Navigating the world of point-of-sale (POS) systems and payment processors can be tricky because there are many (sometimes too many) players in the market. And if you’re in the restaurant industry, you’ve likely come across two prominent solution providers: NCR Aloha POS system and Stax.
The choice between the two can be pivotal for your business. In this guide, we’ll dissect each company’s features, pricing, and user reviews, and provide you with the insights you need to select the perfect solution for your business.
TL;DR
- Stax offers a subscription-based, comprehensive payment solution suitable for various businesses, with a focus on multiple payment types and integrations. Aloha, specifically designed for the hospitality industry, includes built-in restaurant-centric features for running hospitality operations.
- Regarding payment processing, Stax’s subscription model is more advantageous for merchants processing at least $5,000 in monthly credit card volume. Since NCR offers flat-rate pricing, they take a percentage (2.25% to 3.5%) from every transaction. Stax, on the other hand, simply charges a monthly membership fee.
- Both platforms provide 24/7 customer support and emphasize secure transactions, with Stax offering PCI security and Aloha using NCR’s secure payment capabilities.
Stax Payments Overview
Established in 2014 in Florida, Stax operates as a subscription-based, comprehensive payment processing partner. What sets us apart is our unique all-in-one platform, which supports multiple payment types, including credit card payments, mobile, ACH, SMS, and more, as well as our monthly subscription business model.
Stax also integrates with a wide range of point-of-sale solutions to accommodate various business sizes and types—including restaurants.
Additionally, we provide API integrations with over 100 top-tier business software applications, and we’re equipped to handle recurring transactions and invoicing management. With 24/7 customer support and a valuable knowledge base, merchants can rest easy knowing Stax offers support whenever and however they need it.
Aloha POS System Overview
Aloha POS system, designed by NCR Corporation, is a solution primarily aimed at the hospitality industry, including restaurants, cafes, and bars.
NCR Aloha has several built-in capabilities geared toward restaurants, and some of the most popular ones include order management, tableside ordering, inventory tracking, and more.
On the payments side, the Aloha restaurant POS system leverages NCR’s payment capabilities, which allow merchants to accept EMV, digital wallets, and more.
Stax Payments Features
Since Stax is primarily a payments company, this section will focus on the company’s merchant services. Here are some of the key payment capabilities offered by Stax.
Stax Pay – Dubbed as the “one platform that does it all,” Stax Pay lives up to that promise by enabling businesses to securely accept in-person and online credit card payments.
The specific payment types include:
- Swiped payments
- Keyed payments
- Contactless payments
- Payment invoicing
- Mobile payments
- eCommerce
So whether you’re operating exclusively offline or also selling online, Stax Pay has got you covered.
Beyond accepting multiple payment methods, Stax merchants also enjoy features such as:
- Cloud-based terminals
- Highest level of PCI security
- Data and analytics
- Business integrations
- eCommerce shopping card
- Stax API
- Payment optimizations
- Financial reporting
CardX by Stax – If you prefer to offset credit card processing costs and maximize profitability, you can implement a surcharging program through CardX by Stax.
CardX enables you to implement 0% cost payment processing, which means you keep 100% of every credit card sale. Best of all, CardX ensures you fully comply with local surcharging laws. Our solution automatically complies with rules and regulations, giving you peace of mind to confidently implement surcharging.
POS system add-ons and integrations
One of the best things about Stax is it integrates with leading restaurant POS systems, so you have the flexibility to choose your point of sale system—while still benefiting from Stax’s cost-effective subscription model.
What’s more, Stax supports multiple POS hardware and payment terminals. Our solution has got you covered from Bluetooth-enabled readers to mobile devices and fully-functional POS terminals.
Aloha Restaurant POS System Features
The Aloha POS system has several front-of-house and back-office features designed to streamline restaurant management. Some of its key capabilities include:
- Point of sale
- Customer onboarding
- Payment processing
- Basic loyalty
- Email Marketing
Merchants can also access more features—including online ordering, advanced reporting, gift cards, inventory management, and more—for an additional fee.
As mentioned earlier, the payment capabilities of Aloha are tied to NCR’s merchant services, though you may have the option to choose your own payment processor. That being said, the company does emphasize the benefits of going with NCR as your payment provider.
NCR’s merchant services include the following.
- Next-day funding
- EMV enablement
- Chargeback management
- Payments reporting
- Point-to-point encryption
- Surcharging tools
Stax Payments Pricing
Stax Payments’ subscriptions start at $99 per month. This gives you access to the direct cost of interchange, which means you don’t pay any additional percentage fees per transaction—just a flat membership and per transaction fee.
If you process between $250,000-$500,000 annually in credit card payments, the subscription is $199 per month, and if your volume is above $500,000 per year, then contact us for custom pricing.
Unlike traditional processors, Stax doesn’t take a cut out of your sales, so you get to keep more of your profits.
All Stax subscriptions come with:
- Dashboards and Analytics
- API Key Integration Capabilities
- Digital Invoicing
- Text2Pay Mobile Payments
- Website-Hosted Payment Links
- Securely Stored Customer Credit Cards on File
- Accounting Reconciliation Lite Sync (includes QuickBooks® Online)
- Recurring Invoices & Scheduled Payments
- Automatic Updates for Stored Credit Cards
- One-Click Shopping Cart Setup with Catalog Management
- Data Exports (i.e., transactions, customers)
NCR Aloha POS Pricing
The Aloha POS system and payments solution has two main pricing tiers.
There’s the POS software Starter plan, which starts at $0 per month and comes with the following:
- Cloud-based Point of Sale
- Restaurant Grade Hardware
- Email Marketing & Loyalty
- 24/7 Customer Support
The Starter plan has a payment processing fee of 2.99% + $0.15 per transaction.
