Opening a new business takes a ton of work. From the food you’ll serve to the décor to your targeted audience, don’t forget to equip your restaurant with strong payment gateways. Give customers a better experience from the start all the way to the finish.
Photo courtesy of eatOS.
Payment gateways are the go-between between merchants and consumers. They decline or authorize transactions, although they’re not to be confused with payment processors, which facilitate transactions but don’t transfer the information itself.
For top-quality satisfaction, customers need convenience and guaranteed security. Whatever payment gateway you choose, it should be strong enough to protect customer information from hackers and thieves.
How do payment gateways work?
They let your restaurant accept debit or credit cards. Whether it’s a physical card reader or a digital processor for online transactions, payment gateways usually include near-field communication to facilitate up-and-coming processors like Samsung Pay and Google Pay.
To encrypt sensitive information, you’ll need a strong gateway that protects customers and operates seamlessly with the processor. They work together:
Payment gateways read the card information then send it to the merchant’s bank and credit card provider.
The payment switch routes the transaction request to the issuing bank and the card information to the appropriate credit network, looping everybody in.
The issuer runs it through fraud detection and guarantees the customer has enough credit available.
The credit card information transfers back to the merchant bank and payment gateway, successfully completing the transaction.
It sounds complicated, but essentially payment gateways check that the customer has sufficient funds to make the purchase, and send that information to their bank, your bank, and the credit card company to transfer funds. That’s all there is to it.
Rules and Regulations
Since they’re routing so much financial information all around, payment gateways follow rigorous safety standards. That means guaranteeing data encryption and PCI compliance.
Data encryption protects customers’ information so it’s not at risk traveling to the appropriate network. During data transfer, their accounts are most at risk from hackers trying to steal their identity or funds. Payment gateways need to first encrypt the information so it’s difficult to breach.
PCI compliance is necessary to accept, process, and store card information safely. Security protects both the customer and the merchant equally. Guests don’t get their funds stolen by thieves, and restaurants reduce the risk of fraudulent chargebacks by an untrustworthy few.
Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash
Get More Out of Payment Gateways
Every aspect of your business, down the transaction process, should work with your restaurant operations even if they change in the future. Avoid hidden fees and choose a vendor that will support your Point of Sale system, so you can scale your business without having to upgrade to a more expensive payment gateway in the future.
At eatOS, our POS is integrated with superior software to streamline accounting and make it easier to grow your business. Whether you want to open a new location, start offering delivery, or expand your customer base and service floor some other way, eatOS scales with you. Continue offering the best service no matter what. Focus on what you do best, and let eatOS handle the rest.
eatOS offers an all-in-one cloud-based eco-system exclusively for restaurants. From Point of Sale to Contactless Ordering, Pay & Order at Table, Kitchen Display System, Customer Facing Display, Online Ordering APP / Website and Workforce Management there is everything to help a restaurant succeed no matter the size. Click Here to Schedule a demo to learn more about how your restaurant can make a smooth transition into the world of restaurant technology made simple.
