Choosing a payment processor is an essential step for your business – we have the resources to help. Learn about debit and credit card processing here, and use this guide to choose which payment processing solution is right for your restaurant.

Toast Payments
CDGCommerce
Stripe
Stax
National Processing
Dharma
Payline Data
CreditCardProcessing.com
Flagship Merchant Services
Venmo for Business

Resource

The Restaurant Balance Sheet Template

This template will help you forecast short and long-term cash flow and assess the overall financial health of your restaurant.

Choosing the Best Restaurant Payment Processor

Before you dive into the pros and cons of each restaurant payment processor, it’s good to consider what payment solutions your business will need. Use this checklist to get an idea of what kind of payment processor is right for your restaurant.

Checklist:

Rates - some companies’ rates reward lots of business while others are built to scale with you. There are two kinds of rates to be aware of: Interchange rates, which are determined by card-issuing banks, and flat rates. Flat rate payment processing is often better for small restaurants that might take a loss on high interchange rates. Similarly, variable interchange rates offer an advantage to high-volume businesses.
Equipment - consider the kind and quality of the card reader equipment. Do you want your servers to be able to accept payments tableside? Are they durable enough to withstand constant use?
Types of payments - debit and credit cards come in many forms, such as smartphone wallets, chip cards, and more.

Contract terms - most payment processors will require you to contract their services for two years or more, but some are more flexible.

Customer support - choose a payment processor with robust customer support. You’ll want to know that if anything goes wrong you’ll be able to get assistance and take payments again ASAP.

PCI security compliance - security is a must when processing payments online. Payment processing must comply with the level of PCI compliance required for the number of transactions they process each year.

Toast Payments

Toast Payments integrates with the range of Toast POS and restaurant management solutions for hassle-free credit and debit card processing.

Pros:

All in one POS, restaurant management, delivery, and payment processing.
Durable card reader equipment made by and for restaurant people who understand the needs of restaurants.
24/7 customer service on the range of Toast solutions.
Low, flat-rate processing fees.
Take credit, debit, and mobile payments at a POS or tableside with handheld card readers.
Secure, fast payment processing for your peace of mind.
Transparent pricing and rates so that you’re never surprised by your margins.

Pricing

Toast offers two rate options, both with 2-year contract terms:

Pay as you go with no monthly fees, a flat rate of 2.99% + $0.15, which includes a free starter kit.
The Standard package is $69/month, a flat rate of 2.49% + $0.15. The starter kit is $799.
CDGCommerce

CDGCommerce is an enterprise payment processing solution that serves a range of retail and food service businesses.

Pros:

Multiple rate structures that work for different size restaurants.
24/7 customer service to help you keep business flowing.
No cancellation fees if you need to end the contract.
In-person, online, and mobile payment options.

Cons:

Additional fees for American Express with the Flat Rate plan.
Expensive equipment insurance on payment terminals.

Pricing

CDGCommerce offers flat rate pricing at 2.75% + $0.30 for restaurants that process $1,000-$10,000/month in payments.

For restaurants that process $10,000+/month in payments, the rate is interchange + 0.25% + $0.10. The rate for restaurants that process $200,000+/month in payments is interchange + $0.10.

Stax

Stax is a flexible payment processing solution that works with a long list of high-profile partnerships.

Pros:

Same-day funding options give you access to funds faster.
24/7 customer service and resource database.
Stored and subscription payments provide options for additional revenue streams.
Take card, chip, and mobile payments with Stax terminals.

Cons:

The account approval process for Stax can be detailed and lengthy.
Stax pricing is not a great solution for small, lower-volume restaurants.

Pricing

Stax offers pricing packages with monthly fees from $99 to $199, but partners pay only interchange rates on direct-cost payments.

National Processing

National processing is an enterprise payment processor with a special focus on restaurants and hospitality.

Pros:

National Processing offers restaurants a special rate that is lower than average.
Mitigate the risk with no long-term contracts.
Get started with free hardware.

Cons:

Expensive cancellation and termination fees make it a risky investment.
Hidden software fees offset the savings from free hardware.

