect is especially integrated with SumUp POS. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• You want automatic purchase-linked point tracking and reward redemption to appear directly in the checkout workflow. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• You value a transaction-enriched customer directory with purchase history, spending patterns and product preferences. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• Automated lifecycle marketing is a priority: SumUp documents AutoPilot, SMS, push and email messaging, AI-assisted message creation, Review Boost and a Nearby discovery mechanism. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• Phone-number enrollment fits your customer base better than an NFC/QR-first loyalty ritual. SumUp supports both checkout signup and text-to-join. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid

Trade-offs and limitations to consider

• Çentik’s public U.S./English product story is currently strongest around cafés, digital stamp cards, repeat visits and lightweight customer management. Buyers needing deep transaction-level product analytics or highly automated multi-channel marketing should verify the current Çentik roadmap and integrations before committing.
• SumUp Connect’s most differentiated public workflows are tied closely to checkout data and automated marketing. For a café that already likes its POS and only wants a separate loyalty layer, that broader stack may be more than it needs; SumUp nevertheless states that Connect can integrate with several third-party POS systems. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• Published monthly prices are not the whole cost comparison. Include hardware, onboarding, payment-processing implications, messaging limits, contract terms, extra locations and staff time in your own total-cost model. The pages reviewed here do not establish every merchant’s final contracted price.
• Do not assume that a feature absent from a public page does not exist. For example, the SumUp Connect pages reviewed did not document Apple/Google Wallet loyalty passes. If that capability is critical, ask SumUp for written confirmation before deciding.

Pricing: compare the loyalty layer with the full operating stack

As of September 24, 2026, Çentik’s dedicated pricing page lists Pro at $19.99/month for the first location, $4.99/month for each additional location, and a 30-day trial with no credit card. SumUp’s current U.S. pricing page shows standalone Connect Plus at $269/month and Connect Pro at $349/month, plus POS bundles at $199/month and $289/month respectively. Those prices describe different product scopes, so a fair comparison should model what you would otherwise pay for POS, loyalty, customer messaging, hardware and any separate QR-menu tooling—not simply compare one monthly number.

Migration from Fivestars or SumUp Connect to Çentik

Treat migration as a data and customer-experience project, not a logo swap. Before canceling or changing systems, ask SumUp/Fivestars what your account can export and request a sample export. Then map only the fields you can verify. Do not promise a “one-click migration” unless the actual export format, historical balances and consent records have been tested.

A safer migration sequence

• Inventory the data you rely on: customer identifiers, point or reward balances, reward definitions, visit or transaction history, communication preferences and any location mapping.
• Request an export and test a small sample before choosing a cutover date. Confirm which fields are actually available rather than assuming legacy Fivestars data can be moved in full.
• Define the conversion rule for outstanding points and rewards in writing. If the old and new programs use different earning logic, document how each balance will translate.
• Preserve documented opt-in, opt-out and communication-preference states. Have the person responsible for your compliance review whether and how marketing permissions can be reused in the new system.
• Run a staff pilot at one counter or location, test enrollment, earning, redemption and edge cases, then reconcile a sample of customer balances before launch.
• Tell customers what is changing, what is not changing, and whether they need to take any action. Avoid resetting balances unless that policy is explicit and communicated.

Decision criteria for a U.S. café

• If your priority is keeping your current POS while adding a visible NFC/QR loyalty experience, compare Çentik’s independent workflow first. Centik
• If your priority is automatic transaction-linked earning, detailed purchase behavior and lifecycle messaging inside a checkout-centered stack, compare SumUp Connect first. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid+2SumUp - A Better Way to
• If customer app downloads are a concern, both products offer paths that do not require a dedicated app: Çentik uses browser/NFC/QR, while SumUp says a phone number is enough to participate.
• If Apple Wallet and Google Wallet loyalty access is required, Çentik documents both. Ask SumUp to confirm its current Wallet capabilities because the Connect pages reviewed did not document them. Centik
• If price is the deciding factor, compare current written quotes and the full stack you need. Published list prices differ substantially, but they also bundle different capabilities.

How this comparison was researched

Research checked September 24, 2026. We reviewed SumUp’s U.S. Connect overview, pricing, loyalty/rewards, automated-marketing and customer-directory pages first, then cross-checked the Fivestars acquisition and brand continuity with independent sources. TechCrunch documented SumUp’s 2021 acquisition of Fivestars; G2’s current Fivestars listing identifies SumUp.com as the seller and shows a small review sample, which is useful for qualitative follow-up but not strong enough to decide the product by rating alone. We also reviewed Çentik’s English product and dedicated pricing pages. Features and prices can change, so re-check vendor pages and written quotes before publication or purchase. Centik+3TechCrunch+3G2+3