Cashless payments have recently become mandatory in Ireland for taxis, hackneys, limousines and other private hire card drivers. If you don’t have a card machine yet, you are certainly wondering which one to get.

A number of card machine providers are available in the country, but – at first look – they seem to care only for other types of businesses. You are also probably considering how much it will cost to acquire and maintain the device.

Thankfully, you don’t necessarily need a fancy device with a printer. While you must offer print receipts to your customers, your taximeter is likely to have a thermal printer attached.

What you are probably looking for is something easy to use inside a car, affordable and reliable. Considering these criteria, what’s the best credit card machine for taxi drivers in Ireland?

Mobile Transaction’s shortlist of credit card machines for taxis:

Card machine Upfront cost Ongoing costs Offer
SumUp €39–€129* No monthly fee
1.69% card rate
Square Reader €19* No monthly fee
1.75% + VAT card rate
Yavin €99.50-€199* €29/mo (no lock-in)
Variable rate + 0.5% + 5¢
myPOS Go €39* No monthly fee
Rates from 1.69% + 5¢
Elavon Mobile-
Merchant
€19* No monthly fee
1.75% – 2.5% card rate

*Excluding VAT.

Mobile Transaction’s shortlist of credit card machines for taxis:

Card
machine
Costs Offer
SumUp €39–€129*
No monthly fee

1.69% card rate
Square
Reader
€19*
No monthly fee
1.75% + VAT card rate
Yavin €99.50-€199*
€29/mo (no lock-in)
Variable rate + 0.5% + 5¢
myPOS Go €39*
No monthly fee

Rates from 1.69% + 5p
Elavon
Mobile-
Merchant
€19*
No monthly fee
Rates from 1.75%

*Excluding VAT.

Check below the top offers in the market we’ve put together for you. They all follow the requirements of the National Transport Authority, such as acceptance of contactless payments and of Visa, Mastercard and American Express via physical card and digital wallets.

They also meet our rating criteria, ensuring that only the best devices for micro and small businesses are featured in our top lists. These criteria include:

  • Product – are the quality and features suitable for taxis?
  • Pricing – are fees fair and payouts not too slow?
  • Sign-up – are costs transparent and onboarding smooth?
  • Value-added services – are useful extras included, such as reporting?
  • Support and reviews – is the service good and what are users’ experiences?
  • Contract – do you commit to a contract and is it easy to cancel?

We base our comments and advice on first-hand experience and tests done by our team of experts and real card machine users.

SumUp – affordable and functional

SumUp
SumUp Air, Solo and 3G with Printer
Our rating
  • Choice of 3 card machines

  • No contractual lock-in

  • No monthly fees

  • Air: €39 + VAT (offer here)
    Solo:
     €79 + VAT (offer here)
    3G & Printer: €129 + VAT (offer here)

  • Fixed card rate: 1.69%

SumUp is ideal for taxi drivers looking for cheap fees and ease of use. You only pay 1.69% for any card accepted, and there is no contractual commitment or monthly fees.

Out of the three card machine models – Air, Solo and 3G & Printer – our favourite is SumUp Air with its long battery life, neat design and fast connection via Bluetooth to a mobile app. It is the bestselling SumUp machine among drivers across Europe, and is frequently seen in Ireland.

Air is also the cheapest of the models (€39 + VAT), since it relies on the network connectivity of a mobile phone to process a transaction. This also means it will work in rural areas as long as your smartphone works with 3G or lower network connections.

Some drivers still opt for Solo. You won’t need an app to accept payments with this device, as it comes with a SIM card and unlimited, free data. In addition to 3G and 4G, it connects with WiFi. A possible downside is a short battery life when left on standby, so it’ll need access to a power socket in case it runs out.

Photo: Emmanuel Charpentier (EC), Mobile Transaction

SumUp Air reader against wood

SumUp Air requires a Bluetooth connection with your smartphone.

