A new survey recently conducted by a pair of technology point-of-sale platforms in FreedomPay and Toast revealed data security, integration and growth enablement as top considerations for hospitality leaders.
The Enterprise Merchants Needs Assessment Study—conducted in April—surveyed 200 decision makers, including C-level executives, IT decision-makers and other key influencers in the hospitality industry to understand their motivation when selecting payment solutions and POS systems. The research highlights the critical need for secure and reliable payment processing, underscoring the evolving landscape of the enterprise hospitality market and the increasing importance of secure, reliable and customer-centric payment experiences, according to Philadelphia, Pa.-based FreedomPay.
“Enterprise hospitality leaders are facing increasing pressure to protect sensitive customer data while also delivering seamless and innovative guest experiences,” Chris Kronenthal, president at FreedomPay, said in a statement. “Our Next Level Commerce platform is uniquely positioned to address these challenges by providing a secure, integrated and scalable payment solution that empowers merchants to thrive in today’s competitive market and create exceptional customer experiences.”
“With security and integration top of mind, enterprise brands need solutions that can scale with their businesses,” said Kelly Esten, chief marketing officer at Toast. “These findings underscore the importance of understanding the unique needs of the enterprise hospitality segment and providing comprehensive solutions that meet these evolving demands.”
The survey revealed that cybersecurity remains a priority in hospitality and some 97% of survey respondents expressed confidence in their ability to meet future security goals. Respondents also emphasized the need for robust protection against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Another key finding was that integration drives value with 100 percent of merchants indicating an integrated payment solution could be very or extremely valuable to their organization. Further, 52 percent of merchants also cite increased data security as a top value of an integrated payment solution, compared to 28 percent in 2024.
Finally, the survey showed that growth enablement is one of the top priorities for hospitality decision makers with scalability being key. Some 92 percent of respondents think an integrated solution could scale well for their business as it grows.