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According to the Nilson report, there were $932.85 billion in outstanding balances on credit cards in 2021. American Express saw the highest outstanding balances per card at $2,153, but had the lowest percentage of delinquencies among accounts that were carrying a balance.

Credit card issuers extend customers a revolving line of credit with which to make purchases. This amount can be drawn upon, paid off, and then used again so long as the account remains open and the credit limit isn’t exceeded.

When it comes to processing payments online, there is no such thing as a free lunch — transaction fees will be assessed. We hope that this guide has given you some understanding of the types of fees you’ll have to pay and the different pricing models used by merchant service providers to charge you for the cost of taking payments online.

It will cost you more for features you might expect to be standard (reservations, customer loyalty, and online ordering to name a few) which can run up your monthly bill. There are fewer integrations available which is a blessing for easily-overwhelmed new business owners but a curse for quickly growing restaurants.

Restaurant POS hardware is a worthwhile investment for an efficient restaurant. These are our recommendations for the best restaurant POS systems along with compatible POS hardware options and pricing.

If your business only takes cash and runs on a small scale, you can probably get away with a traditional cash register or cash box. But with the prevalence of card/contactless payments, we would still recommend a basic card reader and POS system.

Many kinds of businesses fall under the “food service” umbrella, including full-service restaurants, quick-service establishments, bars, and food trucks (or other mobile food operations). Some of these benefits will be better suited to one kind of eatery than another.

Every payment processor you research will have some form of fee you have to pay for every successful transaction. The best POS systems for small businesses offer reasonable flat-rate charges or interchange-plus fees. Small businesses will benefit from flat-rate payment processing, while high-volume businesses should consider interchange-plus processing for the best rates.

You may need a KDS in your restaurant if you offer multiple ordering methods (at the counter or the table, drive-thru order window, online, etc.), currently run into order errors and slow turnaround time because kitchen staff has a hard time deciphering order tickets, have a restaurant with more than one prep station, or want to cut down on your physical paper usage.

Small restaurants and food trucks will likely only need one countertop POS system with basic inventory management, so we recommend a simple POS system setup that meets a smaller budget. These businesses can save money with a free restaurant POS system like Square For Restaurants and affordable Square POS hardware ($59-$799).