Restaurants and bars
The terminal goes to the guest, not the guest to the till.
A battery-powered mobile terminal cuts the longest part of dinner: waiting for the bill. Payment happens at the table, in under a minute.
Tipping and bill splitting are set on the terminal itself, so staff do no mental arithmetic and no walking back to the till.
What you get
Tableside service
A mobile terminal with a full-shift battery.
Tipping
A percentage or amount the guest picks on screen.
Bill splitting
Several cards for one table.
Per-cashier reporting
Who took what, by shift and by day.
Contactless
Card, phone or watch.
Receipt on the spot
A built-in printer on the mobile models.
The longest part of dinner is waiting for the bill
The guest has finished, is happy and wants to leave. From here every minute works against you. The server walks to the till, prints the bill, comes back, takes the card, walks to the till again, returns with the terminal or the slip. In a full restaurant that is five or six minutes per table and one table fewer for the evening.
A battery-powered mobile terminal cuts that to thirty seconds at the table itself. The guest sees the amount, adds a tip on screen, pays contactless and leaves. The server never leaves the floor.
The gain is not only speed. Paying at the table also removes the moment when the card disappears from the guest's sight, which some people dislike, foreign visitors in particular.
Splitting a bill without the drama
Four people, one bill, everyone pays their share. The classic version needs a calculator, patience and usually ends with one person paying it all while the rest settle up in cash.
On a Smart POS terminal the split happens on screen: evenly between a set number of people, or by item if the group wants to pay for exactly what they ate. Each person taps their own card while the system tracks what is left. One receipt prints, or several go out by email.
For a venue that sees a lot of groups, that changes both the takings and the mood of the staff at the end of a shift.
Tips that reach the people who earned them
When guests pay by card, cash tips fall away. If the terminal does not offer a tip on screen, staff simply take home less, and that shows up in turnover of people.
The terminal offers a percentage or an amount before the payment is confirmed. You configure which percentages appear and whether a manual entry is allowed. The amounts come out separately in the report, so distribution is based on a number rather than a recollection.
A small detail that matters: the tip screen is shown to the guest rather than keyed in by the server. The first is normal practice; the second creates awkwardness and sometimes disputes.
Delivery, reservations and prepayment
If you also deliver, the order from the site and the payment at the table land in the same report. No reconciling two systems at month end, and you can see what each channel brings in.
For restaurants taking reservations, prepayment or a card held against a large-table booking earns its keep. No-shows are a real cost on a Friday night, and a nominal fee for an unannounced cancellation cuts them noticeably. The card is stored as a token and never charged if the guest turns up.
For catering and events, instalments on a large bill also work, because the average value is high and the customer is often a private individual.
What to expect in the first week
Day one: the terminals arrive charged and configured. You hand them out by shift and run two or three test transactions on your own card, including one with a tip and one with a split bill, so people see what it looks like.
Days two and three: staff settle in. The usual questions are three and they always come: how to add a tip, how to void a wrong amount and what to do when a card is declined. The answers are on one screen and take minutes to learn.
End of the week: you look at the first report. Two lines matter. The share of contactless payments, which shows whether guests are using the convenience, and the average time between opening and closing a bill, which shows whether the floor is moving faster.
If something is not working as you expected, that is the moment to call, not a month later. Tip, split and receipt settings are changed remotely, with no devices to send back.
What changes at the table
The same four guests, two different evenings.
| Moment | Without a mobile terminal | With a mobile terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Bill requested | The server walks to the till | Comes straight to the table |
| Printing and returning | Two trips across the floor | None |
| Payment | The card leaves the table | The guest pays without letting go of the card |
| Tip | Cash only, if at all | On screen, before confirmation |
| Splitting between four | By hand, or not at all | Evenly or by item, on screen |
| Total time | Five to six minutes | About thirty seconds |
Across fifty tables an evening, the difference is roughly an hour of free capacity.
What to check in your own venue
Go through this with the shift manager; it takes ten minutes.
- How many minutes pass between the bill being asked for and the guest leaving
- Whether a guest can leave a tip by card
- Whether a group of four can split the bill
- Whether the terminal battery lasts a whole shift
- Whether delivery and the floor land in one report
- What happens when the site's internet drops
Questions about this
How many terminals do I need for fifty covers?
As a rule, one mobile unit per two servers at peak. For fifty covers two or three devices usually do it, with a countertop added at the bar if turnover there is fast.
Does the terminal talk to my restaurant software?
Most common systems either integrate or push the amount automatically. Tell us which one you run and we will confirm before you order.
How are tips reported?
As a separate line in the report, by device and by period. That way distribution among staff rests on a document rather than a judgement call.
Does it work in a garden or on a terrace with no Wi-Fi?
Yes, models with a built-in SIM fall back to mobile data. For a garden that is usually more reliable than Wi-Fi, which rarely covers the whole yard.
Can I take payment for delivery to an address?
Yes, with a mobile terminal carried by the driver or with a payment link sent to the customer's phone before departure. The second is faster and cuts cash handling.
If I take a deposit for an event, how is it collected?
With a payment link sent to the customer, or by charging a stored card in advance. Both are tied to the event date, so the report shows which booking the amount belongs to.
Ready to start accepting payments?
Send us an enquiry and you will get a concrete quote with calculated fees for your business, usually within one business day.