Best card machine for Stansted taxi UK 2026

For taxi and private-hire drivers running Stansted Airport transfers. Heavy budget-airline customer mix (Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air) so smaller average fare than Heathrow or Gatwick, more debit-card and prepaid-card use, more contactless under £100. Significant Eastern European inbound tourism through Stansted: Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Lithuanian customer cards common.

The ranking

1. SumUp Solo

4.2 / 5

Best Stansted 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. Best fit for the typical Stansted fare profile (£35 to £75 to Cambridge, Bishops Stortford, North London, Essex). Standalone 4G clears the M11 corridor and Stansted Airport perimeter signal blackspots.

2. Revolut Card Reader

3.7 / 5

Best for international tourist Stansted driver

Compact Bluetooth-paired reader · 0.8% to 1.0% per transaction (depending on subscription tier) · Subscription-tier dependent (Revolut Business plan)

Revolut Card Reader at £49 with 0.8% UK / 1.3% non-UK rate. Cheapest UK rate plus the best international card handling for the Eastern European tourist customer mix typical of Stansted.

3. Square Terminal

4.1 / 5

Best Stansted business-transfer driver

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

Square Terminal at £149 with 1.75% and built-in printer for the smaller business-traveller share at Stansted needing on-the-spot receipts.

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	Revolut Card Reader	0.8% to 1.0% per transaction (depending on subscription tier)	£49 hardware	Subscription-tier dependent (Revolut Business plan)
#3	Square Terminal	1.75% per transaction (UK)	£149 to £199	No contract

FAQs

Is the Stansted Airport taxi customer mix different from Heathrow?

Yes. Stansted is dominated by budget-airline (Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air) leisure traffic so card profile skews to debit and prepaid (not AMEX), fare value is lower (£35 to £75 typical vs £75 to £170 at Heathrow), and Eastern European tourist cards are common.

What is the Stansted Airport taxi departure supplement?

£5.50 in 2026, set by Stansted Airport, applied to fares departing from the airport. Same no-surcharge-for-card rule applies.

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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.