I'm curious what POS systems you use! After reviewing our 2022 expenses and seeing how much we're paying in merchant fees for our Clover system, I'm considering making a switch.
Are there any POS systems for bars specifically that actually have low CC fees?
Thank you!
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Comments (1-10)
Have you look into Square or HoneyBook? Stripe is also a good option. Let me know if you need some more suggestions. My clients use several different POS platforms and it depends on your business structure. Some are better than others for what you are trying to do.
If you're worried about fees, I would recommend looking into Cash Discounting. This is where the customer assumes the processing fee. Post-Covid this has become the norm for many businesses. It also allows you to use your processing as an asset, helping fund capital investments in your business, rather than another cost center. I own a POS business servicing Retail and Restaurants, most of my customers have switched over and not a single one has reported complaints from customers. The biggest complaints come from preset tipping amounts, not 'service fees'. I don't know that Clover offers Cash Discounting, so you might have to seek out alternative systems or processors if you want to take advantage of this.
Connect and we can chat about Heartland options. We are endorsed by the National Restaurant Association.
Cc fees should be negotiated as interchange plus......Call your pos company and fight for it
Sophie, I have been in this business for many years (selling POS systems and merchant services), I even sell Clover now along with many others. Unfortunately, whomever you purchased your Clover system from is directly connected to their processor and you would have to change systems to change processors unless you wanted to use that POS system and a side terminal. There are many POS systems that are agnostic and allow you to choose your processor. Most of the fees you are paying are going directly to the card brands (Visa, MC, etc), or at least that's how it should be. I'd be happy to connect with you if you would like to discuss this further. No obligation, just information.
SpotOn is the company to look at.. Truly support businesses and don't have contracts!
If you are a bar, I would look at systems that manage tabs better so that you are not getting hit with multiple transactions during a single visit.
I really like POS systems like Toast & Lightspeed for how intuitive they are plus they have a lot of third party integrations that let you customize your experience.
Even with Clover, I am wondering if you are just getting hit with a lot of swipe fees versus actually having a high percentage.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse...
I would recommend Toast, it's a great POS system
This is an interesting discussion. It would be worthwhile to consider the hidden benefits of each system that are not immediately understood when just looking at CC transaction fees alone.
Example: how important are the additional features provided by Clover, and are you using all of them ?
According to this Forbes article, switching to Square (or other) would save you some money, but there's a trade off in terms of overall capabilities. If you're not using all of the features from Clover then it makes sense to migrate to an alternative.
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/softwar...
+1 to the other comments mentioning cash discounting and managing tabs differently.