All-in-one EFTPOS that boosts your cash flow.

From splitting payments to surcharging, tipping and sending digital receipts: the functionality of the modern EFTPOS terminal goes above and beyond just settling the bill. We sat down with Bradley Olsson, owner of the Ascot Vale Hotel and Mona Castle Hotel , to talk about using Zeller EFTPOS Terminal, and what specific features have changed the game when it comes to processing payments at speed, improving customer experience, and tracking sales. Payment technology has come a long way over the last ten years. How has your current payment terminal made your experience better than what you’ve used in the past? Bradley: When we started, we were just using the EFTPOS terminal provided by our bank. We were having to deal with a lot of paper dockets, which meant constantly keeping track of them and storing them. We did that for the first 6-12 months, but after a while it just got too hard. When we moved to Zeller the whole process became a lot more streamlined. We were able to send receipts via SMS or email, while still having the option of printing them if a customer wanted one. It meant we only had to have about 10 rolls on site. That was definitely one of the biggest improvements on our old system. How does tracking sales via the payment terminal help you run your business day to day? B: With such fast-paced venues, especially the Ascot Vale Hotel, our staff don’t always have time to put orders through the POS. We have six or seven Terminals, and when it gets really busy, they just get passed around, it’s like hot potatoes. So, it’s crazy how big the discrepancy can be; sometimes, at the end of the night the EFTPOS terminal will have recorded upwards of $6000 more than what has been processed through the POS system. Being able to track the sales through Zeller allows us to reconcile them against those that have been put through the POS, which helps a lot with our P&L at the end of the month. In what ways does Zeller Terminal help you deliver a better customer experience? B: The interface is a lot clearer for the customers. They can see what they're paying for, including the surcharge that's involved. Our bank terminal had such a small screen, plus you’d always have to plug it in, whereas Zeller Terminal is just much more approachable. Zeller has recently introduced a ‘Split Payments’ feature, how has this improved the payment process in your pubs? B: In our dining room which seats about 60-70 people, it really helps. If things are busy, the last thing you want to do is start adding things up in your head. With [Zeller Terminal’s] Split Payments you're just able to offer your customers the option to split it evenly, and away you go. It just helps with processing the payment efficiently, and accurately. Why is it important that your merchant services provider is an Australian company? B: At our venues, we really pride ourselves on that personal approach and knowing someone when they come into the pub. So, I guess it's pretty similar with Zeller. I have personally met a lot of the people who work there. It’s nice to always be dealing with the same people. There’s a personal side to it, and that aligns with what we want to achieve in our business too. Finally, how easy was it for you to get set up with Zeller? B: It was really easy. Someone came in and helped us with the implementation, and the Terminal is pretty self-explanatory. The maintenance looks after itself and when we do need something replaced it's easily done. The app is also very approachable. With one low flat fee of 1.4% per transaction for all card types, including American Express, Zeller is not only helping businesses streamline their payment process, but is also softening the blow of rising overheads. To learn more about Zeller’s all-in-one payments solution, visit www.myzeller.com or contact sales@myzeller.com to negotiate an even lower custom transaction fee, if your business is processing over $250K annually in card payments.

Steeped in the historical infamy of Sydney’s Kings Cross, The Roosevelt has a colourful past going back decades. Originally operating in the 1940s and 50s, the venue was once controlled by the notorious underworld figure Abe Saffron – dubbed ‘Mr. Sin’ – whose powerful influence over Sydney’s nightlife included the original Roosevelt Club. Fast forward to today, and The Roosevelt has been lovingly and creatively reimagined with an American diner meets old-school nightclub-style aesthetic, and is now proudly under the stewardship of Ben Hickey and his partner Naomi Palmer. Hickey has been involved with the venue for over a decade, and since taking ownership eight years ago, has helped transform it into a destination for cocktail lovers, whiskey connoisseurs, and locals looking for a unique experience. Some of The Roosevelt’s most famous offerings are its signature martinis, served ice-cold and with plenty of panache thanks to the power of dry ice. “We do a lot of classic martinis, but we use liquid nitrogen to get the glass as cold as absolutely possible,” says Hickey. “So, you get a really, really cold martini, plus the effect of the liquid nitrogen smoke spreading everywhere.” Also a standout is the eponymous Roosevelt Blazer cocktail. “For this one, we use Diplomatico rum, plus PX that has been infused with date, fig and cinnamon, then serve it flaming at the table. It’s a great winter drink with the  kind of theatrical presentation people love.” A food menu with finesse. While The Roosevelt is best known for its drinks, it also boasts a full food menu featuring a variety of share plates and main courses. Two of the most noteworthy (and droolworthy) options on the menu include the Sydney rock oysters with champagne mignonette and the sirloin steak with cannellini bean, leek, & black pepper jus, both popular choices for guests looking for a refined dining experience. Those with a sweet tooth might opt for the treacle and almond tart with Laphroaig whisky cream or the ‘Noir Nightcap’, made with Jameson Black Barrel, coffee, stout reduction and Frangelico, served affogato style over brandy ice-cream. Better rates. Better features. The Roosevelt’s relationship with Zeller started a few years ago when a friend of Ben’s suggested Zeller could likely offer a better rate than their provider at the time. After switching to Zeller for a better rate and instantly noticing faster payment processing, the next feature The Roosevelt was keen for was a bill-at-table solution, and Zeller delivered. Since implementing Zeller Bill at Table , The Roosevelt has experienced a tangible improvement in patron experience at the end of a sitting. “Before Bill at Table, we had way more people coming up to the till to pay. Or we would drop the bill off and then they’d be holding their phone – but were they ordering an Uber, for example, or ready to pay? It was often awkward,” Hickey reveals. “But with Bill at Table, there’s no ambiguity. It makes the experience much smoother.” For staff, the transition has been intuitive. “Most of our team has worked in hospitality for a while, and even if they hadn’t used this system before, it didn’t take them long to learn.” For The Roosevelt, the way Bill at Table streamlines the payment process makes for quicker table turnover and thus more patrons served. “Now pretty much 95% of our payments are taken at the table,” says Hickey. “On a busy night, when we’re doing 160 covers, the feature is particularly great. People don’t need to worry about their friends forgetting to PayID them or not having the right cash, the bill is settled then and there and then they’re off into the night – and we’re onto the next table.” Tipping the scales in favour of gratuity. Tipping has always been a nuanced topic in hospitality. “Tipping is always tricky. It depends on the group and the situation,” Hickey shares. “Some people always tip, some never do.” With Zeller’s Bill at Table, guests are presented with an itemised bill on the  Zeller Terminal screen before making payment. They can also choose whether they’d like to split the bill and leave a tip with a single tap. “People are definitely more likely to tip when they’re still sitting at the table. If they get up to pay, the feeling of traditional service evaporates and the magic is gone. The awkwardness is removed from the tipping process as the system prompts the tip, meaning the staff don’t have to. It’s seamless.”