You can buy it for €79 + VAT upfront, a relatively low price for a standalone card machine. Thanks to its small dimensions, it’s easy to hand SumUp Solo to customers if they are in the backseat, so they can tap or insert their card.

Solo’s touchscreen is brighter than its counterpart SumUp 3G with Printer, which also works independently but comes with a receipt printer and charging stand for the road (Solo’s stand doesn’t charge).

If you take passengers to/from rural zones or other areas with a poor internet connection, you might want to buy the 3G & Printer for €129 + VAT, since it works better with weak network connections. SumUp 3G also performed more reliably during our tests compared to Solo, and its battery life was longer.

Photo: Emily Sorensen (ES), Mobile Transaction

SumUp Solo in charging cradle

SumUp Solo is a handy size, but its stand does not charge the terminal on the go.

SumUp 3G has keypad buttons and the screen is smaller, but sufficient for navigating transactions. Both Solo and 3G let you change to almost any European language in case your client doesn’t understand English.

Payments are automatically cleared in your bank account for no extra charge within 2-3 working days – except for Amex transactions which might take 2-3 days longer. A big draw is the SumUp Business Mastercard allowing access to funds the next day, during weekends too. This has proven popular with drivers as their go-to card for petrol.

SumUp accepts contactless and chip and PIN cards from Visa, V Pay, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, UnionPay and Discover, and the mobile wallets Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Accepted cards

VisaV PayMastercardMaestroAmerican ExpressDiners ClubUnion PayDiscoverContactlessApple PayGoogle Pay

The variety of accepted cards makes it a good choice for taxis serving areas with lots of tourists (e.g. Dublin’s city centre, airports, inter-county train stations).

Furthermore, the low fixed transaction rate stays the same for foreign and premium cards, in contrast with most other card machine deals with higher rates for such cards.

Through their merchant portal, you can export sales reports for accounting, among other extra features. Cash payments can be registered in SumUp App along with tips (which the Solo and 3G readers accept directly on the display).

On the downside, SumUp’s customer service isn’t 24/7. If you experience an issue late in the evenings, you will need to wait for the next business hour to get in touch. But you can contact them at specific hours over the weekend.

Learn more: SumUp Ireland review

Square Reader – low cost with extra features

Square
Square Reader
Our rating
  • Works with mobile payment app

  • No contractual lock-in

  • No monthly fees

  • Card reader: €19 + VAT (offer here)

  • Fixed card rate: 1.75% + VAT

Square Reader is a low-cost card reader that works in conjunction with a mobile app. You will save from the start, paying only €19 + VAT for the device.

Then you pay only a fixed transaction rate of 1.75% + VAT for any card accepted. There are no monthly fees and no contractual lock-in.

Like SumUp, Square’s fixed rate is the same for premium and foreign cards, unlike many other card machine services charging more for these.

Photo: ES, Mobile Transaction

Square Reader with card held in hand

Square Reader is small, but powerful.

Payments go directly into your bank account the next business day, but you won’t face payout fees.

Square Reader’s small size and low weight are also ideal for use inside a vehicle. Plus, the battery is likely to last a full day’s active use, or many days if it’s just on standby (we have verified this).

But Square’s customer service team is only available on weekdays between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, leaving you without support on weekends and evenings.

The card reader connects via Bluetooth with a compatible iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet with the Square Reader app ‘Point of Sale’ installed.

You enter the fare amount in the app, and the card reader switches on, ready to accept a contactless or chip and PIN payment.

As a taxi driver, you might not need many of the app features. But some that you will find useful are tipping and alternative payment methods (in case the card reader doesn’t work), such as payment links and QR Codes.

You can also use the app to register cash transactions and export data to Excel for accounting purposes.

