Golf Club Card Payment and EPOS Costs
Understand what your club pays to collect memberships, green fees, pro-shop sales and clubhouse takings. Compare the full cost while protecting the member services your team relies on.
What should a golf club compare?
Compare card processing, terminals, EPOS software, booking and membership connections, support and switching costs. Separate card payments from Direct Debit, bank transfers and purchases made from an existing member balance. Use the same payment mix and required functions when asking suppliers to price your club.
In this guide
Map the club’s payment routes
A single club can collect money through reception, a booking website, the pro shop, the bar and its membership system. Start by identifying which business receives each payment and which provider processes it.
| Club activity | Figures and charges to check |
|---|---|
| Membership subscriptions | Separate card payments, Direct Debit, bank transfers and any instalment arrangement. Keep collection and finance charges identifiable. |
| Green fees and visitor bookings | Identify online and counter payments, deposits and balances, booking-platform charges and refunds following cancellations. |
| Pro-shop sales | Confirm whether the shop trades through the club’s merchant account or a separate professional’s business. Include only the activity being quoted. |
| Clubhouse food and drink | Separate direct card payments, cash and member-account spending. Include tills, handheld devices and kitchen or table-service connections where required. |
| Member and competition balances | Record how money enters each account, the payment method used, and any separate software or account-service charges. |
Use the original payment values before processing fees are deducted, with refunds shown separately. The amount reaching the bank can differ because of fees, refunds and settlement timing. Our merchant statement guide explains the starting figures.
Member top-ups: count the card payment once
A club member card can identify a prepaid balance within the club’s system. Spending that balance is different from making a new debit or credit card payment.
A simple example
A member uses a bank card to add £100 to their clubhouse account. They later make four purchases of £25 from that balance, without any further card payments.
The card-processing input is £100 and one card payment. The four later purchases do not add another £100 of card turnover or four more card-processing transactions.
If a £25 purchase uses £10 of existing balance and a fresh £15 bank-card payment, only the £15 is new card activity. Any separate charges for operating the member account still need checking.
These account features are used in golf software: intelligentgolf describes online clubhouse top-ups and member statements, while ClubV1 provides member-card top-up instructions. That does not establish compatibility with a different payment provider or the charges in your club’s contract.
Ask your supplier to show how top-ups, purchases, refunds, discounts and transfers between balances appear in its reports. Keep the member-account records separate from the card-processing totals.
A worked golf-club cost example
Consider a fictional club processing £25,000 through 800 counter card payments and £10,000 through 200 online card payments in one month. These totals already include its card-funded member top-ups. Direct Debit receipts and spending from existing member balances are excluded from card turnover.
| Included item | Calculation | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Counter processing | £25,000 × 1.2%, plus 800 × 5p | £340 |
| Online processing | £10,000 × 1.5%, plus 200 × 10p | £170 |
| Terminal rental | Combined monthly charge | £70 |
| Required EPOS software and connections | Combined monthly charge | £80 |
| Connectivity | Combined monthly charge | £15 |
| Annual service charge | £60 ÷ 12 | £5 |
| Total listed costs | £35,000 of card payments | £680 |
£680 ÷ £35,000 × 100 = approximately £1.94 per £100 of card payments.
This is an overall cost measure, not the contractual processing rate. Card values include any VAT charged to customers; the expense figures use a consistent VAT basis. Refunds, chargebacks, minimum charges, wider club-management costs and one-off setup or exit costs are excluded.
The example gives each service one place in the total. If support or connectivity is already included in a subscription, do not add it again. An annual charge averaged over twelve months is a budgeting figure; it does not change when the bill is payable.
Use the plan comparison calculator to enter separate groups where card categories or channels have different rates. Its projections repeat the entered monthly activity. Use the seasonal calculator for a twelve-month view; where card groups have different rates, enter each month’s complete cost total.
Protect the booking and member services that already work
A lower transaction rate is useful only if the proposed arrangement supports the club’s actual requirements. Ask both the software supplier and payment provider to confirm compatibility with your exact system, version and configuration.
