Best card machine for London City Airport taxi UK 2026

For black cab and PCO-licensed private-hire drivers running London City Airport transfers. London City is the business-traveller airport: BA City Flyer, KLM Cityhopper, Lufthansa CityLine. Customer mix is overwhelmingly suit-and-tie corporate, AMEX-heavy, expense-receipt-driven. Short transfer distances (£30 to £60 typical to Canary Wharf, the City, Shoreditch, West End).

The ranking

1. Square Terminal

4.1 / 5

Best London City Airport taxi terminal

All-in-one countertop terminal with receipt printer · 1.75% per transaction (UK) · No contract

Square Terminal at £149 with 1.75% rate and built-in thermal printer. London City Airport corporate customers need on-the-spot receipts more than any other London location. AMEX at 2.5%, contactless to £100, chip-and-PIN fallback.

2. Stripe Reader S700

4.0 / 5

Best for executive City Airport chauffeur

Touchscreen handheld terminal with built-in receipt printer · Custom (Stripe pricing) · Stripe terms

Stripe Reader S700 at £329 with Stripe Checkout. Best for executive chauffeur companies billing corporate clients monthly plus accepting card in-vehicle for upgrades.

3. SumUp Solo

4.2 / 5

Best City Airport rank black cab reader

Portable terminal with built-in receipt printer (Solo Lite is no-printer) · 1.69% per transaction · No contract

SumUp Solo at £99 with 1.69% rate for black cabs working the City Airport rank. TfL-compliant for London Hackney carriage. Pair with emailed receipt for the increasingly common emailed-expense workflow.

Quick comparison

Headline rate, hardware cost, contract and form factor at a glance.

Rank	Terminal	Rate	Hardware	Contract
#1	Square Terminal	1.75% per transaction (UK)	£149 to £199	No contract
#2	Stripe Reader S700	Custom (Stripe pricing)	£329	Stripe terms
#3	SumUp Solo	1.69% per transaction	£99 to £149 hardware	No contract

FAQs

Why is London City Airport different from Heathrow for taxi drivers?

London City is exclusively business-traveller (no leisure routes, no budget airlines). Corporate AMEX use is the highest of any UK airport. Average fare is shorter (£30 to £60 vs £75 to £170 at Heathrow) so per-transaction printed-receipt experience is more important than absolute fare value.

Do London City Airport rank cabs need to accept AMEX?

Yes, all of them. London City Airport rank is overwhelmingly AMEX-using corporate customers and TfL Conditions of Fitness Section 24 mandates AMEX acceptance on every London Hackney carriage anyway. Refusing AMEX is a licensing offence.

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Take any of these. We do the rest.

Named UK account team for the life of the agreement. Acquirer pays our commission on completed introductions, so it costs you nothing on top.

24/7 dedicated support
Direct line to a named UK account manager, not a generic acquirer helpline. When your terminal goes down on a Saturday night you call us.
Quarterly rate reviews
As your card volume grows your rate should drop. We renegotiate against the 80+ UK acquirer panel every quarter, so you never overpay because you forgot to ask.
Chargeback and dispute help
UK chargebacks cost £15 to £35 per case and 60-80% are friendly fraud you can win with the right evidence. We draft the response and escalate where the acquirer drags its feet.
Switching support when you outgrow
If a better acquirer fit emerges as you grow we manage the cutover. No exit-fee surprises, no dual-running gap. Same account team across acquirers.

How we work, end to end →

Methodology

Rankings are based on direct hands-on testing, published rates, settlement timing, contract terms, and acquirer reliability. We do not accept payment for ranking position. See our full methodology and editorial policy.

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Reviewed by Oliver Mackman, Director. Last reviewed: 2026-05-12.