Accepted cards

VisaVisa ElectronV PayMastercardMaestroAmerican ExpressContactlessApple PayGoogle PaySamsung Pay

Square Reader accepts Visa, V Pay, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express, and the digital wallets Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

Learn more: Square Reader review

Yavin – quality terminal with long battery life

Yavin
Yavin card machine
Our rating
  • Works independently via inbuilt SIM card

  • Cancellable any time

  • €29 monthly fee

  • Terminal: €199 + VAT (50% off with promo code here)

  • Interchange fees + 0.5% + €0.05 per transaction

Yavin is a French company that recently launched a decent card machine in Ireland, the Nexgo N86 terminal. Considering its large touchscreen and advanced technology, it has a long battery of up to 8 hours of active use from a full charge, or up to 240 hours on standby.

The terminal works in rural areas with a low 2G or 3G connection, but also with 4G or WiFi. In addition, it has been approved for use in hazardous locations such as gas stations, since it’s built to withstand heat and blasts (to a certain extent, at least).

Yavin’s card terminal isn’t cheap, but is good quality and has tipping options.

Taxi drivers will like its ease of use: you just enter the transaction amount and hand the customer the terminal for a contactless tap or chip card payment. A virtual PIN pad shows on its display when this is needed, and tipping options can be added if you activate this feature.

Receipts can be texted, emailed or printed via the built-in receipt printer.

Although it’s super-easy to start using the terminal straight from the box, it does take up to 10 working days to receive it from mainland Europe.

So far, the service only accepts Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Payouts settle in your choice of IBAN account within 2-3 business days, which is an industry standard of speed, but slower than most other options in this comparison.

The full price of the card machine is €199 + VAT, but a voucher code gives you a 50% discount so it’s only €99.50 + VAT upfront.

Accepted cards

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle PayContactless

Then you have to pay €29 monthly (VAT not applicable) for the privilege of using the Yavin terminal, but this can be paused any month you don’t use the product. There’s no lock-in period, so you can cancel the service altogether at any point.

You pay a variable interchange fee + 0.5% + €0.05 per transaction. Interchange fees are Visa’s and Mastercard’s standardised rates that vary according to the type of card accepted.

For instance, domestic consumer debit cards have the lowest rates while foreign, commercial credit cards carry higher fees. In most cases, merchants pay less than 1% in total for a transaction, which is considerably less than alternatives on this list.

Learn more: Yavin Terminal review

myPOS Go – cross-border payment solution

myPOS
myPOS Go
Our rating
  • Works independently via inbuilt SIM card

  • No contractual lock-in

  • No monthly fees

  • Card machine: €39  + VAT (offer here)

  • Card rates: 1.69%-2.89% + €0.05

myPOS Go comes with the draw of working across borders without having to put in a special agreement. If, for instance, you collect passengers to/from Ireland and Northern Ireland, you will benefit from this flexibility.

The device is quite affordable (€39 + VAT).

It works independently with a SIM card with unlimited data for card processing. Like Elavon MobileMerchant further down, the myPOS Go card reader resembles a narrow calculator with its push-button PIN pad and small (but colour) display.

Photo: EC, Mobile Transaction

myPOS Go card tap

myPOS Go doesn’t connect with WiFi, but works with low network connections.

But it doesn’t work with WiFi; you’re reliant on its GPRS, 3G or 4G connectivity to use it. On the other hand, myPOS Go is therefore likely to work well in areas with poor internet connection.

There is no contractual commitment or monthly fee, but the card fees do depend on the card being accepted. For consumer cards, you are charged 1.69% + €0.05 for Visa, Mastercard, V Pay and Maestro cards issued in Ireland, elsewhere in the EEA or the UK.

Commercial cards, other brand brands and non-EEA cards have a much higher fee: 2.89% + €0.05 per transaction. If most of your passengers pay their fares with American or corporate cards, for instance, myPOS’s cost can become high.

Settlement takes up to 2 hours, the fastest in this top list of card machines for taxi drivers. That said, payouts land in an online myPOS business account, not your bank account. This comes with its own business Visa card you can use at petrol stations and most other stores.

Accepted cards

VisaVisa ElectronV PayMastercardMaestroAmerican ExpressUnion PayJCBContactlessApple PayGoogle PaySamsung Pay

In contrast with competitors, will have to pay a fee to transfer money from the online account to a bank account. Other costs apply, such as chargeback and inactivity fees. myPOS Go is also the only one on this list to charge for shipping the device (€5 + VAT).

