A payment gateway for restaurants and gourmet shops is the service that connects your website, your payment link or your virtual POS with the bank so you can charge by card, Bizum or other methods. In 2026 there is no single good gateway: the choice depends on whether you charge a deposit for a table, sell gift vouchers, ship a gourmet product or invoice a catering job in advance. Here we compare real options with official data consulted in September 2026 and we tell you which one fits each case.
What a payment gateway is and what a restaurant actually needs
A payment gateway is the technical intermediary that authorises a transaction and moves the money from the buyer to your account, without you having to touch anyone’s bank details. For a hospitality business that translates into something very concrete: being able to charge before serving, in advance, online or from a link, without depending on the customer arriving at the venue with a physical card.
It helps to separate four concepts that often get mixed:
- Physical or countertop POS: the card terminal or till terminal that charges in the venue.
- Virtual POS: the banking service that lets you charge by card from a website or a form, normally tied to a contract with your bank (for example, Redsys).
- Payment gateway or payment aggregator: a service such as Stripe, Shopify Payments or PayPal, which does not require you to open a bank contract and is set up in hours. The money is settled to your account according to its timelines.
- Merchant of record: a third party that sells under its own tax name, pays the sales tax of the sale in its jurisdiction and pays you afterwards. In Spain it usually only pays off for digital products with international customers, or when you do not want to manage VAT for many countries.
A restaurant usually needs at least two things: a POS on the floor and a way to charge online. The new gateway makes sense when the booking with a deposit, the gift voucher or the product sale take off. If you only need to charge at the till, do not change bank for a gateway: negotiate the physical POS.
The gateways hospitality businesses in Spain use in 2026
Here is the comparison on a single page, with official fees and the consultation date. The data are not our estimates: they come from the tariffs published by each provider, consulted on 12 September 2026.
| Gateway | Type | Official fee / cost | Fixed fee | What it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Payment aggregator | 1,5 % + 0,25 € per transaction with a standard European card; 2,5 % + 0,25 € UK card; 3,15 % + 0,25 € international card (plus 2 % if there is currency conversion). Payment Links at no extra cost. Bizum does not appear on its pricing page. | No monthly fee | Fast charges: deposits, gift vouchers, catering. Payment Links to sell without a shop. |
| Redsys (bank virtual POS) | Processing technology; the price is set by your bank | It does not publish a single fee; it depends on the contract with your bank. | According to the bank and volume | Businesses that already work with a bank and want native bank integration. |
| Bizum for businesses | A payment method tied to your bank/gateway | There is no published national fee either. The PayComet gateway publishes ”% Bizum according to the bank + 0,09 €” per transaction. | According to the bank | A complement for charging deposits or gift vouchers to customers who use Bizum as their first option. |
| Shopify Payments | Gateway integrated in Shopify | With Shopify Payments: 2,1 % + 0,30 € (Basic), 1,8 % + 0,30 € (Grow), 1,6 % + 0,30 € (Advanced) per online transaction. Surcharge for an external gateway: 2 % on Basic, 1 % on Grow and 0,6 % on Advanced. | Basic 32 €/mes (24 €/mes with annual payment); Grow 92 €/mes (69 € a year); Advanced 384 €/mes (289 € a year) | An online shop with catalogue, stock and shipping. |
| Merchant of record (Polar, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) | Merchant of record | 5 % + 0,50 $ per transaction; Polar adds 1,5 % on international cards and 15 $ per chargeback. | Polar has a free plan; Paddle and Lemon Squeezy with no monthly fee | Digital products: courses, recipe books, memberships, with international VAT delegated. |
| NOWPayments | Crypto gateway | Service fee of 1 %; accepts more than 350 cryptocurrencies. | No published monthly fee | An optional complement, never the main gateway. |
Sources: stripe.com/es/pricing, shopify.com/es/pricing, paddle.com/pricing, nowpayments.io/pricing and paycomet.com, consulted on 12 September 2026. Polar and Lemon Squeezy tariffs come from their published pricing pages, collected indirectly the same day because direct access was restricted. Redsys and Bizum do not publish a single national tariff; they depend on the bank.
The short reading is this: if you do not sell product online or invoice abroad, Stripe with Payment Links is usually the most agile route, and it has no lock-in. If your project is already a shop with a catalogue, Shopify Payments centralises website, stock and payment. Redsys and Bizum depend on what your bank offers you, and that is why they require a negotiation with numbers in hand before you sign. Merchants of record and cryptocurrencies are niche solutions, not the first step.
