Çentik vs SumUp Loyalty / SumUp Local: UK Comparison

Çentik vs SumUp Loyalty: the short answer

SumUp Loyalty is the natural fit for a business that already wants SumUp to sit at the centre of payments and checkout. SumUp launched the current Loyalty and SumUp Local proposition in the UK in April 2026: merchants can configure stamps or points in the SumUp dashboard, while rewards can be earned automatically from eligible card payments. SumUp describes Loyalty itself as free, although normal SumUp payment, hardware or paid-plan costs can still apply. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +2 SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +2

Çentik is the more relevant model when the merchant wants loyalty to remain independent of the payment provider. Its public UK-facing English pages describe an app-free browser journey, optional Apple Wallet and Google Wallet access, an NFC Çentik Stamp, QR-based earning, campaigns, repeat-visit analytics, barista accounts and multi-location support without replacing the existing POS. Çentik +2 Çentik +2

How SumUp Loyalty and SumUp Local work in the UK

SumUp's current UK proposition combines three ideas: merchant-side loyalty configuration in the SumUp dashboard, payment-linked reward earning, and the SumUp Local consumer experience. The April 2026 launch announcement says merchants can create digital stamp cards or points programmes, customers can link a payment card, and qualifying purchases then earn automatically without scanning at every visit. SumUp Local is positioned as the place where shoppers discover participating businesses, follow rewards and manage the linked-card experience. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +1

One important documentation nuance: SumUp's own current pages do not describe onboarding in exactly the same way. The launch and SumUp Local support content tell customers to download SumUp Local and link a card; another 2026 SumUp guide says a customer can enter a mobile number at checkout and later track progress in the SumUp Pay app. That is not a reason to reject the product, but it is a reason to test the exact flow on the card reader or POS configuration you plan to deploy before publishing staff instructions. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +2 SumUp Help +2

Where SumUp's model is operationally strong

• Automatic reward earning can reduce staff steps when payments and loyalty are both handled by SumUp. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +1
• SumUp Loyalty supports both stamp and points programmes, which suits businesses with either repeat-item or variable-spend behaviour. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid
• The consumer app adds push notifications, reward tracking and local-business discovery rather than limiting loyalty to a single merchant. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +2 App Store +2
• Loyalty is currently advertised as free as a SumUp feature, although the merchant still needs to account for the wider SumUp commercial stack. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +1

How Çentik differs

Çentik starts from a different architecture: loyalty is not tied to who processed the payment. A customer can open the loyalty card in the browser, optionally add it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and earn through the merchant's Çentik NFC point or QR flow. For a café using another acquirer, POS or till system, that separation can be the decisive advantage because loyalty can be introduced without a payments migration. Çentik +1

Çentik also bundles customer-retention functions that are specifically visible on its current public pages: customer profiles, new/active/lapsed segmentation, repeat-visit analytics, double-stamp, win-back and birthday campaigns, QR Menu Pro, barista accounts and multi-location support. These are verified product claims; they should not be interpreted as proof that Çentik has broader CRM depth than SumUp without a feature-by-feature account review. Çentik +1

Where Çentik is the clearer fit

• You want to keep your existing payment provider or POS and add loyalty as a separate layer. Çentik
• You do not want customers to install a dedicated loyalty app before they can view their card. Çentik +1
• A physical NFC touchpoint at the counter is useful to your operating model, with QR available as an alternative. Çentik +1
• You want browser and mobile-wallet access to the same loyalty relationship. Çentik
• You want loyalty and a café QR menu in the same merchant product. Çentik +1

Pricing: compare the whole stack, not the headline

SumUp's headline is compelling: its 2026 UK content describes Loyalty as free. But 'free loyalty' is not the same as '£0 total operating cost' if the business is choosing SumUp specifically to access the loyalty flow. SumUp's UK pricing page currently lists pay-as-you-go in-person payments at 1.69% with no monthly fee, and Payments Plus at £19 per month with 0.99% for eligible domestic debit and credit card payments; other rates and hardware costs can differ. Check the live pricing page before modelling economics. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +1

