In order to understand the photo-driven active transport of anions mediated by triaryl cations across an organic liquid membrane, the photochromic properties of the carrier and the interfacial processes were examined. When p-toluenesulfonate was used as a substrate, practically no active transport was observed with bis [4-(di-n-butylamino)phenyl]-4’-methylphenylmethanol, which was ascribed to the slow release of anions into the receiving phase. The use of the more hydrophilic bromide as the substrate greatly increased the rate of transfer into the receiving phase, resulting in an efficient photo-driven active transport of bromide. Use of the more reactive carrier 9 (10H)-bis[4-(di-n-butylamino)phenyl]-10-methylacridin-9-ol also accelerated the rate-limiting release of p-toluenesulfonate, and efficient photo-driven active transport was achieved. The results indicated that photo-driven active transport is tunable by selection of the hydrophilic anions and/or by controlling the stability of the triaryl cations.