Stripe for restaurants: fees, Payment Links and when it is the best option
Stripe is the gateway we recommend at GastroSEO for hospitality charges without a full online shop. Its official tariff in Spain, according to its pricing page consulted on 12 September 2026, is 1,5 % + 0,25 € per transaction for standard European cards. UK cards go up to 2,5 % + 0,25 € and international cards to 3,15 % + 0,25 €, with an extra 2 % if there is currency conversion. It does not charge a monthly fee, so you can start with a one-off charge and later decide whether to extend it.
The point that interests a restaurant or gourmet shop most is Payment Links: payment links created from the Stripe dashboard, with no code and no online shop. They are used to charge a booking deposit, sell a gift voucher, charge a catering job in advance or settle an order from your own delivery. The link is sent by WhatsApp, email or QR, and the fee is Stripe’s standard one, with no extra cost per link, according to the same pricing page.
When is Stripe the best option? When you need to charge tomorrow, you do not want to pay a monthly fee and you are not going to sell dozens of items with stock. Also when you want the money in your business account and you want to avoid platforms that hold balances. At GastroSEO we set up Stripe, but the account is always yours: you are the account holder, you provide your IBAN and you receive the settlements.
PayPal is still relevant if your international public asks for it, and it is not incompatible with Stripe. Before deciding, compare five things on both: European card tariff, international tariff, currency conversion, cost of withdrawal to your bank and chargeback policy. In our experience, Stripe wins on integration, dashboard and payment links.
Redsys and Bizum: the bank’s POS
Redsys is the payment-processing technology Spanish banks work with and, in hospitality, it usually appears when the business already has a contract with its bank and wants to centralise online charges and the card terminal in the same entity. The big warning: Redsys does not publish a single fee. The cost depends on the bank, on annual volume, on the card type and on whether the business pays fees for the physical POS. That is why, before contracting a bank virtual POS, you have to ask the bank these five things:
- Fee per transaction for a European card, an international card and a business card.
- Monthly fee or setup fee for the virtual POS, and whether it increases when you enable it on the website.
- Payout time: not every bank settles equally fast; ask how often they pay in.
- Cost of Bizum for businesses and whether it requires an extra contract.
- Chargeback policy and fraud-claim policy: who bears the cost.
Bizum for businesses is an excellent complementary method for charging booking deposits or gift vouchers, because a lot of customers already have it at the bank. But there is no published national fee either: it depends on your bank and on the gateway that integrates it. The PayComet gateway publishes ”% Bizum according to the bank + 0,09 €” per transaction, according to its website consulted on 12 September 2026. It serves as a reference that the cost exists, even if your bank later gives you another figure.
In general, Redsys makes sense if your bank offers you competitive conditions for concentrating the whole business and if you value the gateway being 100 % banking. If what you are looking for is speed, with no lock-in and with payment links, Stripe is usually more agile. There is no universal answer: ask for numbers and compare them.
Shopify Payments: when you sell product with an online shop
If your project is a gourmet shop with shipping, stock and a catalogue, Shopify’s integrated gateway is the most comfortable option. According to the Shopify Spain pricing page consulted on 12 September 2026, the Basic plan costs 32 €/mes (24 €/mes with annual payment) and the fee with Shopify Payments is 2,1 % + 0,30 € per online transaction. The Grow plan goes up to 92 €/mes (69 € a year) and lowers the fee to 1,8 % + 0,30 €. The Advanced plan costs 384 €/mes (289 € a year) and leaves the fee at 1,6 % + 0,30 €.
A detail many businesses overlook: if you use an external gateway other than Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a surcharge on the transaction: 2 % on Basic, 1 % on Grow and 0,6 % on Advanced. That is why, if you build the shop on Shopify, the logical step is to turn on Shopify Payments from day one, unless your bank gives you conditions that are impossible to match.
Shopify also lets you sell native gift vouchers, manage orders and read reports with no extra integrations. It is not the cheapest option on the monthly fee, but it removes friction when there is already shipping, stock tracking or international customers. If your online sales are few each month, you may not need a full shop: a Stripe Payment Link on your website can cover almost every charge. If the shop is going to be a serious channel, a website on Shopify is worth it. At GastroSEO we build gastronomic online shops on Shopify, and that is why we recommend it when there is a real catalogue, not for selling a single voucher.
Merchant of record (Polar, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy): what it is and when the 5 % pays off
A merchant of record is a provider that acts as the tax seller of your digital product: it processes the payment, issues a legal invoice in its name and takes on the international VAT of the sale. Your business later receives the settled amount, as if you had sold to that provider. It is not the usual thing in physical hospitality, but it matters if you sell digital products: cookery courses, recipe books in PDF, content memberships or recorded classes with customers outside Spain.
