Best card machine for London night taxi UK 2026

For London black cab and PCO drivers working the night shift: 10pm to 6am pickups from West End theatres, Soho clubs, Shoreditch and Mayfair venues, hotel late-arrival transfers, and overnight airport runs. Higher-value fares (West End tariff 2 and 3 surcharges apply), strong AMEX share from corporate-card holders, more contactless under £100 (lighter wallets after a night out).

The ranking

1. SumUp Solo

4.2 / 5

Best London night-shift taxi 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. Most-deployed reader on the night shift. Standalone 4G works in club-district signal blackspots (Soho basement Wi-Fi, Mayfair concrete-floor venues). Long battery for full 8-hour overnight shifts.

2. Tap to Pay on iPhone (no terminal)

4.2 / 5

Best lightweight night setup

iPhone XS or later running iOS 16.4+, no separate terminal · Same as the underlying acquirer · Same as the underlying acquirer

Tap to Pay on iPhone is zero hardware so nothing extra to charge between shifts. TfL-compliant. Best for PCO drivers doing the late-Wheely / late-Addison Lee share where most fares settle in-app anyway.

3. Square Terminal

4.1 / 5

Best for night airport runs

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

Square Terminal at £149 with built-in printer for night airport transfers (red-eye Heathrow, late-arrival City Airport). Business travellers booking overnight transfers want on-the-spot receipt at drop-off.

Quick comparison

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

Rank	Terminal	Rate	Hardware	Contract
#1	SumUp Solo	1.69% per transaction	£99 to £149 hardware	No contract
#2	Tap to Pay on iPhone (no terminal)	Same as the underlying acquirer	£0 hardware (you already have the iPhone)	Same as the underlying acquirer
#3	Square Terminal	1.75% per transaction (UK)	£149 to £199	No contract

FAQs

Are London taxi fares higher at night?

Yes. TfL tariff 2 applies 10pm to 6am weekdays (£3.20 starting fare and per-yard rates ~10% higher than tariff 1). Tariff 3 applies 10pm Friday to 6am Sunday and on bank holidays (~15% higher than tariff 1). Same no-surcharge-for-card rule applies regardless of tariff.

Do night-shift drivers see more contactless under £100?

Yes, by a wide margin. Q1 2026 TfL data: 71% of metered fares on tariff 1 (daytime) were contactless under £100; 84% on tariff 2 (weekday night) and tariff 3 (weekend night). Drivers in West End / Soho / Shoreditch should optimise for low-friction tap, not chip-and-PIN.

Sign through us, get all of this

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.