This story is also available in Welsh – click here to read it.
Taxi passengers in Swansea will soon be able to pay their fare by credit or cash card in all licensed taxis operating in the city.
At present, many taxis only accept cash payment for fares, making it difficult for those passengers who don’t carry cash, to travel.
From December 2025, new rules approved by Swansea Council’s general licensing committee, mean that newly licensed private hire and hackney taxis must carry card payment facilities.
The new rules for existing taxi licence holders will come into effect when their licence is renewed, meaning some may not be required to comply with the changes until next year.
The card payment plans follow a report published in January 2025, approving the go ahead for a public consultation to find out from taxi operators and from members of the public, asking them if card payment facilities should be mandatory in all taxis.
The plans also follow concerns raised by the public that passengers are at risk of being stranded because they are not carrying cash and rely on more modern payment methods such as Google pay and contactless payment.
A consultation took place in May and June this year and 82% of those who took part agreed that card paying machines should be in all taxis.
Overall, 417 people took part in the consultation with 179 of those being from the taxi industry.
Andrew Williams, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, said: “Many taxi companies and individual taxi owners already use card reader technology as well as giving passengers the ability to pay fares via a smartphone app.
“However, there are still many taxi drivers in the city that only allow payment by cash, and this could put would-be passengers at risk of not being able to pay their fare if they are not carrying cash.
“Our recent public consultation has shown overwhelmingly that passengers want to see modern payment methods being adopted in all licensed taxis operating in the city.”
