Toast Credit Card Processing Fees: What You Pay

Toast credit card processing fees are set by your agreement, not by one rate that applies to every restaurant. Toast currently advertises a custom processing quote. Your card-present and card-not-present prices may differ, and your total Toast cost can also include software, hardware, implementation, add-ons and other account charges. The fastest way to find your rate is to check the Rate column of your latest Toast processing statement, then compare it with your signed order. Toast's pricing explanation and rate lookup instructions support that approach.

Whether shopping or already using Toast, compare costs over a full month of your actual sales mix.

How Toast sets processing rates

Toast's payment-fee guide describes custom restaurant rates, while its support FAQ points merchants to their contract for their own fees. An online rate attributed to Toast may not describe your offer.

Three pricing structures deserve attention:

Toast's interchange-plus explanation describes its markup on top of interchange and network fees. Its pricing page says the Starter Package has a pay-as-you-go option that reduces upfront hardware and installation costs. The U.S. merchant agreement says that option's platform fee comprises software fees and card-processing rates, subject to its terms. Separate the components before comparing vendors.

Toast says it acts as a payment facilitator and partners with processors; its payment terms make Toast the exclusive provider of processing services under the applicable agreement. Confirm your own terms before planning a processor switch while keeping Toast POS.

Card-present, online and keyed payments

A guest tapping a card at the counter and a guest paying through an online ordering page can cost different amounts. Toast defines a card-present payment as an in-person swipe, dip or tap. It treats online orders, phone orders, invoices and typed-in card details as card-not-present transactions, which it says have higher processing costs because of fraud risk. See Toast's payment-type definitions.

Request a separate estimate for each channel using your own sales mix. Ask how delivery orders, Toast Pay, catering invoices and manually entered cards are classified. Toast's statement instructions say keyed rates indicate card-not-present orders, including online orders or Toast Pay.

A ten-cent per-transaction difference across 2,000 payments is $200, even with an identical percentage. Compare both parts of the rate using your expected transaction count. See our interchange-plus pricing guide.

Costs beyond the card rate

Toast's billing guide separates card-processing statements from hardware and software invoices. Its pricing page says upfront hardware and implementation costs vary. The written order, invoices and lease documents govern your bill.

Toast currently says it charges a $15 fee per chargeback notification, even when the merchant wins. For refunds, check your agreement for the treatment of the original processing charge and any refund charge. Toast's void-versus-refund guide says a pre-settlement void has no processing fee, while a captured payment requires a refund.

A checked example of the total monthly cost

Here is a fictional quote, solely to show the math. It is not Toast's public rate, a Payment USA offer or a forecast for your restaurant. Suppose one restaurant processes $50,000 in a month: $40,000 across 1,600 in-person payments and $10,000 across 200 online payments. The hypothetical quote is 2.50% + $0.15 in person and 3.50% + $0.15 online. Software costs $150 per month. For comparison only, the restaurant spreads a hypothetical $240 hardware purchase over twelve months, or $20 per month.

The card-processing cost is 3.24% of the $50,000 card volume. Including the stated software and spread-out hardware purchase makes the comparison cost 3.58%. That does not mean the processor charged 3.58% for every card. It is simply a way to compare the chosen set of costs over the same sales period. Taxes, add-ons, refunds, chargebacks and other charges are excluded from this example. Your actual rate and mix will change the answer.

A refund is a separate cash-flow item. If this fictional restaurant also sends a $100 refund and all $1,620 of processing fees are withheld from the same sales period, with no fee adjustment or other deduction, card-related cash is $50,000 − $100 − $1,620 = $48,280. The $100 is guest money returned, not another processing fee. Software and hardware may be charged separately. Toast's statement guide distinguishes refunds, fees, adjustments and other withholdings.

Find what you actually paid in Toast

In Toast Web, go to Reports → Payments → Processing statements. Download the most recent complete month's statement and find the rates by payment type. Toast's rate lookup article identifies the Rate column. For daily reconciliation, Toast points merchants to Settled Deposits Daily Breakdown and Deposit Totals Overview. Interchange-plus customers can open the Cost Breakdown report from Processing statements for interchange and network details. These paths are documented in Toast's reporting guide.

For an effective processing rate, use card-processing fees ÷ matching gross card sales for the same period and locations. Check refunds and fee adjustments before comparing months. For a broader view, add software, equipment and other costs. Our merchant statement guide walks through the reconciliation.

If your bank deposit seems short, inspect the categories before calling the difference a fee. Toast says its Other Withholdings may contain marketplace-facilitator tax, delivery charges, financing or equipment lease payments, among other items. Its statement guide also explains monthly adjustments that true up estimated card fees. Ask Toast about a specific line if the reports still do not reconcile.

Want a second set of eyes on your numbers? Book a Payment USA savings review. Bring a complete processing statement and the relevant software or equipment invoices. The review starts with your current costs; any alternative would need its own written proposal and a separate check of POS compatibility.

Questions to ask before accepting a quote

Request answers in writing using your transaction count and sales channels:

1. What are the percentage and fixed fee for in-person, online and keyed sales? Are debit, rewards or Amex treated differently under this quote?
2. Is the offer flat-rate, interchange-plus or a bundled platform rate? Which card, network and Toast charges sit outside that number?
3. What will software, extra terminals, add-ons, implementation and hardware cost upfront and each month?
4. What happens to fees when you void or refund a sale? What fees apply to a chargeback?
5. Which reports will show processing charges, other withholdings and invoices? Can you see a sample using your expected channels?
6. What are the contract, renewal, notice and equipment terms for your order? Toast's U.S. merchant agreement describes one-year renewals, written nonrenewal notice and possible early termination fees; check the order and terms that apply to you.

Toast's integrated restaurant features may be worth more to you than the cheapest standalone card rate. Our restaurant processing guide and fees comparison page can help frame the comparison.

Common questions about Toast processing fees

Does Toast publish one standard credit card rate?

Toast currently describes custom processing pricing. Your signed agreement and monthly processing statement are the sources for your contracted and paid rates. A public example, including the fictional one above, is not a quote for your account.

Can I use Toast POS with another processor?

Toast's current payment-processing terms describe Toast as the exclusive provider of payment-processing services under the applicable merchant agreement. Check your own order and ask Toast directly before assuming a third-party processor can connect to your POS.

Why is my Toast deposit less than card sales?

The gap can include refunds, processing fees, fee adjustments and other withholdings. Compare the same dates in the processing statement, settled-deposits report and Payout Overview. Toast explains those categories here.

Are Toast software fees processing fees?

Usually they are billed separately, but a pay-as-you-go platform rate can bundle software and processing. Check your order and invoices so you count each cost once. Toast's pricing page describes the bundled Starter option, and its billing guide describes separate software and hardware invoices.

Sources and scope

Reviewed September 28, 2026 for U.S. merchants. Toast can change pricing, products and support content; your signed documents control your account. The example uses fictional terms and assumes the specific fee timing stated above. Spot something outdated? Contact Payment USA and we will check it.

• Toast: payment processing fees and payment types, observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast: POS pricing, hardware and pay-as-you-go option, page updated August 20, 2026; observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast: payment-processing terms and U.S. merchant agreement, observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast Support: processing rates and reports, page updated September 16, 2026; observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast Support: processing statement line items, page updated September 22, 2026; observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast Support: billing, invoices and fee timing, page updated April 28, 2026; observed September 28, 2026.
• Toast Support: chargeback fee and void versus refund, pages updated September 17 and May 13, 2026 respectively; observed September 28, 2026.