Card processing fees
Why are card-not-present rates higher for restaurants?
Updated · Checked against primary sources
The short answer
Card-not-present payments carry more fraud risk, so card networks charge more interchange. The underlying gap is small: Visa's 2026 restaurant credit interchange is 2.10% card-present versus 2.20% card-not-present. Typical Toast rates show a far wider gap, about 2.49% versus 3.50%, and Toast bills online orders, keyed cards and Toast Pay at the card-not-present rate.
Key takeaways
- Network cost gap: about 0.10 points. Typical processor price gap: about 1 point.
- Toast Pay, online ordering and keyed cards all count as card-not-present at Toast.
- Shifting table payments to Toast Pay can raise your costs even when the same guest pays with the same card.
The gap, side by side
Visa rates are the published interchange floor; Toast rates are typical reported rates, not Toast's rate card.
| Card-present | Card-not-present | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa restaurant credit interchange (traditional) | 2.10% | 2.20% | 0.10 pts |
| Visa restaurant credit interchange (Signature/Infinite) | 2.60% | 2.70% | 0.10 pts |
| Typical reported Toast rate | 2.49% + $0.15 | 3.50% + $0.15 | 1.01 pts |
Frequently asked questions
- Is pay-at-table card-present?
- At Toast, no for billing purposes: Toast says all Toast Pay transactions are treated as card-not-present under the merchant agreement.
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Request a free leak scanRelated questions
- Processing feesHow much does Toast charge per transaction?
- Processing feesWhat is a good effective rate for restaurant card processing?
- Processing feesDid Toast raise its processing fees?
- Processing feesCan you get a refund for Toast processing errors?
- Processing feesIs interchange-plus or flat-rate pricing better for a restaurant?
Go deeper
- GuideToast Processing Fees: 2026 Rates and IncreasesToast processing fees in 2026: typical in-person and keyed rates, the verified 2024 and March 2026 increases, Toast Pay's keyed rate, and your exit rights.
- GuideHow to Audit a Toast Processing StatementRead a Toast processing statement line by line, calculate your true effective rate, and catch keyed misrates and increases inside Toast's 30-day window.
- GuideHow to Negotiate Toast Processing RatesNegotiate lower Toast processing rates using your contract's leverage points: rate notices, renewal and new locations. Plus flat vs interchange-plus math.
Terms on this page
- Card-not-present (CNP)
- A payment where the card is not physically read by a terminal, such as online orders and keyed-in cards. CNP payments carry higher interchange and, on many processors, a higher contracted rate than card-present payments.
- Interchange
- The fee the card-issuing bank receives on each card payment, set by the card networks (Visa, Mastercard) and varying by card type and how the card was taken. It is the largest part of processing cost and the part no processor can discount.
Sources
- Visa USA interchange reimbursement fees (eff. Apr 18, 2026)
- Toast Support: Get started with Toast Pay
- Toast Support: Credit card processing rate
- Merchant Insiders: Toast fees (third-party)
Cite this page
Pavado, “Why are card-not-present rates higher for restaurants?”, https://www.pavadotech.com/restaurants/questions/card-present-vs-card-not-present-rates, updated 2026-09-23.