Dual pricing calculator for restaurants
See what card processing costs your restaurant today and how much of it dual pricing could keep with you. Change any number you like. There's nothing to sign up for.
Your card feesEstimate · change any number
With dual pricing
Before any monthly program fee. Call us and we'll quote ours.
A $15.00 cash price shows as $15.52 at the card price.
How dual pricing works
Your menu and receipts show two prices for each item: a cash price and a slightly higher card price. Guests who pay cash pay the cash price. Guests who pay by card pay the card price, and the difference covers what it costs to process their card.
So instead of every card payment shaving a few percent off your sales, the cost of taking cards is built into the card price.
How this calculator works
It uses four numbers, and you can change all of them:
Card sales = monthly sales × share paid by card
Card fees today = card sales × what processing costs you
Covered by the card price = card sales × card price difference × (1 − processing rate), up to your card fees today
The last step allows for processing being charged on the higher card price too. The calculator never shows you keeping more than you pay in card fees today.
Worked example with the starting numbers: $75,000 in monthly sales with 80% paid by card is $60,000 in card sales. At 3.00%, card fees are $1,800 a month. With a card price 3.50% above cash, the difference brings in $2,037 after processing, which covers the full $1,800. That's $21,600 a year.
What the estimate leaves out:
- Any monthly program fee for dual pricing. Call us and we'll quote ours, along with Propel POS pricing.
- Differences between card types. Rewards and business cards cost more to process than debit cards; your processing rate already averages them.
- Changes in how guests pay. Some guests switch to cash when they see the cash price, which lowers your card fees further.
Is dual pricing allowed?
Yes, when it's set up correctly. Federal law bars the card networks from stopping a business from offering a discount for paying cash. The networks do have rules for how prices are shown, so your menus, receipts and signs need to show the cash price and the card price clearly.
Dual pricing or a surcharge?
They aren't the same thing. A surcharge is a fee added to card payments at checkout. Dual pricing shows both prices up front, so guests see what they'll pay before they order. Surcharges come with their own card network rules, caps and state laws, and a fee that only shows up on the check can surprise guests.
Dual pricing with Propel POS
Cash discount and dual pricing are built into Propel POS, and we set it up for you when we install your system. If you already have a POS, call us and we'll walk through what your card fees would look like with Propel POS.