Restaurants and food brands
Low cost credit card processing for restaurants that take orders online
Restaurants can get low cost credit card processing on online orders through Avendo, which routes each e-commerce transaction to the connected processor offering the best available rate. Avendo does not bill the restaurant; its 10 cent per transaction service fee is paid by the processor. Avendo handles online payments only, so in-person terminal sales stay with a POS for now.
Last updated: November 2026
How can a restaurant lower credit card processing fees on online orders?
Make processors compete for each order instead of accepting one fixed rate. With Avendo, every online order, catering deposit, or gift card sale is priced by the eligible processors connected to the restaurant's account, and the best available offer handles it. The next order goes through the same comparison.
Which restaurant payments can Avendo route today?
| Payment | Type | Avendo today |
|---|---|---|
| Online ordering on your own website | Card not present | Supported |
| Catering deposits paid online | Card not present | Supported |
| Gift cards sold online | Card not present | Supported |
| Ordering storefronts built on Square, Shopify, Wix, or GoDaddy | Platform | Not yet supported |
| Dine-in or counter payments on a terminal | Card present | Not yet supported |
Online ordering for pickup and delivery
Orders placed through the restaurant's own website checkout are e-commerce transactions Avendo can route.
Catering deposits and balances
Deposits and final payments for events and office catering, paid online.
Online gift card sales
Gift cards sold on the restaurant's website, a common spike around the holidays.
Specialty food and sauce brands
Packaged products, sauces, and baked goods shipped directly to customers.
Meal plans and subscription boxes
Recurring online charges for meal prep plans or monthly boxes, which fit Avendo's online subscription category.
What is low cost credit card processing for restaurants?
Low cost credit card processing for restaurants means paying as little as possible, per transaction, to move a guest's card payment into the restaurant's bank account. Every card payment carries interchange set by the card networks, assessment fees, and a processor markup. Avendo cannot change interchange, but it can choose which processor's offer applies. For a restaurant's online channel, each order from its website, each catering deposit, and each gift card sold online is routed to whichever connected processor offers the best available rate at that moment. The restaurant sees how each transaction was priced in the Avendo dashboard, and Avendo never invoices the restaurant for any of it.
Restaurants and food brands: the numbers
- $0
- Billed to the merchant by Avendo. No invoices, monthly charges, or platform fees.
- 10¢
- Avendo Services Fee per transaction, paid by the processor, not the merchant.
- 10 min
- Estimated time to complete the single Avendo application.
- 1.5% to 3.5%
- Typical processing cost per transaction for businesses, per (NerdWallet: Credit Card Processing Fees, A 2026 Guide)
- $3,000 a year
- Cost of a 0.5 point rate difference at $50,000 a month in card sales, per (American Metro: How to Reduce Credit Card Processing Fees in 2026)
Avendo figures come from Avendo's published pricing and application pages. Market figures are attributed to their sources and are not Avendo's numbers.
Why do restaurant card fees feel so high?
Restaurant margins are thin, so the processing line on a statement matters more than in most businesses. Online orders are card-not-present transactions, which generally cost more to process than tapped or dipped cards. And once a restaurant signs with one processor, nothing pushes that rate down again.
Avendo's food and beverage materials focus on that last problem: clear pricing across multiple trusted providers instead of confusing statements or sudden rate changes. For a restaurant, the practical effect is that its online sales are no longer tied to a single processor's price list, and every order is a fresh comparison.
Sources: NerdWallet: Credit Card Processing Fees, A 2026 Guide; American Metro: How to Reduce Credit Card Processing Fees in 2026
How does a business get set up with Avendo?
Confirm your payments are online
Avendo handles e-commerce transactions only. Check that your checkout is a custom cart, or ask about WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or Magento.
Gather your documents
SSN, EIN, or ITIN; a voided check or bank letter; three months of processing statements (or bank statements); business details; and a government-issued ID.
Complete one application
Avendo collects everything in one place in about 10 minutes, so you apply once instead of separately to each processor.
Processors review your account
Eligible processors tell Avendo whether they can support your business and compete for its transactions.
Start processing
Once approved, each transaction is routed to the processor with the best available rate, with all reports in one dashboard.
When is another provider the better fit?
If nearly all of your sales happen at the table or counter, a restaurant POS is the right first purchase. Avendo can cover your online channel alongside it once your ordering checkout is one Avendo can connect to.
For the full model and how every industry compares, read the guide to low cost credit card processing by industry, or check how Avendo compares with Square, Stripe, and Toast.
Questions from restaurants and food brands
See all 46 questions in the FAQ- Can restaurants use Avendo?
- Restaurants can use Avendo for online payments, such as orders placed on their own website, catering deposits, online gift card sales, and food products shipped to customers. Avendo cannot onboard in-person or point-of-sale businesses today, so dine-in and counter payments on a terminal stay with a POS provider for now.
- How much are restaurants charged by credit card companies?
- Restaurants generally pay in the same range as other businesses, 1.5% to 3.5% of each transaction. The final rate depends on card mix, whether payments are in person or online, and the pricing model. For online orders, Avendo lets processors compete on each transaction; it does not handle in-person restaurant payments yet.
- What is the best POS system for restaurants?
- It depends on table service, counter service, delivery mix, and budget, and Avendo is not a POS system. Avendo currently handles e-commerce transactions only. A restaurant typically picks a POS for in-person payments and can look at Avendo for the online side, as long as its online checkout is one Avendo can connect to.
- Is Toast or Avendo better for restaurants?
- They do different jobs. Toast is a restaurant POS for in-person ordering and payments, while Avendo handles e-commerce transactions only. A restaurant that needs table or counter payments needs a POS like Toast today. For the restaurant's own online sales, Avendo can route each order to the best available processor rate.
- Does Avendo support in-person payments?
- Not yet. Avendo currently handles e-commerce transactions only and cannot onboard in-person, card-present, or point-of-sale businesses. Avendo says it is working toward supporting them. Businesses that need card terminals should keep a POS provider for their in-person sales in the meantime.
- Does a small rate difference really matter?
- Yes, because it compounds with volume. At $50,000 a month in card payments, a difference of 0.5 percentage points equals $250 a month, or $3,000 a year. That is why Avendo focuses on the best available rate on every single transaction rather than a one-time negotiation.
Ready to see what your business could save?
Once you know how Avendo routes payments and shows pricing, the next step is simple: ask Avendo how much your business could save on card processing fees. Small online shops and enterprise merchants use the same contact form.