The tariffs are higher than a traditional gateway because they include that tax layer. According to their published tariffs, consulted on 12 September 2026:
- Polar has a free plan and charges 5 % + 0,50 $ per transaction, with an additional 1,5 % on international cards and 15 $ per chargeback.
- Paddle publishes 5 % + 50 ¢ per checkout transaction.
- Lemon Squeezy charges 5 % + 0,50 $ per sale, with no monthly fee.
When does a 5 % that looks expensive pay off? When selling a 100 € course from Spain to customers in Germany, France or the US would force you to register in several VAT regimes, file returns in each country or chase invoices. Then the merchant of record is not an expense, it is a simplification. For a restaurant with physical sales or a conventional gourmet shop, it is rarely the first option. For a workshop launching a digital recipe book, it can be a legal and practical shortcut.
Taking payment in cryptocurrency with NOWPayments: how it works and who it makes sense for
NOWPayments is a cryptocurrency payment gateway. According to its pricing page consulted on 12 September 2026, it charges a service fee of 1 % and accepts more than 350 cryptocurrencies.
For hospitality, we see it as something optional and complementary, never as the main gateway. It can make sense in gourmet shops with an international clientele that asks to pay in crypto, or in workshops that sell very limited editions. We would not recommend it for charging the deposit on a table in a neighbourhood restaurant: the average customer does not pay in crypto, and it adds friction.
The key is simple: if you already have Stripe or Shopify Payments working, NOWPayments can be a marginal add-on so you do not leave out whoever pays in crypto. If you do not yet have even a traditional gateway, sort out the basics first.
Practical cases by type of business
Let us take each scenario. There is no “winning” gateway; there is a gateway that fits each payment flow.
Table booking deposit
The most practical option is a Stripe Payment Link linked from your website or from the booking confirmation. Stripe’s standard fee applies with no extra cost per link, and you can charge the deposit before holding the table. If your public uses Bizum every day, also turn on Bizum for businesses through your bank or a compatible gateway. A restaurant website design with integrated bookings helps the flow stay coherent: the customer sees booking, price and payment in one place.
Gift voucher and tasting menu
For a gift voucher you do not need to build a full shop. A couple of Stripe Payment Links with fixed amounts (50 €, 100 €, 200 €) and a clear description are enough to start selling. You can send it by WhatsApp, QR or email. If later the voucher becomes a serious line of business, consider a shop on Shopify or a page of your own with a voucher catalogue, and link the purchase from your Google Business Profile listing: that is where someone who wants to give a gift looks. For tasting menus with limited seats, charging in advance with Stripe also works well: you charge when they book and you limit no-shows. What each route publishes (payment link, your own shop and a marketplace) about price and conditions is in restaurant gift vouchers.
Gourmet shop with shipping
Here Shopify with Shopify Payments is the clear option if there is a real catalogue. The Basic monthly fee is 32 €/mes (24 €/mes with annual payment) and the Shopify Payments fee is 2,1 % + 0,30 €, according to its pricing page consulted on 12 September 2026. Shopify handles the product page, payment, stock and shipping. If you also want to rank the shop, later you can lean on SEO for gastro shops and gourmet ecommerce. Remember the surcharge for an external gateway (2 % on the Basic plan), so turn on Shopify Payments.
Catering with an advance payment
A catering advance can be charged with a Stripe Payment Link and no shop. You only need to define the amount, the charge date and the amount still due. In this case a clear cancellation and refund policy before the charge is worth having, because a chargeback or a dispute over a large advance is one of the most avoidable mistakes. Do not use low fees as the only criterion: the gateway’s reliability and the clarity of the timelines matter more.
Your own delivery
If you do your own delivery and you do not want to depend on delivery platforms, you can charge in advance with Stripe when the order is confirmed. That reduces the risk of fake orders and simplifies the logistics: you charge, you prepare, you deliver. In delivery, speed matters, and a payment link by WhatsApp or on your website is faster than asking for a bank transfer.
Charging a deposit when booking: how to do it well
Some restaurants charge a deposit when booking. We are not going to give you legal advice (the specific conditions are set by your adviser); what we do tell you is how to do it well in practice: inform before charging, publish the cancellation policy and document every transaction.
First, always inform before the charge: on the booking record, on the payment link and in the confirmation. Second, define a clear cancellation policy: what happens if the customer gives notice with 24 hours, with 12 hours, or does not show up. Third, charge a reasonable amount: our recommendation is a small deposit, proportional to the ticket, that does not put the booking off. Fourth, document every charge: booking reference, concept, date and conditions accepted.
