How restaurant payment processing works
A restaurant POS can handle card payments in two ways. In an integrated setup the POS software captures the card details and passes them on, which drags the whole system into PCI scope. In a semi-integrated setup the POS only tells a certified reader how much to charge; the card data goes from the reader straight to the processor and never enters the POS at all. ThaliPOS is semi-integrated.
The practical difference is what happens if the POS vendor is ever breached. If card data never entered their software, there is nothing in it to take.
How we enforce it, rather than promise it
Every vendor says they take card security seriously. The version of that claim worth anything is architectural, and checkable.
- There are no card-number fields anywhere in the codebase. Not disabled, not commented out — absent.
- An automated check fails the build if anyone adds one. Card-data field names outside a documented allowlist break continuous integration on every single code change, including ours.
- Only semi-integrated readers are supported. There is no code path that could accept a typed card number, because the capability was never built.
That is a design constraint enforced by tooling, not a policy someone could quietly relax under deadline pressure.
Where the money goes
- Your own connected account. Payouts settle to an account in your restaurant's name, not into ours and back out again. We are not in the flow of funds as a holder of it.
- Your own onboarding. You complete the processor's identity and banking checks directly. Payments cannot be taken until that account is cleared to accept charges.
- Refunds are POS-only and server-side, issued by a manager against the original payment — not from a customer-facing surface, and not by editing a record.
Where cards are taken
The counter
Card-presentA tap-and-chip reader assigned to the counter station. The POS drives it directly — no one retypes an amount into a separate terminal, which is where the mismatches come from.
The kiosk
Card-presentEach station has its own assigned reader, so the kiosk charges its own guest without borrowing the counter's hardware.
QR and online orders
Card-not-presentCheckout runs in the processor's own hosted payment form. Card details are entered into their form, on their infrastructure, never into ours.
Cash
Not an afterthoughtBusiness-day close with drawer counts and a Z-report that reconciles cash tenders, not just card settlements. Money is held in integer cents throughout, so the day ties out exactly rather than approximately.
What happens to payments when the internet drops
Card payments need connectivity. Authorising a card means reaching the issuing bank, and no POS can do that offline — anyone claiming otherwise is describing deferred capture, where the authorisation happens later and somebody carries the risk of a decline after the guest has gone.
ThaliPOS does not do that. What it does instead is make sure the outage costs you the card lane and nothing else: the counter, kiosk and kitchen display keep running on the in-store hub, cash keeps flowing and reconciles normally at close, and card payments resume when the connection does. How the offline-first architecture works →
Current status — honestly
Card payments end to end
◷ in partner certificationThe payment integration is built and tested — connected-account onboarding, server-driven readers for the counter and kiosk, hosted checkout for online and QR orders, refunds, and reconciliation. It is going through partner certification and is not switched on for restaurants yet. If your timeline depends on card payments, ask us where certification stands before you plan around it.
Cash handling and end-of-day
✓ available in pilotBusiness-day close, drawer counts and a cent-exact Z-report including cash tenders.
We would rather tell you this on a page you can read at your own pace than let you find out on a call after you had already planned around it.
What to ask any POS vendor about payments
- Am I locked to one processor? This single answer decides whether you can ever renegotiate your rates. Some major platforms require their own processing and do not permit alternatives.
- What is my effective rate on my own card mix? Not the headline rate. Ask for a blended figure based on the cards your guests actually present.
- Does card data pass through the POS software? If yes, ask what that means for your PCI scope.
- Do payouts go to my account or through the vendor's?
- What happens to card payments during an outage? If the answer is "they keep working", ask who absorbs a decline that arrives after the guest has left.
These are worth asking us as well. The full buyer's guide →