When Luke Stringer told people he was opening a new restaurant in an area surrounded by construction sites, people thought he was crazy. But fast forward four years and his modern Australian bistro brainchild is now a Sunshine Coast favourite, recognised by Delicious magazine as one of Queensland’s top steakhouses. We sat down with Luke to learn about the journey he’s been on with Market Bistro, and how Zeller has helped play a small but important role in that journey. Two hospitality veterans combine forces. When COVID forced Luke to return back to Australia from Indonesia, where he’d been running Mason, Fishbone Local and The Back Room for The Brett Hospitality Group, a chance conversation with famed Sunshine Coast restauranteur Tony Kelly paved the way for a future collaboration between the two industry stalwarts. "After long stints in high-profile venues in Melbourne and Brisbane, I moved to Indonesia to run some great fine dining restaurants over there” explains Luke. “But when COVID hit, I came back to Australia, and, being friends with Tony [Kelly] on Facebook, he saw that I was on the Sunshine Coast. He asked me to come on board to manage one of his other restaurants, Spero Greek.” “Within a short period of time we realised we were compatible and we wanted to do more together and he mentioned he wanted to open a bistro. As luck would have it, I actually had a bistro concept that I'd worked on a couple of years ago. So I showed him the idea I’d been working on and he said ‘Exactly that’. So we got to work to make it a reality.” Elevating dining in Maroochydore. Opting for local produce wherever possible, Market Bistro’s menu can best be described as a modern Australian take on a quintessential European-style bistro, specialising in woodfired steaks, fresh seafood, and house-made pasta. The vibe is casual yet stylish, elegant yet unpretentious. Staying true to classic bistro style, the restaurant doesn’t close between lunch and dinner, so guests can drop in anytime for a steak, caviar, crayfish, or a hearty bowl of pasta. The restaurant seats between 120 and 140 patrons and boasts a loyal clientele who return time and again. "The community has really embraced us and we’ve seen many of our regulars grow with us. First the wife is pregnant, then they’re in with a baby, then the baby is running around the restaurant. “I honestly hope in my heart that Market Bistro is the sort of venue that's still there in 20 or 30 years' time, because it feels like it could be. I want to see it become that reliable inner-city style institution where people go there, then their kids go there and so on. It’s very rewarding to grow with the community.” Ditching the ‘big 4’, switching to Zeller. After starting out with a traditional ‘big 4’ bank for EFTPOS payments, Market Bistro switched to Zeller competitor Tyro, but their widely-publicised outage in 2021 caused the business to reconsider its options. "Initially, we were with National Australia Bank. Back in the day, everyone went with a bank because that’s just what you did,” Luke explains. “But then new options popped up, like Tyro. This opened the door for people to stop going with banks by default. But when Tyro went down for three-weeks, we lost confidence in them and temporarily went back to using NAB.” “As a restaurant where 90% of transactions are through EFTPOS terminals , you need to know that if something goes offline, it’ll come back quickly. That’s where Zeller has really excelled for us. Their uptime and the ease of tipping within the Zeller system has been fantastic." Reaching a tipping point. The move to tableside payments has been excellent for both restaurants and customers as it speeds up the process considerably, but a poorly-integrated tipping process meant diners were tipping a lot less. Thankfully, Zeller’s tipping function solved this problem seamlessly. "Tipping became difficult when people stopped signing at the table and started just pressing a keypad – it got lost. It’s just awkward to stand there after someone’s spent $500 and ask for a tip. A lot of tips were missed because of that – not because people didn’t want to tip but because they forgot or they felt like pressing the bank keypad was going to extend the awkwardness.” “I saw another restaurant using Zeller’s tipping function and thought, ‘Why aren’t we doing that?’ The NAB terminal we were using didn’t have that functionality. You had to awkwardly ask, ‘Would you like to leave a tip?’ which no waiter wants to do, especially not the business owner.” “Since switching to Zeller and using the tipping function, we’ve noticed a massive uplift in tips, at least 20-25%. It’s been amazing for my team, many of whom are career waiters. I’m in my 50s, and several of my key employees are too. We’ve been doing this for a living for years, and it’s nice to be rewarded for what we do." "Another phenomenal feature is the ease of splitting bills. We often get tables of 12 who want to split the bill at the end of the night, which can be a nightmare. Zeller makes it simple. You just key in the total amount, divide by the number of people, and take payments. It’s seamless." Luke also highlights the intuitive nature of the Zeller Dashboard, which makes it simple to track transactions and manage payments. "I’m not super tech-savvy, but it’s simple to log in and find what I need. That level of simplicity is invaluable."