- Tee bookings: demonstrate a visitor payment, deposit, later balance and refund, with the payment matched to the correct booking.
- Memberships: show how a payment updates the member’s account and how different collection methods are recorded.
- Clubhouse accounts: demonstrate top-ups, member prices, split payments and refunds without duplicating card receipts.
- Pro-shop stock: check product records, variants, stock adjustments and reporting, including any separately operated business.
- Daily reconciliation: match card payments, member balances and bank settlements without treating internal balance transfers as new sales.
- Support: confirm help during the club’s trading hours, responsibility for integration faults and the available backup process.
Record licence, gateway, connection and support charges, plus data migration and staff training. Avoid assuming an advertised integration includes every function. Read our guide to changing payment provider while keeping your EPOS before replacing a working system.
Check membership renewals and quieter months
Choose periods that reflect your own club: a membership-renewal month, a busy playing month and a quieter month. Card turnover, visitor mix and payment counts may differ substantially.
Give each provider the same figures for each period. Check any minimum processing charge, introductory rate expiry and equipment that remains payable when trade is quieter. For a full-year estimate, calculate the months individually and add the relevant annual and one-off costs once.
Separately, establish when advance booking receipts become available and how refunds or any reserves are handled. Cash availability matters alongside fees. A refundable reserve is not itself a processing expense.
Prepare a club-specific cost review
Your club manager, secretary or finance team can begin with the following:
- Payment activity: processed values and payment counts for each provider, channel and card category, with refunds separately identified.
- Recurring bills: terminals, till software, required club-system connections, connectivity, support and annual charges.
- Operating requirements: the systems and versions used for memberships, bookings, member accounts, stock and accounts.
- Contract dates: minimum terms, notice periods, promotional expiry dates and written exit or equipment-return charges.
- Switching work: setup, migration, training, testing and any overlap between old and new bills.
Our quotation comparison guide helps structure the supplier discussion. Unknown charges should remain questions to resolve, rather than being entered as zero.
For an initial enquiry, tell us which systems the club uses and what you want to understand. Do not send member lists, bank-card details or unredacted account documents. The calculator can produce a report or missing-information checklist, which you can choose to share through the review request.
Golf-club questions
Does the calculator include our whole membership income?
Include only the amounts processed by the card arrangement being assessed. Membership income collected by Direct Debit or bank transfer needs a separate comparison of those collection costs.
Do member-card purchases create another processing fee?
A purchase paid entirely from an existing club balance does not itself create a new bank-card payment. Check for any separate member-account or software charges in your agreement.
Can we keep ClubV1, intelligentgolf or another club system?
That depends on the proposed provider and your exact configuration. Get written confirmation and a demonstration of the functions you need. EPOS Savings does not certify integrations or promise that a particular provider will connect.
Should the pro shop and clubhouse use one provider?
Compare the cost and operational fit for each part of the club. First establish whether they operate under the same business and merchant agreements. A combined quotation should still identify each required service and each party’s costs.
Does a lower card rate guarantee a saving?
No. Include the fixed charges, payment counts, card mix, required software and switching costs. Compare the same activity over the same period.
Is the calculator free for golf clubs?
Yes. You can check entered costs, compare two plans and download a report or missing-information checklist without registering. An initial review request is optional. Results depend on your inputs and do not independently verify quotations or guarantee savings.
Give your club a clearer payment budget.
Check your current costs, compare an offer or ask us where to start. Include the club’s name and the booking, membership or EPOS systems you use in your enquiry.
No registration required to use the calculator. Entries stay in your open browser page unless you choose to share a report in a review request.
Sources and scope
Primary product references checked on 16 October 2026:
The worked examples are original fictional scenarios. Product references illustrate account and payment workflows, not tested integrations, recommendations or partnerships. Confirm features, eligibility and charges in your written supplier agreements.
Read the calculator method and limitations and about EPOS Savings. This guide explains payment-cost comparisons; it does not provide tax or member-account accounting advice.
Take the next step
Does your trading vary through the year? Use the seasonal card payment cost calculator to total twelve individual months, including quieter periods and the minimum charges you enter.