Card machines in Ireland: 2026 prices and fees compared

Most guides to card machines in Ireland are written for the UK and quietly swapped into euro. That is why Irish searchers keep getting pointed at Zettle, which you cannot buy here at all.

This page uses Irish pricing only, checked against Irish provider pages on 1 August 2026. Where a provider will not publish a euro figure, it says so rather than filling the gap with a British one.

The honest lie of the land

There are two completely different products being sold under the words “card machine”, and picking the wrong category costs more than picking the wrong brand.

Pay-as-you-go readers. You buy a small device outright for somewhere between €19 and €199, pay a flat percentage on every sale, and owe nothing in a month where you take no cards. SumUp, Square, myPOS and Revolut all work this way. No contract, no credit check worth the name, and you can be trading in a few days.

Merchant accounts with a rented terminal. You sign up with an acquirer — BOIPA, Elavon, AIB Merchant Services, Worldpay, Dojo — and pay a monthly bundle that covers terminal rental plus processing. Rates are lower at volume, but there is a minimum monthly charge, a contract term, and an exit cost. These are the ones that require a phone call and a quote.

The crossover is not where most people expect. Below roughly €5,000 a month in card turnover, the fixed monthly costs of a merchant account usually swamp the percentage saving. Above roughly €7,000 to €10,000 a month, the maths flips.

Card machines in Ireland compared

Device prices exclude VAT. Rates are the headline in-person rate for Irish and EEA consumer cards.

Provider	Cheapest device	Transaction fee	Monthly fee	Contract	Payout
SumUp	€25 (Solo Lite)	1.69%, or 0.95% on Payments Plus	€0, or €19 for Payments Plus	None	Next day, 7am, to SumUp account
Square	€19 (Reader)	1.75% + VAT	€0	None	Next working day
myPOS	€39 (Go 2)	From 1.59% + €0.05	€0	None	Instant to myPOS account
Revolut	€69 (Reader)	0.8% + €0.02 (Business); 1.5% (Pro)	€0 on Pro; from €10 on Business	None	Within 24 hours
Dojo	Rental from ~€15/mo	From 1.3%; typically ~1.4% + €0.05	Rental + €24.95 minimum service charge	6 months under ~€150k/yr	Next day by 10am, 7 days
BOIPA	Included in plan	Included in plan allowance	From €40; €60 covers €4,000 spend	TBC	Next working day
Elavon	€19 (Mobile reader)	0.75%–1% on current offers	€0 terminal for 12 months, then standard; €30 minimum charge	12 months on POS offer	Next day
AIB Merchant Services	Rental from ~€25/mo	Interchange++, roughly 1%–3%	€4 account + ~€15 PCI + rental + software	1–4 years	TBC
Worldpay	Rental, quote only	TBC — no Irish rate card	TBC	18 months (UK terms)	1–3 working days
Zettle (PayPal)	Not sold in Ireland	—	—	—	—

What €5,000 a month actually costs

Take a shop doing €5,000 a month on cards across 200 transactions, averaging €25 each. All Irish consumer cards, no commercial cards, no UK cards.

Provider	Working	Monthly cost
Revolut Business (Basic plan)	0.8% + €0.02 × 200, plus €10 plan	€54
SumUp Payments Plus	0.95% + €19	€66.50
Revolut Pro (sole trader)	1.5% flat	€75
Elavon POS current offer	0.75%, €0 terminal until end 2026	€37.50 now, €60.50 from 2027
SumUp pay-as-you-go	1.69%	€84.50
myPOS	1.59% + €0.05 × 200	€89.50
BOIPA	€8,000 plan needed at this turnover	~€90 all-in
Dojo	~1.4% + €0.05 × 200, plus ~€15 rental	~€95
Square	1.75% + VAT	€107.63 (€87.50 if you reclaim VAT)
AIB Merchant Services	Quote only; fixed costs alone from ~€51.50 before processing	Likely €120+

Three things fall out of that table.

At €5,000 a month, the cheap end is not a merchant account — it is Revolut, then SumUp’s €19 subscription. Elavon’s headline looks unbeatable, but only because the terminal is free until the end of this year.

Square is the only pay-as-you-go provider that explicitly adds VAT on top of its transaction fee on its Irish pricing page. If you are VAT-registered you reclaim it and Square lands mid-table. If you are not, it is the most expensive of the simple options.

The picture changes completely if your customers pay with commercial cards. Revolut charges 2.6% + €0.02 on non-EEA and commercial cards — the same account that was cheapest above becomes the dearest.

Picks by scenario

Cheapest way to start taking cards. Square Reader at €19, or SumUp Solo Lite at €25. Both are outright purchases with no monthly fee and no contract. If you already have a recent iPhone or Android phone, Square, SumUp and Mollie all offer Tap to Pay with no hardware at all — €0 to start.

Lowest fees once you have volume. Revolut Business at 0.8% + €0.02 is the lowest published in-person rate in Ireland, provided your customers use Irish or EEA consumer cards. Above roughly €7,000 a month, get quotes from Dojo, BOIPA and Elavon and compare against it properly, including the minimum monthly charge.

A café or a counter. Square, if you want the till software, table service and stock tracking to come from the same place as the card machine. BOIPA or Elavon if you would rather one fixed monthly number and a next-working-day payout into your existing business bank account. Dojo suits a genuinely busy site — its next-day payout lands by 10am seven days a week, which matters if you trade weekends.

Mobile trades. SumUp Solo at €79 has a built-in SIM with free mobile data, so it works without tethering to your phone or finding a customer’s wifi. myPOS Go 2 at €39 is cheaper and also has built-in connectivity, but the money lands in a myPOS account and costs extra to move to your bank.

If you already use Revolut. The Revolut Reader at €69 pays for itself quickly at 0.8%, and settlement into the account you already look at every day removes a step. Check which Business plan tier is required for the 0.8% rate before you buy — plans start at €10 a month.

What to watch in a contract

The advertised rate is rarely the whole bill. Before you sign anything with a term attached, get these in writing.

Minimum monthly service charge. Dojo’s is €24.95. Elavon’s Multichannel offer carries a €30 minimum merchant service charge. AIB Merchant Services is reported at around €30. This is the amount you pay in a month where you take almost nothing — the single biggest reason a merchant account beats a reader on paper and loses in practice for a seasonal business.

PCI compliance fees. BOIPA states it charges no PCI fee. AIB Merchant Services is reported at €15 a month, rising to €25 if you fail to certify. Dojo includes PCI at no extra charge. Ask, because it is €180 to €300 a year.

Terminal rental after the offer ends. Elavon’s current Irish campaigns give €0 monthly terminal fee for 12 months, or until the end of 2026 on the POS offer, then €23 a month. The Multichannel offer reverts to “the standard rate available at that time” — a phrase that means nothing until you get the number.

Contract length and early exit. AIB Merchant Services runs 1 to 4 years, with early termination charged as the remaining months. Dojo is 6 months under about €150,000 annual card turnover. Worldpay’s published UK card machine plans run 18 months; its Irish terms are not published.

Software subscriptions. A Clover terminal from AIB Merchant Services carries a separate software charge of €59.99 a month per device, plus €24.99 for each additional device. That is not the terminal rental — it is on top of it.

Providers that do not serve Ireland

Zettle (PayPal) is not available to Republic of Ireland businesses. PayPal’s Irish business site offers online payments, payment links, invoicing and a business debit card — there is no in-person card reader. Zettle is also absent from the list of providers offering Tap to Pay in Ireland. UK comparison sites recommend it to Irish readers constantly; the prices they quote are in sterling and you cannot buy the product here. If a Zettle recommendation is what brought you to this page, SumUp and Square are the closest equivalents on price and simplicity.

Dojo does serve Ireland, despite lingering confusion. It trades as Paymentsense Ireland Limited and was granted an e-money licence by the Central Bank of Ireland in November 2023. What it does not do is publish a euro rate card, so treat every Dojo figure as indicative until it is in your own written quote.

Worldpay serves Ireland but has no Irish website. Irish enquiries go through a sales rep on 1800 24 26 36. Nothing about Irish pricing is public.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a business bank account to take card payments?

Not always. SumUp, Square and myPOS will settle into their own accounts and pay out from there, and Revolut settles into your Revolut account. Merchant accounts from BOIPA, Elavon, AIB Merchant Services and Worldpay generally do expect a business current account in the trading name, and you will need your tax reference number and proof of identity either way. Sole traders can use Revolut Pro without a separate business account.

Can I use my phone as a card machine in Ireland?

Yes. Tap to Pay on iPhone works in Ireland and is offered by SumUp, Square, Revolut, Stripe, Adyen, Mollie and BOI Payment Acceptance. Your customer taps their card, phone or watch against your iPhone — no reader needed. On Android, Square, SumUp, Mollie and myPOS offer it out of the box. Square, SumUp and Mollie are the only three that support both platforms without custom development. The fee is the same as the provider’s normal in-person rate, except on Revolut, where Tap to Pay on iPhone adds around €0.08 per transaction.

Are card machine fees tax-deductible in Ireland?

Yes. Merchant service charges, terminal rental and card processing fees are allowable business expenses, on the same basis as bank and credit card charges, provided they are incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade. Keep the monthly merchant statements — that is what Revenue will want to see. If you are VAT-registered, Square’s VAT-on-fees is reclaimable in the normal way. This is general information, not tax advice; check with your accountant on your own circumstances.

How fast do I get paid?

Faster than most people expect, but read where the money lands. myPOS credits your myPOS account effectively instantly. Revolut pays into your Revolut account within 24 hours. SumUp pays into a SumUp Business Account next day at 7am including weekends, but takes 1 to 2 working days to reach an external bank. Dojo pays by 10am the next day, seven days a week. Square, BOIPA and Elavon settle the next working day into your own bank — which means a Friday sale arrives Monday. Worldpay is 1 to 3 working days. AIB Merchant Services does not publish a settlement time.

Which is cheapest overall?

Under about €5,000 a month, Revolut Business or SumUp’s €19 Payments Plus plan. Well above that, get written quotes from Dojo, BOIPA and Elavon and compare total monthly cost rather than headline rate. For occasional selling, SumUp or Square pay-as-you-go — a quiet month costs nothing.