You can also add features like Mobile App & Analytics and Online Ordering for an added fee.
The second tier is the Premium version, which starts at $175 per month.
This tier includes everything in the Starter plan, plus Mobile App & Analytics and Online Ordering at no additional cost.
It also has a lower payment processing fee of 2.25% + $0.15 per transaction.
Note: NCR has a higher processing fee (3.5% + $0.15/txn) for non-qualified transactions. It’s unclear what NCR deems as “non-qualified,” so be sure to double-check with the Aloha or NCR team if you’re interested in using their merchant services.
If you’d like to expand the capabilities of the Premium plan, you can add the following features for an additional fee:
- Gift Cards
- Kitchen Production
- Inventory
- Advanced Reporting
- Delivery Marketplace Integration
- Labor Scheduling
User Review for Stax
Stax generally has many favorable ratings across merchant review websites. It has a 4.0-star rating on Trustpilot, 4.4 on US News, and 3.7 on Capterra.
Merchants using Stax appreciate the platform’s functionality, ease of use, and customer support.
“Very good company with excellent customer support. I was very impressed by the knowledge, professionalism, and of both the customer service reps and the service support reps,” writes one merchant on Trustpilot.
Another merchant, who saved $1,000+ on fees, writes:
“Oh man, this is a breath of fresh air. After using Stripe and Square to process payments, we have absolutely loved the simplified pricing structure that Fattmerchant [Stax] uses. Only paying interchange fees and a fixed monthly rate saves us $ 100’s each month.”
User Reviews for Aloha POS
Aloha POS also has solid reviews. G2 gives it a 4-star rating, while Capterra rates it at 3.7 stars.
Customer reviews indicate that Aloha offers top-notch capabilities that fit their restaurant needs.
As one merchant puts it, “Asking the right questions to the right people, NCR can pretty much do anything we request. We use most of your products, including take-out and delivery. I like that everything is integrated. We upgraded to command center from secure access to manager our 7 locations, great software.”
Conclusions and Recommendations
NCR Aloha’s POS solution and Stax Payments are solid options if you’re looking for a payment provider for your restaurant.
Of course, Stax is primarily a payments processor, so there’s not much to compare as far as POS software features are concerned. On the merchant services side, Stax’s subscription model is more advantageous for merchants processing at least $5,000 in monthly credit card volume.
Since NCR offers flat-rate pricing, they take a percentage (2.25% to 3.5%) from every transaction. Stax, on the other hand, simply charges a monthly membership fee.
FAQs
Q: What is a POS System?
A Point-of-Sale (POS) system is a combination of hardware and software that allows businesses to conduct and manage transactions. The Stax and Aloha POS systems are two widely used solutions in the industry.
Q: What is the Stax Payments system?
Established in 2014, Stax is a subscription-based comprehensive payment processing partner. Its unique all-in-one platform supports multiple payment types and integrates with a variety of POS solutions. It is suitable for different business sizes and types, including restaurants.
Q: What is the Aloha POS system?
The NCR Aloha POS system is specifically designed for the hospitality industry, including restaurants, cafes, and bars. Its built-in functions cater to restaurant needs, including order management, tableside ordering, inventory tracking, and more.
Q: What is the pricing of Stax Payments and Aloha POS systems?
Stax Payments start at $99 per month, depending on the annual credit card payment volume. The Aloha POS system’s starter plan begins at $0 per month with a payment processing fee of 2.99% + $0.15 per transaction. The premium plan starts at $175 per month with a lower processing fee.
Q: How do the payment processing fees of Stax and Aloha compare?
Stax’s subscription model is beneficial for merchants who process at least $5,000 in monthly credit card volume. It charges only a monthly membership fee. On the flip side, NCR Aloha uses flat-rate pricing and extracts a percentage (2.25% to 3.5%) from every transaction.
Q: What are the customer reviews of Stax Payments?
Users generally appreciate the platform’s functionality, ease of use, and customer support. It has ratings of 4.0 stars on Trustpilot, 4.4 on US News, and 3.7 on Capterra.
Q: What are the customer reviews of Aloha POS?
Aloha POS has strong reviews for its restaurant-specific capabilities. It holds a 4-star rating on G2 and 3.7 stars on Capterra.
Q: What are some key features of Stax Payments?
Stax Payments offers multiple features such as swiped payments, keyed payments, contactless payments, payment invoicing, mobile payments, eCommerce, cloud-based terminals, highest level of PCI security, data analytics, business integrations, eCommerce shopping card, and financial reporting.
Q: What are some key features of the Aloha POS system?
Aloha POS system offers features such as point of sale, customer onboarding, payment processing, basic loyalty, email marketing, and additional features for online ordering, advanced reporting, gift cards, inventory management, and more for an extra fee.
Q: Can Stax integrate with POS systems?
Yes, Stax integrates with leading restaurant POS systems, giving businesses the flexibility to choose a point-of-sale system while still benefiting from Stax’s cost-effective subscription model.
Q: What payment types does Stax support?
Stax supports multiple payment types, including in-person and online credit card payments, swiped payments, keyed payments, contactless payments, payment invoicing, mobile payments, and eCommerce.
Q: Does Aloha POS offer secure transactions?
Yes, Aloha POS leverages NCR’s payment capabilities, allowing for secure transactions and providing merchants with various features including next-day funding, EMV enablement, chargeback management, payments reporting, point-to-point encryption, and surcharging tools.
Q: Are there any shared features between Stax Payments and Aloha POS?
Both platforms provide robust 24/7 customer support and prioritize secure transactions. Stax ensures security with PCI safeguards, while Aloha leverages NCR’s secure payment capabilities.
