Small tickets deserve real margin protection.
Fast taps, loyalty-ready hardware, and pricing options that fit a $5 latte business.
Percentage pricing eats cafes alive
At a $5 average ticket, 2.9% + $0.30 takes almost 9% of every sale. For a cafe doing 500 transactions a day, that's real money leaving the register every single week. Most coffee shops don't realize how much the percentage model costs them until they see a side-by-side with an alternative. We put in fast contactless hardware, match you to the pricing model that fits your business, and fund the next business day.
The right program for this category
Cash Discount / Dual Pricing (0% processing)
Our first-choice program for this category.
Flat rate if you'd rather not pass the fee
Honest pass-through alternative — no surprise markups.
At a $5 average ticket, flat percentage pricing takes close to 9% of every sale. Cash discount is where the money is. If you'd rather keep the customer experience 100% unchanged, flat rate keeps things simple.
Hardware, POS, and gateway matched to the category
Payment terminals
Clover Flex or Dejavoo QD3 at the counter, Valor VL110 for drive-thru or secondary stations, Valor VP350 for touchscreen-first setups.
Point-of-sale systems
KwickPOS has a dedicated cafe and bakery configuration with loyalty, gift cards, and QR ordering built in. EposNow is a solid alternative for single-location cafes. Clover for owner-operators who want maximum flexibility.
Gateway
NMI for mobile order-ahead and online gift card sales.
Add-ons and integrations
Loyalty program, gift card issuance, mobile order-ahead integration, QR customer ordering, wait list and reservations.
Category-specific safeguards
- Correct MCC 5814 placement
- PCI support included
- EMV and contactless default on every terminal
- Next-day funding on Visa/MC/Discover
Common questions
I already have a Square setup. Can we really save?
Almost always, yes. Square's flat rate is easy to set up but expensive at volume — especially on small tickets. Your specialist will run your last statement against our program so you can see the delta before you change anything.
How does cash discount look to my customers?
Under the compliant surcharge model, there is a small, disclosed surcharge on credit card transactions. Debit and cash are unaffected. Customers see the line item at checkout and on the receipt.
How fast can we switch?
Most cafes are fully migrated in under a week, including porting over loyalty and gift card balances where possible.
Ready for a real quote?
Send your last statement. A specialist returns the math and the program that fits your business — usually the same day.