With the rise of card and contactless payments, getting a payment terminal is now a requirement for all brick-and-mortar businesses in Ireland.

Choosing a card reader goes way beyond accepting payment. The right payment terminal will help you not only get paid seamlessly, but also offer the best experience to your customers, and operate most efficiently.

As there are more and more payment solutions in the market, it can be hard to find the perfect match for your business. Mobile Terminal has compared and selected the best payment terminals, to help you choose based on your specific needs and company profile. 

Here is an overview of our favorite terminals 👇

⭐️ Best Pocket Device	⭐️ Best Complete Card Reader	⭐️ Best Fixed POS
SumUp Air	Yavin Terminal	Clover Mini

For starting businesses (<€4,000 monthly turnover):

• The SumUp Solo is our favorite if you need a compact standalone device.
• The Square Reader will fit the countertop of your starting shop.

For traditional businesses (>€4,000 monthly turnover): restaurant, hairdresser, shop, services, etc.

• The Yavin Terminal will help you get paid with low rates and no commitment.
• AIB Merchant Services will provide you with the Clover Mini ePoS for your countertop.

For omnichannel businesses, selling both online and in-store:

• The Shopify WisePad 3 Reader will be the best solution if you already have a Shopify online store.
• The Elavon Poynt P5 will enable you to monitor all your payments on one single platform.

Best Card Readers for Starting Businesses in Ireland

Getting a payment terminal is a prerequisite for any starting brick-and-mortar business. If you make less than €4,000 in card payment per month with unpredictable cash flows, you might want to go for a pay-as-you-earn offer, with an affordable reader and no commitment.

In addition to the cost of the reader and transaction fees, you should also consider the business solutions included with your reader, such as PoS software, invoices, etc. Some providers can offer you an all-in-one solution for your business, to get you fully equipped from day one.

There are currently numerous in-store payment solutions in Ireland for starting businesses, with several card reader models and features. We have selected our favorite solutions to help you kick-off your company.

SumUp Solo: The Best Pocket Device for Mobile Businesses

👉 What makes the SumUp Solo our favorite choice
✅ Compact and intuitive interface
✅ User-friendly with its large touchscreen
✅ Operates autonomously in 3G (no smartphone required)

As a starting business, you might have limited space for operations, or need to carry around your card reader in your pocket. The London-based company SumUp has come up with the smartest compact card machine: the SumUp Solo.

Available for purchase at €79 + VAT on SumUp’s website, the SumUp Solo is an elegant square device equipped with a large touchscreen. With its integrated 3G SIM card and long battery life, it enables you to accept all payments in full autonomy, via tap or insert. It comes with great built-in features like smart tips.

🏷️ Get started with the SumUp Solo now

Once you have bought the device, you will simply be charged 1.69% for each transaction with no fixed fee, and will have access to the whole compatible SumUp ecosystem, including PoS software, e-commerce website, and even a business account.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! Due to its compact size, the SumUp Solo does not have a printer, but enables you to send client receipts directly over email or SMS.

Square Terminal: The Best Terminal for Your Starting Business’ Countertop

👉 What makes the Square Terminal our favorite choice
✅ Sleek designs and large touchscreen
✅ Free PoS software directly on the terminal
✅ Integrated printer

If you are starting a coffee shop, small restaurant, or retail business, you might want to get a fully professional-looking device for your countertop. US-based fintech company Square has designed a most complete payment terminal for your starting businesses: the Square Terminal.

You can get your Square Terminal online for €169 + VAT. The device is an elegant white modern terminal, with a large touchscreen and integrated printer for receipts. Its intuitive interface will help you get paid seamlessly via tap or insert, and provide a seamless payment experience to your customers.

🏷️ Get started with the Square Terminal now

After buying your Square device, you will simply be charged 1.75% per transaction, regardless of the payment method used. The terminal comes with an amazing built-in PoS app with specialized features for retailers and restaurants.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! As the Square Terminal is meant for countertop payment, it does not include a mobile SIM card, but offers WiFi connectivity and an Ethernet port.

Best Card Readers for Established Businesses in Ireland

As an established business, making about €4,000 or more, you can either get an in-store payment solution from your bank, or get equipped with more innovative solutions from specialized fintech companies.

Most traditional card reader solutions will lack two key needs of modern-day businesses: modernity and flexibility. But new solutions are making it easier than ever before to get paid with no hassle.

We have compared the most popular in-store payment solutions for street-side businesses, and selected our favorite devices to help your business grow as it becomes more successful.

Yavin Terminal: The Best Terminal for Established Businesses Seeking Flexibility and Modernity

👉 What makes the Yavin Terminal our favorite choice
✅ Competitive rates with no commitment
✅ Sleek mobile Android terminal with printer & 4G SIM card
✅ Integrated with leading PoS solutions

🎉 Get 50% off your Yavin Terminal now with the code 'MOBILE22'

If you run a hospitality business, work in the services industry, or are a shop owner, you might want to get a simple and flexible payment method for your business. The European-fintech Yavin has created a modern terminal offer that helps you get paid with low rates and no commitment: the Yavin Terminal.

