Three hot topics in payment processing

As the restaurant and foodservice industry begins to ramp up for some of the busiest months of the year, we also start to look ahead to the upcoming year. That means new technology and ways to accept payments, enhancements to protect these transactions and new payment services to offer customers. 

Payment industry experts anticipate three trends that every restaurateur and foodservice business should know. These three trends offer unprecedented opportunities to grow revenues and improve customer service.

Hot topic #1: Advancements in payment integrations

Across the payment processing industry and with merchants, integration of payment systems is garnering a lot of attention, and with good reason. With more insight into what is being sold, merchants can have more information to help better control inventory, manage cash flow and simplify month-end reporting.

Whether you run a small, counter-service restaurant or large, multi-store operation, integration is critical to ensuring your payment operation is efficient. For example, semi-integrated software solutions connect registers with stand-alone, point-of-sale (POS) terminals to:

• Provide insight into your sales, inventory and ordering needs
• Simplify payments – which means less training for staff
• Facilitate a quick set-up and a solution that can fit within your budget

In 2013, you can also expect “Pay-at-the-Table” solutions to continue to improve with better integration software, sleeker hardware designs and more versatility for restaurants.

Hot topic #2: Increased franchise data security

Franchises are vulnerable to security breaches due to the similarity of their network infrastructures, usernames and passwords among locations. Franchises should consider using secure payment applications to reduce fraudulent activity.   

With data security now a top priority for leading chains and franchises, an increased focus is being placed on end-to-end encryption (E2EE) so cardholder data collected in all steps of the payment process is protected. It is anticipated that large, national brands will begin to implement these solutions to: