Integrated or non-integrated card payments: what’s best for your hospitality business?
Card and contactless payments now account for more than 9 of every 10 transactions in UK bars and restaurants*. A smooth payment process is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s fundamental to how your venue runs. As an operator, you essentially have two options: integrated or non-integrated payments. This guide breaks down what each means, where each works best, and what to consider beyond the headline costs.
What does ‘integrated payments’ mean?
Integrated payments are when your hospitality EPOS links directly to the card terminal. When a transaction is ready for payment, staff press a button on the till screen to automatically send the sale amount to the card terminal with no manual input required.
With non-integrated payments, staff need to manually input the sale amount from the till into the card terminal. A small extra step, but the method you choose has wider impacts on your business.
What are the benefits of integrated payments vs non-integrated payments?
The type of payment system your venue uses affects both front-of-house service and back-of-house management. The table below shows how factors such as speed, accuracy and customer experience could look different at your venue.
| Factor | Integrated payments | Non-integrated payments |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Amounts sent to the terminal automatically – every transaction is a few seconds faster | Staff manually rekey the amount – adds seconds per transaction that stack up during busy periods |
| Error risk | No manual rekeying means no keying errors (assuming correct items entered on EPOS) | Manual entry under pressure increases the chance of incorrect charges |
| End-of-shift admin | Sales reconcile automatically — no need to cross-check till and card machine reports | Z-reports from tills and card machines must be reconciled manually, transaction by transaction |
| Security | Staff cannot manually enter amounts; better PCI compliance built in | Manual rekeying creates opportunities for staff to enter different amounts; PCI compliance gaps possible |
| Customer experience | Seamless payment options, whether it’s table-side, QR codes, bill splitting, instant tipping | Non-standard terminal transactions can be clunkier |
| Provider choice | Limited to providers your EPOS integrates with | Freedom to choose any payment provider |
| Contract flexibility | Some providers require 12-24 month contracts (but at Tabology we offer a rolling, pay-as-you-go relationship) | Typically no long-term contract commitment |
| Best suited to | Most hospitality businesses, especially those with moderate-to-high transaction volumes | Low-volume venues, seasonal businesses, or where card payments are not the primary method |
Which payment system is right for your hospitality venue?
You can run a successful, efficient hospitality business with either integrated or non-integrated payments. While non-integrated payments give you more flexibility to find cheaper rates and flexible contracts, many hospitality businesses opt for integrated payments for the speed-of-service, time-saving and security benefits.
Ali Rees, Co-Founder and Commercial Director of Tabology, has helped hundreds of hospitality businesses with their integrated payment solutions. He says:
“When payments are not properly integrated, venue owners can lose trust in the numbers. Small mismatches creep in, refunds need explaining, and hours get spent reconciling what should already be right. That admin time has a real cost, even if it never shows up as a line item on your P & L. Integrated payments close those gaps. Every sale, refund, and tip is captured automatically in one place, removing unnecessary admin.”
Customer expectations around service speed and accuracy are rising too. If slow card transactions mean they have to wait longer for their drinks, or they find they’ve been overcharged because of a keying error, they might decide a return visit is just not worth it.
There is also a bigger picture to consider…
Should you think about integration beyond payments?
The payment decision rarely sits in isolation, and operators who treat it that way can end up paying more than they expected. The question is not simply ‘which type of payment system should I use?’, but ‘how will this payment system fit within my overall tech setup?’
For example, some providers might offer you a POS and payments package at an attractive headline price. But does that package include all of the tech systems and features you’ll actually need?
If key tools such as reporting, stock management, bookings, staff scheduling, mobile ordering and loyalty are only available as paid add-ons, or you need to subscribe to additional platforms, the real cost could be much higher. And staff juggling three, four or five separate platforms brings friction into your workflows and service.
A future-proof approach is to look for the highest levels of integration – not just within integrated payments, but across your entire tech ecosystem.
Ready to find the right payment solution for your venue?
Understanding which payment setup is right for your venue is part of a bigger picture — how your EPOS, payments, and wider tech stack work together. If you'd like to explore your options, our team is happy to talk through what makes sense for your business, book a consultation.
It’s also worth getting to grips with how card processing fees actually work, as the costs aren’t always where you’d expect them. Here’s our guide to how card processing fees work.
*The Morning Advertiser, 2022,
https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2022/09/08/9-in-10-choose-card-over-cash-at-hospitality-venues/
