A Guide to Canadian Restaurant Payment Methods & Credit Card Processing Solutions

The restaurant business is booming in Canada as home-cooked meals become less of a norm for busy professionals. In 2014, Canadians spent $649.65 on average in a month on eating out and drinking, according to data from Statistics Canada. Since this number is growing as the years go by, it is important that restaurant owners stay on top payment trends, to ensure that their customers are able to conveniently pay with the latest technology in debit and credit card processing. In fact, the food service industry thrives with the aid of several custom designed payment methods for restaurants that to make it easy and efficient for customers to pay.

A recent report from Restaurants Canada indicates that in 2016, Canadian sales will be expected to grow by 3.8% to $62 billion (Restaurant Canada). When comparing provinces, Manitoba and British Columbia should lead the pack in 2016, with estimated growth of 4.3%. In comparison, Newfoundland is estimated to grow by only 1.8%.

Donna Dooher, president and CEO of Restaurants Canada states “Restaurants are a catalyst for the Canadian economy. They’re an important part of every community, they account for more than one million jobs, and they generate billions of dollars in spin-off spending for everything from agriculture to technology. When restaurants thrive, Canada thrives”.

A report conducted by GE Capital found that in 2015, 45% of Canadians were dining outside of their home daily! However, given the sometimes staggering economy, combined with higher costs of living, some restaurants struggled to increase customer counts and make ends meet. A large number of restaurants fail within their first year if they cannot generate popularity quickly enough. Therefore, a key strategy for many restaurant owners across Canada is to focus on attracting Millennials, 18-34 years old. Millennials use of restaurants is higher than other age groups at 30% overall. As well, Millennials were the only age group to increase the number of visits per capita to restaurants in 2014. The average Millennial now eats out of home 235 times a year.

There are several payment methods for restaurants in Canada which specifically cater to restaurants’ needs and boost productivity, most predominately through Pay-at-Table Options, Mobile Payments and Digital Wallets.

Pay-at-Table is essentially paying for your bill at the table with your Credit or Debit card without having to get up to pay at the cash register. The waiter/waitress will bring the wireless POS terminal, such as the flex terminal, to the customer and have them pay where they’re comfortably seated. Paying at table proves to be the most popular option of payment methods for restaurants nowadays in Canada.

Canada was one of the first countries to adopt Pay-at-Table, back in 2010. This EMV technology has allowed for less waiting time for customers, plus higher tips for servers. It cuts down wait time for the customers so they can pay and leave, thus increasing turnover rate. This convenience positively leads to higher customer satisfaction and retention.

Other benefits of Pay-at-Table include reduced chargebacks, because it yields less credit card frauds. Major acquirers have reported that overall chargebacks have been increasing since October 2015. However, payment methods for restaurants like Pay-at-Table utilize the most secure EMV technology, so fraud is difficult to pull off and therefore rare.

Identity theft is most common in the hospitality industry where cards leave the customers’ hands for several minutes. This leads to card skimming by servers who are part of fraud rings that can wear discreet card skimmers on their belt loops to collect data from customers. Payment methods for restaurants like Pay-at-Table eliminate that possibility by keeping cards out of servers’ possession (Pay-at-Table options).

A new consumer report developed by Technology Strategies International revealed that the most rapidly increasing contactless payment method that Canadians are adopting is Mobile. Canadian consumers are now commonly making purchases through their phones at restaurants. In fact, these are the most popular mobile apps used by consumers.

Adoption of Mobile payment is still in its relatively early stages. The survey result demonstrated that almost half respondents did not have a payment app installed on their phone. PayPal was the most installed application, followed by Starbucks.

Apple Pay comes in at the 6 ^th most installed app, with only 5% of the people surveys downloading it. The study finds that by 2020, 90% of Canadians will have Smartphone, and three quarters of those phones will have NFC technology.

The following digital wallets are the most common and sought after by consumers:

MONEXgroup is a Merchant Service provider-based payment processing solution that allows business owners to accept virtually all forms of payment methods for restaurants and help them succeed. MONEXgroup partners with leading acquirers in association with the major card brands and banks, and delivers the benefit of next day deposits. Our online reporting interface allows owners to access their merchant accounts to track their transactions anytime, anywhere. Our fast, reliable and flexible Contactless POS terminals function ideally both in-store and On-the-Go with the “Tap & Go” feature. Being Canada’s leading independent payment processing provider, MONEXgroup’s mission is to provide innovative, cost-effective and stress-free merchant service solutions that include fully-integrated point-of-sale terminals, wireless and E-Commerce payment solutions and technologically advanced Mobile Checkout to restaurant owners nationwide to ensure their business revenue collection is guaranteed as they have a range of payment methods for restaurants to choose from!

When partnering with the number one Canadian merchant services in Canada; MONEXgroup payment processing will increase your efficiency and quality of service and lower the related costs. Request a Cost Comparison Analysis today.