Card machines for festivals

Take card payments at any festival - portable 4G terminals that handle mud, crowds, and long days.

Common challenges

  • No Wi-Fi at festival sites
  • Need a terminal that survives outdoor conditions
  • Battery must last a full festival day
  • Only trade at a handful of festivals each year
  • High-volume quick-service transactions need speed

Updated:

Recommended solutions

PAX A800

Portable/countertop Android terminal with 5.7-inch touchscreen and Payment & POS functionality. Built-in Wi-Fi & 4G connectivity, along with thermal printing. Includes merchant branding on-screen, an intuitive over-the-phone payment flow, on-board POS features, and is configurable for full POS integration.

  • 5.7-inch HD touchscreen
  • Built-in printer
  • Wi-Fi & 4G
  • Contactless, Chip & Pin, over-the-phone
  • Fast contactless transacting
  • Integrates with its provider's own POS only
  • Android POS and payments
Contract
negotiable

Why festival traders choose uno

Festivals are the ultimate stress test for a card machine - outdoors, no Wi-Fi, thousands of customers, and you need to keep trading from opening to close. We supply terminals that handle it.

Built for the field

4G connectivity, all-day battery life, and hardware that copes with outdoor conditions. Your terminal needs to work in a muddy field as well as it does on a shop counter.

Speed under pressure

Festival queues are relentless. Contactless payments process within 3 seconds - tap, done, next customer. No time wasted.

No year-round contract

If you only trade at festivals a few times a year, you shouldn’t be paying monthly fees the rest of the time. We offer flexible terms for seasonal festival trading.

What you get from uno

  • Portable terminals proven in outdoor conditions
  • 4G connectivity - no venue Wi-Fi dependency
  • Flexible terms for seasonal festival trading
  • Support before, during, and after events

Common questions from festivals owners

We're in a field with no Wi-Fi and limited mobile signal - what are our options?

4G terminal coverage depends on the location. Most UK festival sites have adequate mobile signal - we've set up traders at festivals across the country. For known low-signal sites, we check coverage before you commit. Some festival organisers provide Wi-Fi for traders, but we wouldn't rely on it as the sole connection method.

I'm a festival trader, not a permanent business - can I still get a card machine?

Yes. You don't need a shop or a permanent address to get a card machine. Festival traders, market vendors, and temporary operators are all eligible. uno would recommend a 'no-use, no-fee' basis with no monthly fees as ideal for traders who only work event weekends.

General questions about uno
Which card machine is right for my business?

The right card machine depends on how the business trades. A fine-dining restaurant in Covent Garden, a market trader at Glasgow's Barras and a pub beside Cardiff Arms Park take payments in completely different ways, and no single machine suits all three. uno starts by understanding how a business actually operates, and only then recommends - from a range of providers rather than from one.

Do all the card machines uno recommends take contactless?

Yes, every one of them. Apple Pay, Google Pay and contactless cards are accepted as standard on every machine uno recommends; contactless is how most UK customers now pay, and every machine features it as standard.

Will I be able to take 'over-the-phone' payments?

For most merchants, yes - available on-screen along with contactless and Chip & Pin. The small minority of high-risk business-types that are not offered over-the-phone payments by default are the exception - for the vast majority, 'over-the-phone' payments will be offered as standard.

How can we process refunds?

From the card machine, in a few taps. Refund a sale on the same day and it is cancelled outright, with the money never leaving the customer's account; refund it after the provider's daily cut-off and the customer's bank typically takes 3-5 days to return it. Every machine uno recommends handles both, and the difference is only in how quickly the customer sees the money.

Is PCI compliance as much of a chore as it is with my current provider?

With several of the providers uno works with the merchant does nothing at all, because the provider handles PCI on their behalf; with the others it is a few minutes once a year. Nobody uno works with makes it complicated, and uno tells a merchant which they are getting before anything is signed.

How long does it take to get set up?

Most businesses are up and running within a few days. uno handles the installation and configuration, then walks the merchant and their staff through everything.

Ready to choose the right card machine?

We make the effort to understand how you operate, and only then recommend the solution that's right for your business - not the provider's.

Get Started 07395 451520