You can buy your Yavin Terminal directly from the Yavin website by filling out a form to get in contact with them as their pricing is personalized. The terminal is a sleek black Android device, equipped with a large touchscreen and an integrated printer. It also features a 4G SIM card to help you accept payment anywhere.

🏷️ Get started with the Yavin Terminal now

Once you have bought your device, you will be charged a service fee for all Yavin features, which varies depending on your business situation, and around 0.6% per transaction, enabling you to pay on average less than 1% in fees on average. The Terminal comes with several great built-in features like tipping, customer reviews, and business analytics.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! The Yavin Terminal is fully no commitment: if you do not use your terminal, you do not pay anything. This will be most useful when taking a holiday or are closed for maintenance.

Clover Mini: The Best POS Terminal for Your Countertop

👉 What makes the Clover Mini our favorite choice
✅ Large touchscreen and intuitive interface
✅ Integrated Clover PoS software
✅ Ecosystem of compatible hardware (cash drawer, printer, scanner, etc.)

If you need a fixed payment terminal for your countertop, most providers will offer you a traditional payment terminal connected to a tablet running your PoS software. Now, Clover has come up with a single device that combines a large PoS screen with a card reader: the Clover Mini.

Clover products are exclusively distributed in Ireland by AIB Merchant Services, meaning you will have to open an AIBMS account before getting the Clover Mini. The device can be bought for about €500+VAT, or leased at about €20+VAT per month.

🏷️ Get started with the Clover Mini (AIBMS) now

Transaction rates and monthly fees will be negotiated directly with AIMBS based on your business situation and the features you have chosen, including the Clover PoS that runs on your device for inventories, employee shifts, payments etc.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! AIBMS teams are quite reactive, and can provide you with a custom quote within 24 hours.

Best Payment Solutions for Omnichannel Business

With the rise of ecommerce, the boundaries between in-store and online payments have been fading, as businesses seek to offer a consistent customer experience across all sales channels. Some payment solutions were specifically designed to serve multichannel businesses who operate in an integrated way.

If you sell both online and in-store, you will have to choose between 2 scenarios:

• go for best-of-breed solutions, meaning you will be using different solutions in-store and online, that may - or may not - be integrated;
• choose a single complete solution to manage both online and in-store payments, to operate your omnichannel business from a single platform.

We have tried out the best complete solutions from the latter scenario, to help you find an all-in-one payment solution to manage in-store and online transactions.

The Shopify Wisepad 3 Reader: The Best Terminal for Shopify Merchants

👉 What makes the Shopify Wisepad 3 Reader our favorite choice
✅ Pre-included in your Shopify subscription
✅ Monitor all in-store and online payments from your Shopify account
✅ Fully integrated omnichannel PoS

Shopify websites today represent more than 1 in 5 ecommerce websites worldwide! As more and more online businesses have developed their physical presence, Shopify has created their own in-store payment terminal solution: the Wisepad 3 Reader.

You can get your Shopify reader for €59 + VAT on Shopify’s website. It is a small calculator-like device that connects to your mobile phone. Although the reader is quite basic, the true added value lies in Shopify’s PoS app, that enables you to manage physical and online sales in a fully integrated way.

🏷️ Get started with the Shopify Wisepad 3 Reader now

The Shopify reader follows a pay-as-you-earn pricing model. Transaction rates will depend on your monthly Shopify subscription plan, ranging from 1.7% for the Basic plan to 1.5% for Shopify’s Aplan. There is no commitment, making it a very flexible solution for small businesses.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! Although the Shopify PoS app can run on any smartphone or tablet, the Wisepad 3 Reader is only compatible with Apple devices running iOS 12 or higher.

The Poynt P5: The Best Reader for Large Omnichannel Businesses

👉 What makes the Poynt P5 our favorite choice
✅ Sleek Android terminal with a large touchscreen
✅ Virtual terminals included for online sales
✅ Monitor in-store and online payments from your Elavon account

As an established omnichannel business, you might want to get a single payment provider for your online and in-store activities, with no compromise on the quality of terminals. The US-leading payment facilitator Elavon has come up with a modern terminal solution connected to their payment platform: the Poynt P5.

The Poynt P5 can be rented for about €25 per month, you simply have to ask for a quote on Elavon’s Irish website. It is a sleek modern Android terminal with a large touchscreen. It also comes with virtual terminals, included in Elavon’s offer, so you can sell online seamlessly.

🏷️ Get started with the Poynt P5 now

Transaction rates for in-store and online payments will be negotiated directly with Elavon, and will depend on the size and specifics of your business. In addition, Elavon also offers their own PoS solution so you can operate seamlessly.

❤️‍🔥 Check out our full review here!

🔎 Good to know! If you want to run your PoS software directly on your terminal, you might be interested in the Poynt P61, a larger version of the P5, that comes with an integrated printer.

⭐️ Best Pocket Device	⭐️ Best Complete Card Reader	⭐️ Best Fixed POS
SumUp Air	Yavin Terminal	Clover Mini

Thank you for reading our article about choosing the best payment terminal for your business in Ireland. We hope this will help you make a fully informed decision.

Please visit MobileTerminal.org for more in-depth card reader reviews, to help you find the best fit for your business 🚀

📺 You can also take a look at our YouTube channel.