The company behind the counter
Counter Club exists so small stores get the same point-of-sale muscle the big chains have.
Who is Counter Club?
Counter Club sets up point-of-sale systems and card processing for small-format retail across the US: liquor stores, convenience stores, bodegas, small grocers and gas station c-stores.
The stores we serve are independent and usually family-run. Most have been burned by a processor before, which is why the first conversation here is about your statement and your counter rather than a contract.
We sell the register first and the processing rides along with it. That order matters. A store owner is shopping for something that rings up a sale, scans an ID and tracks a case break, not for a rate sheet.
How the model actually works
Counter Club is the front end: the brand you deal with, the people who scope your setup, and the number you call when something breaks. The processing itself runs on an established payments platform, and every merchant account is underwritten and sponsored by a registered bank behind it. That is the standard structure in this industry, and knowing it protects you.
Two things follow from it that we would rather say out loud. We are not a bank, and we cannot approve your account: underwriting is the processor and sponsor bank decision. And nobody honest can promise you a final rate before that review happens, which is why our pricing page publishes the rate card and the conditions attached to it in the same breath.
What is included, without an add-on invoice
At the counter
- Register, card reader and barcode scanning
- Tap to Pay included with every account
- ID scanning for age-restricted sales
- EBT and SNAP with item eligibility and split tender
- Lottery and tobacco scan data workflows
Behind the counter
- Inventory with case breaks and unit tracking
- Analytics dashboard and reporting per location
- Unlimited invoicing and recurring billing
- Text-to-pay links and QR scan and pay
- Secure customer vault and over a hundred integrations
On the money
- Next business day deposits
- Encrypted and tokenized card data
- PCI compliance program with the fee waived on completion
- Real-time dispute alerts and response tools
- No monthly, annual, setup, statement or PCI fee
What we will not do
This industry earned its reputation, so here is the short list of things you will not find on this site or hear on a call.
- No guaranteed approval. That phrase is a warning sign, not a selling point.
- No made-up savings percentage before anyone has read your statement.
- No customer reviews or ratings, because we are not going to write our own.
- No long-term contract, and no early termination fee to trap you in one.
- No teaser rate that resets in month thirteen once you have stopped watching.
What can you expect from Counter Club?
Built around your store type.
A liquor counter, a bodega and a gas station c-store run differently. The setup should match yours, not a generic template.
Honest recommendations.
We ask how your counter actually runs before recommending anything. If your current hardware still works, we say so.
Numbers before signatures.
Hardware, software and processing costs on one page, in writing, before you commit to anything.
No lock-in.
Month to month, in plain English. A system that has to trap you in a contract is telling you something.
Tell us about your store
Tell us about your store and a Counter Club specialist walks you through the register, the card processing and the honest math behind both.