Online Payments on Your Restaurant Website: Deposits, Gift Vouchers and Orders Handled Safely

Almost every restaurant now collects money through its own website in more than one place: a deposit when a guest books a table, a gift voucher someone buys as a present, or an order for pickup or delivery. Yet most owners only start thinking about how that actually works once something goes wrong, like a failed payment or a guest who isn’t sure their card details are safe. This article lays out which payment moments your restaurant website has, which payment methods to offer, and how to arrange all of it safely and clearly.

Which payment moments does your restaurant website have?

Payments on your website rarely happen in just one place. Once you recognise these three moments, you’ll know exactly where to start with which integration.

• Deposit or guarantee for a booking. To reduce no-shows, you ask for a small deposit or a card guarantee for larger groups or busy evenings, through your booking system.
• Gift voucher. A guest buys a voucher in advance that gets redeemed at your restaurant later, for example through Gifty or Givacard.
• Online order. A guest pays directly for pickup or delivery, for example with Powered By SOUS.

For each of these moments, you don’t set up payment separately: you use the integration that already belongs to it: your booking system, your gift voucher platform, or your ordering module. That way you never have to build a separate payment environment yourself.

Which payment methods should you offer?

What your guests can use depends on the integration processing the payment. Most platforms support at least:

• iDEAL: the most-used payment method for Dutch guests, straight from their own bank.
• Bancontact: the Belgian equivalent of iDEAL, essential if you also serve Belgian guests.
• Credit card (Visa, Mastercard): important for international guests and tourists.
• Apple Pay and Google Pay: fast checkout on mobile, increasingly used on the go.

If in doubt, offer at least iDEAL and credit card: together they cover the vast majority of guests. If you get a lot of tourists, turn on Bancontact and Apple Pay or Google Pay too. It costs you nothing extra and lowers the barrier to paying.

Who actually processes the payment?

Your website itself never touches card details. The integration you use, whether that’s your booking system, gift voucher platform, or ordering module, works with its own payment provider that handles the transaction. Sitebite only displays that integration’s widget on your site; the money and the data flow outside your website, directly between your guest, the integration, and the payment provider.

That’s good news: you don’t need your own merchant account, provider contract, or separate security setup. You choose and manage everything inside the tool you’re already using.

Is paying online through your website safe?

Yes, as long as you work with recognised parties. A few things you can safely assume with an established integration:

• PCI DSS certification. Payment providers are required to comply with this; card details are processed encrypted and never stored visibly on your end.
• Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). Under PSD2, the bank does extra identity checks on larger payments, for example with an app notification. That happens automatically; you don’t have to set anything up for it.
• A clear confirmation. Always show or email a guest a confirmation after payment, so there’s no doubt about whether it went through.

Not sure about a lesser-known platform? Check whether it uses a recognised payment provider and whether the company is based in the EU. That prevents surprises later.

Step-by-step: setting up online payments on your restaurant website

1. Decide which payment moment to tackle first: deposit, gift voucher, or order.
2. Choose the matching integration, for example your booking system for a deposit, or Gifty or Givacard for a gift voucher.
3. Turn on the payment methods you want (iDEAL, credit card, Bancontact, Apple Pay or Google Pay) in that integration’s own settings.
4. Add the matching widget to your Sitebite website through Integrations.
5. Run a small test payment before you go live.
6. Add a short explanation or a link to your cancellation policy at the payment step, so guests know exactly where they stand.

If you use connecting FRANK to your restaurant website for bookings, you set up the deposit or guarantee in that widget itself, the same way as described above.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to set up something separately for each payment method on my website?

No. You configure payment methods within the integration itself: your booking system, gift voucher platform, or ordering module. Sitebite only shows the widget; there’s nothing to set up at the website level.

Can I ask for a deposit without charging the card right away?

Some booking systems offer a card guarantee without an immediate charge: your guest’s card is put on file, and you only charge it in case of a no-show. Check your system’s settings, or read more on reducing no-shows.

Which payment method costs my restaurant the most?

Transaction fees vary by provider and method; credit card is usually a little higher than iDEAL. Check the rates in the dashboard of the integration you use, since those differences mostly sit outside what Sitebite itself controls.

Can I offer several payment moments at the same time on my site?

Yes, that works fine side by side. A deposit for bookings, a gift voucher, and an ordering module can each run through their own integration and widget without getting in each other’s way.

Want to set up online payments smartly and safely on your restaurant website? Try Sitebite for free and connect the integrations you need.