How to Make Restaurant Payment Processing Less Painful

How does restaurant credit card processing work?

Whether customers are dining-in at your restaurant or trying to place an order online, they expect a quick and easy way to pay. Most businesses partner with a payment processor to manage their credit, debit, and other digital payments. Payment processors provides merchants with payment terminals and hardware that allow businesses to accept payments.

When customers swipe their card the merchant collects their credit card information via the payment terminal. The payment processor then confirms the validity of the card information before forwarding the card details to the card association. Finally, the card association works with the issuing bank to authorize the payment. After all of those steps have been completed, the restaurant receives the funds from that transaction (minus the fees associated with the transaction).

Most restaurateurs understand the need to accept credit card payments in order to offer the best experience possible to guests. The trouble becomes finding an affordable and flexible solution that can work with your existing POS system and hardware. Not only can the wrong choice of payment provider result in slower service, poor technical support, and technology issues; you may end up paying more than you anticipated thanks to complicated contracts and hidden fees.

How are restaurant transaction fees determined?

How much your restaurant pays in total fees is determined by the payment gateway, credit card processor, credit card association, and the issuing bank, Everything from the size of your business to the number of transactions you plan on processing can drastically impact processing rates.

Most processors offer one of the following pricing models:

• Flat-rate pricing: the credit card processor charges one flat rate for any and all credit card transactions.
• Interchange-plus pricing: the credit card processor charges a fixed markup fee on certain services—on top of the interchange fee.
• Tiered pricing: the credit card processor assesses each transaction and charges fees based on the "type" of transaction that took place. High-risk transactions, such as charges made with corporate cards, high-reward credit cards, and card-not-present transactions are charged higher fees than qualified transactions.

Before you sign on the dotted line—be sure to ask your payment vendor about their pricing models, processing fees, and support options for your payments hardware.

How is Oracle Making Payments Less Painful?

There are many factors to consider between the upfront cost of purchasing new payment hardware, the time investment to switch your system over, and more. That’s why Oracle now offers a fully integrated end-to-end POS solution from front-of-house, kitchen, back office, and payments. With Oracle managing both your POS and your payment solution, you can eliminate the back and forth between vendors.

Transparent pricing and cost certainty

Oracle is removing the guesswork from payments by offering a fixed percentage fee + per transaction fee, with no monthly payments for the service. Oracle customers can add payments to a current Simphony subscription today and access our new simplified, end-to-end payments solution all under a single contract. Our competitive fixed-rate pricing means you never have to worry about how much you’re really paying per payment.

No long-term contracts or cancelation fees

Oracle Payments is available in a flexible pay-as-you-go model that allows customers to try at no risk; meaning you don’t have to sign multi-year contracts to lock in your rate. And while other payment processing providers slap merchants with fees for canceling their contract, you can pause, stop, or cancel your Oracle Payment Cloud Service at any time without incurring a single penalty or cancelation fee.

Fast and secure check-out experience

Oracle Payment Cloud Service supports all major credit card providers and digital payment methods. Our payment acceptance devices fit all of your card present sales channels including counter-top, kiosk, mobile pay, and tablets. As an added layer of security, Oracle Payment Cloud Service is a PCI and DSS compliant solution that ensures the entire payment message is encrypted end-to-end. Oracle Payment Cloud Service acts as a single source for a card transaction all the way from initiation to payout and chargebacks.

Looking Forward with Oracle

Oracle Payment Cloud Service is an affordable addition to your Simphony subscription. Our product experts are excited to work with you on switching to Oracle Payment Cloud Service. Learn more about how Oracle can help.