You may remember from last week’s blog that restaurants are near and dear to us. One of my very first clients is a historical tavern located near the Delaware River. The owner and I were talking after a networking meeting and he started asking me questions about what I do for a living. This was over 8 years ago but when I heard some of the things that he was experiencing with his credit card vendor, I remember how disappointing it was to hear that even his own financial institution – with whom he’d had a long-standing relationship – was offering less and charging more.

Well, long story short, he became a client and since then, we have continued to help him make the most of his revenues by keeping his technology up to date, maintain security for his business and keep his fees focused on the bottom line.

When the Pin and Chip cards started coming out late last year, we were able to help him make the decisions that were best for his restaurant. One of the things that many restaurant owners don’t realize is that the card doesn’t allow for an authorization and then an update with the tip amount. (This of course doesn’t matter in Europe where the Pin cards have been in use for ages, because tipping is not customary there!) As you know very well in America, this is the way servers earn their living…

His servers could have been put into the uncomfortable situation of having to ask their table full of patrons how much the tip would be and adding it into the total before they ran the card. We pinned that potential fiasco down by reviewing the data and came up with the right solution to keep his servers happy, his patrons from feeling awkward and never missed a beat!

~ Mary Ann
PS If you have questions about how Pin+Chip cards could work better for you and your business, please ask!