For Çentik, the public English pricing page currently offers a 30-day trial but displays Turkish-lira pricing and says prices are per location. That is not a reliable UK commercial quote. A UK comparison page should therefore avoid publishing a sterling-equivalent or claiming that Çentik is cheaper until Çentik publishes a canonical UK price or provides a written quote for the merchant. Çentik

Customer journey: app-free versus payment-linked

This is the most important difference for many cafés. Çentik puts the loyalty interaction at a dedicated NFC or QR touchpoint and then keeps the card in the browser or mobile wallet. SumUp puts the loyalty identity closer to payment: the customer is identified or links a payment card, and subsequent eligible SumUp payments can update loyalty automatically. Neither model is universally better. Çentik reduces dependence on a shared consumer app and payment provider; SumUp can remove a manual loyalty step once payment identity is connected. SumUp Help +3 Çentik +3 Çentik +3

CRM, campaigns and analytics

Both products now go beyond a basic digital punch card. SumUp publicly describes targeted promotions, push notifications, birthday and win-back activity, Autopilot and campaign-performance insights. Çentik publicly lists customer segments, repeat-visit analytics, double-stamp, birthday and win-back campaigns. Before choosing on CRM alone, ask both vendors for a live demo of segmentation rules, message channels, suppression/opt-out handling, export options, multi-location reporting and staff permissions; public marketing pages do not establish full parity on those details. SumUp - A Better Way to Get Paid +2 SumUp Help +2

Migration from SumUp Loyalty to Çentik

A migration should be treated as a customer-data and outstanding-liability project, not merely a software switch. The public SumUp pages reviewed clearly document loyalty participation and customer records, but they do not clearly document a loyalty-specific bulk export/import path for balances, stamps, reward states and marketing permissions. Confirm available export fields with SumUp before promising a one-click migration.

• Inventory the source data: customer identifier, mobile number or email, location, stamp/point balance, unlocked rewards, redemption history, programme rules, expiry dates and marketing permission state.
• Confirm which fields SumUp can export for your specific product and account. Do not assume POS customer exports contain every SumUp Loyalty field.
• Decide whether to migrate balances exactly, convert points to stamps, or honour legacy rewards separately. Publish the conversion rule before cutover.
• Preserve evidence of consent, soft opt-in eligibility, objections and unsubscribes rather than treating all historical customers as marketable contacts.
• Run a short parallel or reconciliation period and test edge cases: duplicate customers, multiple linked cards, partially earned rewards, redeemed rewards and multi-location accounts.
• Tell customers what changes: how they identify themselves, where they see progress, how existing rewards will be honoured and how to opt out of marketing.

UK privacy and direct-marketing checks

UK loyalty programmes process personal information and often trigger direct-marketing rules. The ICO's current guidance says electronic direct marketing is governed by PECR, while UK GDPR applies to the underlying processing. Consent, the soft opt-in and opt-out rights depend on the channel and circumstances; do not treat a loyalty sign-up as blanket marketing permission. ICO +1

If personal information is made accessible to a separate organisation outside the UK, the ICO says the restricted-transfer rules may apply and the transfer needs an appropriate legal mechanism such as adequacy, safeguards or a valid exception. This is a due-diligence question for any platform, including Çentik: confirm hosting/access locations, processor terms, retention, deletion and transfer safeguards before launch. This page is product-comparison content, not legal advice. ICO +1

Decision checklist for a UK merchant

• Already committed to SumUp payments and want loyalty to happen automatically around checkout? Put SumUp Loyalty on the shortlist.
• Want to keep another POS/acquirer and add loyalty without a payments migration? Put Çentik on the shortlist.
• Want customers to avoid a dedicated loyalty-app install? Test Çentik first.
• Want a shared consumer app with nearby-business discovery and payment-linked earning? Test SumUp Local first.
• Need advanced CRM, complex data exports, enterprise integrations or bespoke multi-brand rules? Ask both vendors for a written requirements response rather than deciding from marketing pages.
• Price-sensitive? Model total payment fees, hardware, subscription cost, staff time and expected repeat visits rather than comparing only the loyalty add-on price.