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Why restaurants they disappear and take the free equipment with them.
This creates huge losses for MLSs who bought the
need us equipment upfront, at the advice of their ISOs.

Predatory POS companies
Large merchant acquirers or POS technology companies
that acquire new merchant portfolios have advised
restaurants that their POS systems will only be supported
if they switch to the new processor. This has wreaked havoc
in the field. I’ve even heard colleagues and competitors say
they will never sign another restaurant account.
Ghost restaurants
By Allen Kopelman We’re also seeing a spike in small delivery and takeout
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. places, such as Chinese restaurants with one or two tables
or ghost kitchens that operate in the shadows, offering
estaurants were once the darlings of all mer- takeout and delivery only, without a single table in the
chant level salespeople (MLSs). These mer- house. That’s another result of the staffing shortage.
chant accounts outperform all other categories
R because they have high transaction volume Tough times
and high dollar volume. Few businesses bring these two Last month while visiting my daughter in Iowa, I went to a
things to the table. Dry cleaners might accept thousands pizza place, ordered at the counter and sat at a table. Then
of payment card transactions monthly, but their average a robot rolled up with my meal. It even offered to get me
tickets are small. Restaurants, with $50 to $100 average a drink by inviting me to scan a QR code to order and
tickets, might do thousands of transactions daily. pay for additional items. Will we see more of these in the
future?
That’s a winning formula not many businesses can deliver.
So why are so many restaurants going out of business? Another restaurant near my office was so popular you
Following are top challenges facing fine dining, fast casual had to reserve a lunch table. Today, I could throw a
and quick service restaurants:
baseball through there and not hit a soul at lunchtime. I
Staffing shortages met somebody there for lunch recently, we were the only
diners in the entire 400-seat restaurant. The owner told me
Many restaurants are failing because they don't have they have hardly any waitstaff, and more people in the
enough employees. Many haven’t figured out how to use area are working from home. They're praying the giant
advanced self-service technology, like online and mobile apartment building going up across the street from them
ordering and kiosks, to solve their labor shortages. will open soon and generate some business.

Health department issues The manager said construction crews are ripping down
Health inspections continue to roil the industry. Here in office buildings left and right and replacing them with
Florida, news outlets have been reporting on the “dirty apartment buildings. All the restaurants, even the ones in
dining” trend, which is killing the restaurant business. the shopping center that are just doing takeout, can’t wait
The health department has been raiding places and to see the new residents and be back in business.
shutting them down because they need to be cleaner. Tough actions
Rising prices Merchant services is a relationship business. We can’t

Inflation has placed undue pressure on restaurants, and walk away from relationships. We promise to support our
the cost of food keeps rising. Many restaurant owners are merchants in good times and bad. We fought the good fight
managing this issue by passing price increases onto their during Covid, helping them upgrade their technology to
customers. The National Restaurant Association’s 2023 stay in business. Today, they’re facing smaller challenges
State of the Restaurant Report, published February 2023, that may seem more challenging than one big challenge,
found rising food prices a top concern for 92 percent of like a pandemic. However, they need us just as much as
restaurant owners and operators. they did before. We’re still the best people for the job.
Free POS Allen Kopelman, a serial entrepreneur is co-founder and CEO of
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. and host of B2B Vault: The Payment
Some MLSs are buying POS systems and offering them Technology podcast. Email him at allen@npsbank.com and connect on
free to restaurants in exchange for new residual streams. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman/ and Twitter @
Unfortunately, when these restaurants go out of business, AllenKopelman.

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