Credit Card Processing for Restaurants

The service business in the US is interesting. We embrace our tipping culture, but we struggle over the amount. Meanwhile, from the business owner’s perspective, receiving payments is a bigger hurdle than ensuring our staff get their ‘good service bonus’. Credit card processing can help, in several key ways. For starters, many restaurant staff earn less than minimum wage, meaning tips literally save lives.

So if you can help your servers work more efficiently, customers are happier, and tips will probably get bigger. Everyone wins! Apart from training your restaurant staff to get orders right, you can prompt them through the payment process faster. This involves three simple things – payment apps, portable credit card terminals, and loyalty programs.

Bringing your customers back

If you launch an attractive loyalty program at your restaurant (and if your food is good), diners will keep showing up. They’ll bring their friends too, so they can rack up more loyalty points.

Work with a payment processor that provides electronic keypads at no extra charge. With the right merchant account, these terminals can verify customers instantly, so their payment process is swift, seamless, and stress-free. It can be even faster via payment apps, which some payment processors offer for free.

Piling up their plates

In many industries, customers who pay by credit spend twice as much. The food and beverage sector is no different. While there’s pleasure in eating (not mention being seen in a nice restaurant and Instagramming all your food), it still hurts to part with those bill folds. Paying by card stings a lot less, so studies show that your guests are more likely to get that extra glass of wine, or indulge in the dessert of the day when paying with a credit card instead of cash.

One thing that might still get tricky is the tip. Fortunately, lots of payment apps come with a tipping option. You could even get suppliers involved in your loyalty program. If restaurant customers visit your wine-seller’s store – for instance – they can buy discounted bottles using your restaurant’s loyalty program, which is linked to their credit card. This widens your loyalty net.

Security for your dining guests

At any one time, there may be hundreds of people bustling around the restaurant. It’s a high-volume business, and everyone is on edge and under pressure. By prioritizing cards over cash, there’s less hard currency on the premises, so everyone feels a whole lot safer.

For more information on credit card processing for restaurants in Santa Barbara, or to sign up for a merchant account, please call (888) 924-2743 or go to Charge.com.