SpotOn Payment Processing: Fees and Rate Increases (2026)

SpotOn is an all-in-one restaurant POS software that provides hardware, operations tools, and payment processing under one roof. They recently expanded to support small businesses in categories like retail, automotive, and salons, but restaurant POS is still SpotOn’s primary service area. 

For credit card processing, SpotOn operates as an ISO, which means they’re the merchant-facing service provider. But they rely on third-party partnerships for the actual backend processing. 

SpotOn’s payment processing can route through a variety of providers, including Wells Fargo, Elavon, and TSYS.

As a merchant, your contract is still with SpotOn, and you generally don’t have control over the backend acquiring/sponsorship path. But that relationship directly impacts your credit card processing rates. 

SpotOn Rate Increase Effective May 2026

SpotOn’s rate increases for businesses on custom interchange-plus pricing contracts are not publicly announced or updated anywhere on their website. But we have access to this information through our relationships with merchants using SpotOn for credit card processing.

The following increase went into effect on May 1, 2026:

• 0.15% increase for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover transactions
• 0.35% increase for Amex OptBlue transactions

This is a significant jump, as rates have effectively doubled for some transactions.

We have several clients currently paying 0.30% + $0.10 for Visa, MC, Discover, and 0.35% + $0.05 for Amex. So this new May 2026 increase brings them to 0.45% + $0.10 (a 50% increase) and 0.70% + $0.05 (doubled), respectively. 

Here’s a copy of that notice that was attached to the bottom of March 2026 statements:

SpotOn Pricing for Credit Card Processing

SpotOn’s payment processing rates vary based on the POS subscription you sign up for. 

If you’re on the “free” all-in plan, you’ll pay 2.79% + $0.20 for card-present transactions and 3.79% + $0.20 for manually keyed transactions. These rates are high, and not a path we recommend.

For paid POS subscriptions, rates drop slightly:

• 2.45% + $0.15 for card-present transactions
• 3.19% + $0.15 for American Express card-present
• 3.45% + $0.15 for manually keyed transactions

While these rates are cheaper than the free tier, they’re still very expensive. 

Interchange-plus pricing is always going to be cheaper than flat-rate. But to access IC+ pricing, you’ll need to get on a “custom” monthly POS plan from SpotOn. 

Other SpotOn Processing Fees

SpotOn’s pricing for credit card processing is actually pretty transparent. They don’t add a bunch of extra fees (no statement fees, regulatory fees, annual fees, PCI fees, or other junk fees we commonly see elsewhere).

However, there are several other charges that increase your overall effective rate for payment processing, including:

• Monthly POS Fees: $25 to $90 per month (or more for custom pricing)
• Core Bundle: Optional $50 per month add-on plus 0.20% of payment volume (capped at $200)
• POS Hardware: $200 to $995 per terminal
• Installation Fees: $1,500, plus $500 for menu creation
• Hardware Financing: Varies, but exceeds the cost of buying outright
• Online Ordering: $55 per month

SpotOn also provides a range of other tools for marketing, loyalty, websites, employee management, reservations, kiosks, kitchen display systems, and more. Each of these can range anywhere from $65 to $100 per month per location, with additional setup fees, too.

So while these aren’t “technically” payment processing fees, they serve the same purpose as providing additional markup on your transactions. 

SpotOn Flat-Rate Pricing vs. Interchange Plus Cost Comparison

Getting a custom interchange-plus contract from SpotOn is typically going to be cheaper than flat-rate pricing. Even if you’re paying a higher monthly POS subscription, it’s worth it to get lower processing rates per transaction. 

Here’s an example of a client getting custom IC+ rates from SpotOn:

This particular merchant is paying a 0.30% (30 bps) markup over interchange. 

The first line item here is an ecommerce transaction. Visa’s interchange rate is 1.65% + $0.15, and if we include SpotOn’s markup, it brings us to 1.95% + $0.15.

As a card-not-present transaction, you’d pay 3.45% + $0.15 if you were on a flat-rate plan from SpotOn (150 bps more).

There’s even some debit transactions here, with a regulated interchange rate of 0.05% + $0.22, and 0.35% + $0.37 with SpotOn’s markup. For flat-rate card-present transactions, that same transaction would cost 2.45% + $0.15 (210 basis more). And for CNP debit transactions the flat-rate pricing would be a whopping 310 basis points higher compared to interchange-plus. 

At scale, the difference in savings can easily be thousands every month for high-volume businesses.

SpotOn Software Fees on Custom Plans

To get interchange-plus pricing from SpotOn, you’ll need to be on a custom plan. Two things are customized here:

• Your markup on interchange (like the 30 bps shown above)
• Your monthly SpotOn software fees

Instead of paying a flat monthly rate for software (like $55/month), most of SpotOn’s custom contracts are based on a percentage of total processing volume. 

Here’s an example:

If we look at the other fees section of this SpotOn statement, we can see this software line item I highlighted for $128.42.

This is exactly 0.10% of total monthly processing volume ($128,422.19). 

So as previously mentioned, you’re likely going to have to pay more per month in software fees to access IC+ pricing with SpotOn. But you should still come out ahead compared to paying a lower monthly fee with higher flat-rate pricing. 

It’s another processor markup, just in a different format. So while this merchant’s base rate is presented as 0.30%, it’s actually 0.40% when you factor in the software fee.

Are Your SpotOn Rates Still Competitive?

Between SpotOn’s rate increases and complex pricing structures, it can be difficult for merchants to figure out if they’re still getting a good deal on payment processing.

Chances are you’re overpaying. But you don’t have to switch providers to get a better rate. 

Since you’re relying on SpotOn for both processing and POS operations, changing providers isn’t going to be easy. Instead, you can negotiate better rates directly with SpotOn.

For some of you, that’s going to be as straightforward as switching from flat-rate pricing to a custom IC+ plan. For those of you already on interchange-plus, you still have room to negotiate lower rates.

If you’re not sure how to approach this or need some help determining what’s actually a fair rate for your business, contact our team here at Merchant Cost Consulting for help. We’ll give you a free SpotOn statement audit, and negotiate directly with SpotOn to ensure you’re getting the lowest possible rates on credit card processing.