Head to head
Compared side by side on published facts and the same six criteria every review is graded on — generated from the live directory, not a sales page.
Bank of America Merchant Services
Payment Processor · 3.0/5 mean
Bank of America Merchant Services is a large, bank-integrated payment processing solution ideal for existing BofA business checking customers who value brand stability, seamless funding, and broad payment acceptance though it lags behind fintech competitors on pricing transparency, modern integrations, and third-party review scores.
Read the full review →Toast POS
Payment Processor · 3.3/5 mean
Toast POS is the leading all-in-one cloud-based restaurant management platform, purpose-built for the food service industry with deep features for ordering, payments, payroll, and analytics, but comes with restrictive multi-year contracts, mandatory payment processor lock-in, and a history of transparency controversies.
Read the full review →Toast POS holds the higher standing — by grade, then mean category score. The row-by-row picture below is what should actually decide it for your business.
Both graded against the same six criteria. How we grade · Last fact-checked August 19, 2026 and September 2, 2026.
| Criterion | Bank of America Merchant Services | Toast POS |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing transparency | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Feature set | 4.0 | 5.0wins this criterion |
| Ease of use | 3.0 |
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
| Metric | Bank of America Merchant Services | Toast POS |
|---|---|---|
| Online rate | 2.99% + .30 | 3.50% + $0.15 (Visa/MC/Discover); 3.89% + $0.15 (Amex) |
| Monthly fee | No standard monthly fee on the simplified pricing plan; POS software solutions require a monthly subscription fee | $69 (for Point of Sale) |
| Payout | Next business day for all merchants (settlement to a required BofA business checking account) | 1-2 business days |
| Contract | No length of term required. No penalty for closing the account. | Toast requires a two-year contract for most plans, with some promotional offers requiring three-year commitments. Contracts auto-renew for successive one-year periods. |
| In-person rate | 2.65% + .10 | 2.49% + $0.15 per transaction (Point of Sale plan); 3.09% + $0.15 per transaction (Starter Kit) |
| Keyed rate |
From the Bank of America Merchant Services review
Toast is built specifically for food service, with restaurant-grade hardware, offline mode, and an all-in-one platform that a generalist bank processor cannot match. Bank of America Merchant Services still holds up for restaurants that want month-to-month flexibility, since Toast requires multi-year contracts with processor lock-in.
Pick Toast POS if you run a restaurant and want purpose-built POS, kitchen display, and online ordering
Ideal for
Not recommended for
Ideal for
Not recommended for
The full reviews carry the pricing narratives, contract analysis and everything else behind these numbers — or let the matching funnel score the whole directory against your business.
| Customer support | 3.0 | 3.0 |
|---|
| Contract terms | 3.0wins this criterion | 2.0 |
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| Industry reputation | 3.0 | 4.0wins this criterion |
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| 3.50% + $0.15 |
| 3.50% + $0.15 |
| Chargeback fee | Not disclosed | Not publicly listed; industry standard (~$15–$25) |
|---|
| Early termination | No early termination fees on simplified pricing plan. Older/legacy contracts through Fiserv/First Data had ETFs up to $500. | The remaining software subscription fees for the rest of the term (Merchant Agreement s8.4); the $150-per-remaining-month formula applies only to pay-as-you-go subscriptions. Hardware costs may also apply if cancelled early. |
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| Last fact-checked | August 19, 2026 | September 2, 2026 |
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