Restaurant Payment Systems: A Complete Guide for UK Restaurants
What is a restaurant payment system?
It's the hardware and software you use to take payments and record them: the card terminals on the counter, the payment software that talks to your POS, and the online gateway that charges customers when they order through your website or app.
Taking cards is the easy part. A good setup links to your restaurant POS system so sales reconcile without anyone matching up receipts by hand. It sends the figures to your accounting software and puts online and in-person payments in one place, so you can see what every channel took.
Types of restaurant payment systems
Integrated POS payments
These are card terminals connected directly to your POS system. The order total goes from the till to the terminal on its own. Staff check it and hand over the device. Nobody types the amount in a second time, so there are fewer mistakes and the queue moves faster.
Closing up is easier too. One report covers every transaction from every channel.
Standalone card machines
A standalone machine doesn't talk to your till. It's cheaper to set up, but someone has to key in every amount, the totals don't always match at the end of the night, and working out what came from which channel gets messy.
For a very small operation that might be fine. Anywhere bigger, the staff time, keying errors and gaps in reporting usually cost more than you saved on the machine.
Online payment gateways
The gateway takes payment for online ordering, branded apps and restaurant websites. Customers pay when they order, before the kitchen starts cooking. No failed payments at collection, fewer no-shows, and the money comes in sooner.
Kiosk payments
Self-service kiosks have card terminals built in, so customers order and pay without going through staff. Kiosks usually push up average order value and take pressure off the counter queue.
Payment processing costs for UK restaurants
What you pay depends on the card, how the customer pays and how much you process. Rough ranges:
| Component | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Debit card (consumer, chip & PIN) | 0.2% - 0.5% |
| Credit card (consumer) | 0.5% - 1.5% |
| Corporate or premium cards | 1.0% - 2.5% |
| Card-not-present (online) | 0.6% - 2.5% |
| Terminal rental | £15 - £50 per device/month |
| Payment gateway fee (online) | £20 - £60/month |
Your processor, your card mix and your volume all move these numbers. Higher-volume restaurants can negotiate a blended rate - one rate whatever card the customer uses - which makes costs a lot easier to forecast.
What to watch for in your contract
- PCI DSS compliance fees, which some providers charge separately
- Early termination fees on hardware contracts
- Minimum monthly charges
- Statement fees
- Chargeback fees, usually £10-£25 per dispute
What to look for in a restaurant payment system
Start with POS integration. Nothing else on this list matters as much. If payments don't connect to your POS, staff do extra work and your reports have holes in them. You want the order to go straight to the card terminal so staff just hand it to the customer.
Next, try to keep in-venue and online payments with one provider. Separate providers for your terminals and your online ordering means separate reports that never quite line up. One platform covering POS payments, online ordering payments and kiosk payments gives you one figure for total revenue.
Customers expect chip and PIN, contactless, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Check your provider takes all of them and doesn't charge extra per method.
On pricing, ask for a blended rate - one percentage across all transactions - and compare providers using your own transaction volume and card mix, not their example figures. If you can't work out the effective rate before you sign, don't sign.
Then settlement. Most UK processors pay out next day. Some take two or three business days. If cash flow is tight, those extra days matter.
Restaurant payments in Ireland
Card use in Irish restaurants has kept growing, and most payments are now card or mobile. Processing rates are broadly similar to the UK, though the providers and bank relationships are different.
A few specifics for Irish restaurants:
- PCI DSS compliance applies whatever your transaction volume
- The consumer contactless limit is now €50
- Most Irish merchants take Apple Pay and Google Pay
Flipdish works in both markets and handles payment processing as part of its platform.
How Flipdish handles restaurant payments
Flipdish runs payments for POS, online ordering, mobile apps and kiosks on one platform, so restaurants don't need a separate provider for each channel.
In practice:
- Card terminals connect to the Flipdish POS, so staff don't re-enter amounts
- Orders through Flipdish websites and apps are paid at checkout
- Kiosk transactions show up in the same reports
- Revenue from every channel sits in one dashboard
Groups with several sites get one reconciliation process, one reporting format and one provider to deal with across every location.
Contact Flipdish for a demo of payments across POS, online and kiosks.