Pricing

National Processing’s special rate for restaurants is:

Interchange + 0.14% + $0.07 per transaction.
$9.95 monthly fee.

Dharma

Dharma is a reliable, mid-market payment processing option utilized by some popular restaurant chains.

Pros:

As sales increase, your rates with Dharma decrease, so rates scale with your business.
Next-day funding options are available.

Cons:

The application process for Dharma can be lengthy.
Lack of 24/7 customer support can leave you without payment processing.
A weak platform for mobile payments and no ability to process offline payments.
Higher rates for American Express.

Pricing

Dharma charges partners a monthly fee of $25, and the rate for in-person transactions are Interchange + 0.15% + 8 cents.

Payline Data

Payline Data offers flexible and reliable payment processing with interchange-plus pricing that is great for mid-sized businesses.

Pros:

No long-term contracts or agreements.
Free terminal equipment to help you get started quickly.
Transparent pricing structure and no cancellation fees.

Cons:

Limited tools to help you manage your restaurant’s sales.
Higher rates than competitors.
The lack of 24/7 customer support might leave your restaurant in the dark.

Pricing

The monthly fee for Payline Data is $10 for in-person transitions and $20 for online payments. The rate for in-person transactions is Interchange + 0.20% + 10 cents, with a $25 chargeback fee.

Products

Simple Credit Card Processing

Manage your money, your way, with transparent and secure payments processing.

Stripe

Stripe is a payment processing solution that was built for the digital age with terminals for your restaurants.

Pros:

Battery-powered portable payment hardware lets you take payments anywhere.
Transparent documentation provides insight into all of Stripe’s operations.
Flat rates are great for small businesses.
A robust network of customer support and resources.

Cons:

Stripe is meant to be customized, and can be overwhelming for non-developers.
In-person payment processing is not the focus of the company – designed for online payment processing.

Pricing

Each card reader from stripe is $59 and the flat-rate for in-person transitions is 2.7% + $0.05.

Custom pricing is available for larger companies or unique business models.

CreditCardProcessing.com

CreditCardProcessing.com offers some of the lowest pricing with flexible packages.

Pros:

Lots of flexible interchange pricing packages for small businesses.
Level 1 PCI compliance ensures secure payments.
Terminals that let you take in-person card payments.
Rates decrease as your volume increases.

Cons:

The lack of 24/7 customer support.
Hidden fees for cancellations, hardware, and software.

Pricing

Pricing from CreditCardProcessing.com is $15-$249 per month and the rate is Interchange + $.30-$.05 depending on volume.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot by Stax offers low fees and a membership-based pricing model that scales with your business.

Pros:

Free equipment options and no contract requirements to help you get started.
Transparent interchange pricing with low transaction fees.

Cons:

High interchange rates aren’t great for low-volume restaurants.
Hidden pricing for hardware.

Pricing

Monthly fees for Payment Depot are $59 to $99 and the in-person transaction fee is Interchange + $.08.

Venmo for Business

Venmo for Business lets you upgrade your Venmo profile with advanced features for their online payment platform.

Pros:

Great for cottage industries, pop-ups, and other low-volume businesses.
Let anyone pay you and send payments from your business using the Venmo app.

Cons:

Customers must use the Venmo app.
Processing fees to access your funds quickly.
Venmo for Business cannot process in-person payments.

Pricing

It’s free to send payments and store money with Venmo, but sending funds instantly comes with a 1.75% fee of up to $25. And, Venmo limits how much money you can transfer at a time.

Best Overall Payment Processor for Restaurants

Toast payment processing is the best overall payment processor for restaurants because it provides seamless integration with all of your restaurants' other technology solutions. With low flat rates and secure transactions, Toast protects your assets so that you can pay attention to growing your business.

Toast even takes payments when your terminal is having trouble connecting to the internet. And the world-class customer service team uniquely has insights into all of your restaurant management tools, so that diagnosing issues is streamlined.

Take the stress out of processing credit, debit, and mobile payments in your restaurant when you process payments directly through Toast.