Restaurant Payment Systems: How to Choose the Right Option
What is a restaurant payment system?
It's whatever you use to take money from customers - at the counter, at the table, online or on a kiosk. That usually means card terminals, POS software, a payment gateway for online orders, and the acquirer or processor that actually settles the money into your account.
A good setup keeps the queue moving and means nobody is matching card receipts to orders at the end of the night.
Types of restaurant payment systems
Integrated POS and payments
Payment runs inside the POS, so every transaction is matched to its order automatically. Nobody reconciles two systems by hand, and the end-of-day totals agree because there's only one set of totals.
Flipdish includes payments in its restaurant POS. In-venue, online, kiosk and phone orders all settle through the same system.
Standalone card terminals
A card machine linked to a payment processor that doesn't talk to your ordering system. It's cheaper to start with, but staff key the order into the POS and then key the amount into the card machine again. Smaller, simpler operations tend to use these.
UK providers include SumUp, Zettle, Square and the merchant services arms of the banks.
Online payment gateways
You need one if customers order through your own website or app. The gateway takes the customer's card details and moves the money to your account.
Flipdish online ordering has payment processing built in, so there's no separate gateway to set up.
Pay-at-table
Staff bring a handheld terminal to the table, or the customer scans a QR code and pays on their phone. In a full-service restaurant this turns tables faster, because guests aren't sitting around waiting for the bill.
What restaurant payment systems cost
You're paying for four things:
- Interchange fees - set by the card networks (Visa, Mastercard). You can't negotiate these.
- The acquirer's margin - what the processor adds on top. This one is negotiable if you have the volume.
- Monthly fees for the payment platform or the terminal lease
- Hardware. Card terminals usually cost £150-£500 each.
UK restaurants pay about 1.2% to 1.8% per transaction on consumer cards. Premium, business and international cards cost more.
Online orders are usually charged as a percentage plus a fixed fee, something like 1.4% + 20p per transaction.
What to watch for
- Blended pricing is one flat rate. It's easier to read and often costs more. Interchange-plus shows exactly what you're paying on each card type.
- Some processors lock restaurants into long contracts with termination fees.
- Some charge an annual PCI compliance fee. Ask before you sign.
- Monthly minimums hurt if your card volume is low.
Choosing a payment system: what matters most
| Factor | What to ask |
|---|---|
| POS integration | Does payment reconcile automatically with orders? |
| Transaction rate | What's the effective rate across all card types? |
| Hardware cost | Upfront or lease? Who owns the terminal? |
| Contract terms | Monthly rolling or locked in? |
| Omnichannel | Does the same system handle online, in-venue and kiosk payments? |
| Support | What happens when a terminal goes down in the middle of service? |
Restaurant payments and omnichannel operations
If you take orders in-venue, online, for click-and-collect, on a kiosk and over the phone, a separate payment system for each one means more reconciliation and more places for mistakes to creep in.
Put every channel through one payment system and you get one set of numbers for your accountant and one place to see all your revenue.
Flipdish runs payments from every channel through the same system. An order at the counter, on your website, in your app, at a kiosk or taken by the AI phone agent all settles together.
Flipdish and restaurant payments
Payment processing comes as part of the Flipdish restaurant POS and online ordering platform. You don't need a separate payment gateway or a separate card terminal account, and you don't have to reconcile one system against another.
Order, payment, kitchen and reporting all stay in one system, and there's one vendor to deal with instead of three or four.
If you're running a mix of systems and reporting has become a headache, check whether your payments can move into your POS platform.