Finally, getting started with myPOS isn’t as simple as with SumUp or Square. You will need to submit paperwork and have an identity verification video call before the account is set up.

In Ireland, myPOS offers round-the-clock customer support every day of the week.

Learn more: myPOS Go review

Elavon MobileMerchant – basic product, 24/7 support

Elavon
Elavon Mobile Merchant
Our rating
  • Works with mobile payment app

  • No monthly fee or lock-in

  • Card machine: €19 + VAT (offer here)

  • Card rates: 1.75% (Visa, Mastercard); 2.5% (JCB, Diners Club, UnionPay); 1.9% (Amex)

Elavon MobileMerchant is a basic card reader that works with the MobileMerchant app on a smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android) via Bluetooth. As long as your mobile device has a live WiFi/3G/4G connection, the reader can accept cards anywhere.

It’s an affordable option you can buy for €19 + VAT – but this price can vary. There are no monthly fees or long-term contracts.

For Visa and Mastercard transactions, the 1.75% fee is attractive, but this cost is higher for other cards.

Elavon MobileMerchant card reader, hand and card

Elavon MobileMerchant resembles a calculator.

You might also need to pay other fees, such as chargeback or paper statement fees.

On the upside, all funds are deposited into your bank account the next working day for no extra cost.

The Elavon card reader is small and lightweight. It will be easy to use inside a cab, but it looks quite basic, resembling a calculator with its push-button keypad and flat, rectangular shape.

The app has tipping and cash features but is rarely updated, so you might come across issues while trying to process payments.

The good news is that you can accept a good amount of cards: Visa, Mastercard, V Pay, JCB, Discover, American Express and Diners Club cards, as well as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

Accepted cards

VisaV PayMastercardMaestroAmerican ExpressJCBDiscoverDiners ClubContactlessApple PayGoogle Pay

Elavon MobileMerchant’s customer support is available 24/7, which is great for taxi drivers taking passengers on weekends or evenings.

Learn more: Elavon MobileMerchant review

Verdict: which credit card machine is best for taxi drivers?

Choosing the best card machine as a taxi, hackney, limousine or other private hire card driver is about understanding what is more relevant to you.

We generally recommend SumUp for its excellent value, with its fixed card rate for all cards, free business account and range of low-cost card readers that all work on the go. Air lasts longest from a full charge but requires an app, whereas 3G & Printer or Solo suit drivers who prefer a standalone terminal.

Square Reader comes with many free payment tools in its linked Point of Sale app, and it’s a reliable card reader as long as your smartphone has a live connection with a mobile network or WiFi.

Yavin is recommended for taxi drivers in search for something more robust and with enough transactions to afford the fixed monthly cost. It’s certainly the best quality terminal, but hasn’t got the same amount of software features as Square or SumUp.

myPOS Go is the only alternative that works across borders, and its complimentary business account and Visa card give you the flexibility to spend earnings immediately.

Finally, the app-based Elavon MobileMerchant is a cheap and simple card reader, but you might face problems with the app that’s rarely updated.

Payment machine Best For Website
SumUp Popular option for those who need a flexible, low-cost device with a predictable rate
Square Good, cheap card reader that connects with interesting features on your mobile phone or tablet
Yavin High-quality terminal, for those with enough transactions to afford the monthly cost
myPOS Adaptable alternative for cashless payments across borders without hassle
Elavon Basic app-based option and cheap upfront, 24/7 customer support line
Payment
machine
Best For Website
SumUp Popular option for those who need a flexible, low-cost device with a predictable rate
Square Good, cheap card reader that connects with interesting features on your mobile phone or tablet
Yavin High-quality terminal, for those with enough transactions to afford the monthly cost
myPOS Adaptable alternative for cashless payments across borders without hassle
Elavon Basic app-based option and cheap upfront, 24/7 customer support line