A few years ago, we sat down with a family-owned Italian place in the suburbs.
Nice room, loyal regulars, killer red sauce… and the owner was quietly bleeding $3,800 a month in credit-card processing fees on $100k in sales.
That’s real money. Enough for another cook, a new freezer, or simply sleeping better at night.
He wasn’t doing anything wrong.
He was just doing what almost every independent restaurant still does—eating the 3–4% fee on every card swipe because “that’s just how it is.”
Then we showed him something most national processors never mention: true dual pricing done the right way. It’s the simple shift that lets you post your menu price as the card price and offer a discount for cash—putting those fees back where they belong, without the hassle or hidden gotchas.
What Dual Pricing Actually Looks Like in the Real World
Walk into any spot running Level today, and you’ll see two prices displayed side-by-side on the customer screen and the receipt:
Card price: $50.00
Cash price: $48.50
The card price is your menu price—the one you already decided was fair.
The cash price is a straight discount for anyone who chooses to pay cash.
No hidden fees. No surprises. No awkward “oh, by the way” at the end.
Guests either save a couple bucks with cash (and a surprising number do) or they tap their card and pay the posted price. Either way, the processing cost is covered by the choice they make—not by you.
As Visa makes clear in their merchant rules, this setup is allowed nationwide: the posted price must be for cards, but you can offer a lower price for cash acceptance. It’s not a penalty; it’s an incentive that boosts cash transactions 15–25% in spots we’ve helped set up.
Why This Feels Different Than a Surcharge (and Why the Card Brands Are Fine With It)
Surcharges add a penalty on top—post one price, then tack on extra for cards. That’s where things get messy with state laws and network caps.
Dual pricing simply offers a discount for cash. The card brands have been crystal clear for years: cash discounts are allowed nationwide with no cap, while surcharges come with strict rules and headaches in many states. That’s why we only do the discount version—clean, compliant, and zero drama.
We follow the exact guidelines the networks publish (clear signage at the door and registers, both prices shown before payment, nothing added beyond your actual cost, same goods and services at both prices). Visa spells it out here, Mastercard here, and the Electronic Transactions Association has a simple checklist here
We’ve helped early partners launch this way without a single issue—because we use the wording and signage the networks themselves recommend.
How It Runs Through Your POS (and Keeps Things Smooth for Staff and Guests)
In practice, it’s less like a finance trick and more like normal hospitality with two clear numbers. Your printed menu, QR code, or board shows something simple: “Card price: $14.50 · Cash price: $14.00.” A small sign at the host stand explains: “Save when you pay with cash. All prices shown include our card price. A discount is applied at checkout for cash payments.”
The POS stores the card price as the standard. When a guest selects cash at checkout, the system automatically applies the discount across the check—no manual math for servers, no weird buttons.
On the receipt, card payments show the standard item prices. Cash ones list the standard prices, then a separate “cash discount” line so guests see exactly what they saved. We train your team to lead with the savings: “We offer a lower cash price if you want to save a little”—never the fee. Over a few shifts, it feels just like hitting a promo button, except this one’s tied to how they pay.
Most guests have seen it at gas stations or small shops already. The friction comes from surprises, not the idea that cards cost money. Keep the gap reasonable (3–4%, matching your actual costs), and regulars start bringing cash without a second thought.
The Moment It Clicks for Most Owners
When the first monthly statement lands and they see an extra $2,500–$4,000 in their operating account that used to disappear in fees, the reaction is almost always the same:
“Why doesn’t every processor do this?”
The honest answer: a lot of big processors depend on those fees staying buried. We make ours by keeping independent restaurants healthy. When you keep more, you stay with us longer. Simple math. And with dual pricing, those savings can make your whole setup feel like it pays for itself faster than you’d think.
How We Make It Push-Button Simple
With Level, dual pricing isn’t an add-on or a third-party app.
It’s baked in from day one.
We flip one switch during your free setup, hang the approved signs, train the team in ten minutes, and you’re done.
Every receipt, every customer display, every report handles it automatically.
No extra hardware. No monthly “compliance” fees. No wondering if you’re doing it right.
Ready to Stop Giving Away the 3–4% You’ve Already Earned?
Let us run your numbers.
Pull last month’s processing statement and we’ll show you—line by line—exactly what you’d keep with dual pricing set up the right way.
Takes fifteen minutes. No sales pitch. Even if you never switch, you’ll leave with numbers you can use tomorrow.
Schedule your free savings review here.
You’ve already done the hard work of earning the money once.
Time to stop handing it over.