On the website this is solved with a bookings page or section that links directly to the gateway. You do not need to become an online shop for that. If your website does not yet have booking with payment, it is worth reviewing what a restaurant website needs so the charge is not left half done.
Frequent mistakes when choosing a gateway
These are the most expensive failures when choosing a gateway:
- Forgetting the monthly fee: Shopify, Redsys or a POS with maintenance can add up to hundreds of euros a year if you do not sell enough. Calculate the total cost against your turnover, not only the percentage.
- Not being the account holder: some people try to charge with a personal account or a relative’s “so as not to complicate things”. That complicates invoicing, tax and any claim. Always ask for the gateway in the business’s name.
- Mixing personal charges and the restaurant’s: a personal Bizum account is not Bizum for businesses. If your bank detects commercial activity, it can block transactions. Open the right product.
- Ignoring international fees: if you sell to tourists or ship abroad, Stripe’s international card tariff (3,15 % + 0,25 € plus 2 % if there is conversion) or the merchant-of-record surcharge can eat the margin. Read the small print.
- Not allowing for chargebacks: a dispute is not only returning the money; it can cost time and a handling fee (Polar, for example, charges 15 $ per chargeback). Charge in advance only when the service is clear and communicate it well.
How to decide your gateway with the numbers on the table
Choosing a payment gateway for a restaurant or gourmet shop is a cash-flow decision, not a technology decision. Our recommendation with no small print: if you charge deposits, gift vouchers or one-off advances, start with Stripe; if you sell product with shipping, Shopify Payments; if your bank gives you better conditions, negotiate Redsys; if you sell international digital products, consider a merchant of record; if crypto, add it afterwards, not before.
At GastroSEO we set up real payment gateways: you are always the account holder and we never intermediate your charges. If you want a gastronomic online shop on Shopify, a discreet payment link on your website or to integrate booking with a deposit, talk to us with no pressure. We can help you with a gastronomic online shop, payment gateways and gift vouchers.
Frequently asked questions
What is a payment gateway and how does it work?
A payment gateway is a service that authorises online payments by card, Bizum or other methods and transfers the money from the buyer to the seller’s account. It acts as a bridge between your website or payment link and the banks: it encrypts the data, validates the transaction and sends the settlement. In hospitality it is used to charge deposits, gift vouchers, advances or orders before delivering the service.
What payment gateways are there in Spain for a restaurant?
The most practical are Stripe, Shopify Payments, Redsys, Bizum for businesses, Polar, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy and NOWPayments. Stripe stands out for having no monthly fee and for Payment Links; Shopify Payments for shop integration; Redsys and Bizum for being banking products; merchants of record for international digital; and NOWPayments as a crypto complement. The choice depends on the payment flow, not on a generic list.
How much does Stripe charge per payment in Spain?
According to its pricing page consulted on 12 September 2026, Stripe charges 1,5 % + 0,25 € per transaction with a standard European card. It goes up to 2,5 % + 0,25 € on UK cards and to 3,15 % + 0,25 € on international cards, with an extra 2 % if there is currency conversion. Payment Links have no extra cost and there is no monthly fee. Bizum does not appear on its public tariff.
What is the best payment gateway for hospitality?
There is no single answer: for deposits, gift vouchers or one-off advances, Stripe is the most agile and has no monthly fee. For an online shop with a catalogue, Shopify Payments centralises website and payment. Redsys and Bizum are of interest if your bank offers good conditions. A merchant of record is only for international digital products. The best one is the one that lines up with your cash flow and your type of sale, not the one that sounds best known.
Is it legal to charge for booking at a restaurant?
Some restaurants do it, and we do not give legal advice: the conditions are set by your adviser. What we recommend in practice is to communicate it clearly on the website and on the payment link before confirming, publish the cancellation policy, charge a reasonable deposit and document every transaction.
Can I accept cryptocurrencies in my restaurant or shop?
Yes, for example with NOWPayments, which charges a 1 % fee and accepts more than 350 cryptocurrencies, according to its pricing site consulted on 12 September 2026. We recommend it as an optional complement, not as the main gateway. Its usefulness depends on your clientele actually asking for crypto; for charging a table in a neighbourhood, a Stripe or Bizum link is usually more direct.
Do I need an online shop to sell gift vouchers?
No. You can sell gift vouchers with a Stripe Payment Link on your website, by WhatsApp or email, with no full shop. You only need fixed amounts and a clear description. An online shop on Shopify with its catalogue makes sense when there is a variety of vouchers, stock or shipping, and you want to scale the sale. Start simple and expand if the channel takes off.
