Heartland POS pricing: what Heartland publishes
Heartland's retail POS is promoted with a $0 start. Everything that makes that $0 possible is published too — in the footnote. This page reads the footnote.
A note on how this page was checked. heartland.us returned HTTP 403 to every automated request made on 17 September 2026, across the point-of-sale page and the site root, so nothing here could be re-fetched programmatically. The figures below are recorded as read on Heartland's own point-of-sale page on 17 September 2026. Anything not stated below was not published on that page on that date, and should be requested from Heartland in writing.
The published offer
Heartland promotes Heartland Retail with a start-for-$0 headline, stating no subscription fee, no setup fee, no hardware fee and no shipping fee. Taken on its own, that is as low as a published headline gets. It is also the headline that changes most once the footnote is read, which is why the footnote deserves its own table.
| Condition | What it means for the buyer |
|---|---|
| Subject to approval | The offer is not automatic; underwriting decides |
| Payments must be processed through Heartland | Processing is locked to the provider for the life of the deal |
| Up to ten stations | A larger store or a multi-site retailer falls outside the offer |
| Three-year contract | The commitment is 36 months, not month to month |
| 4% cash discounting programme required | A pricing model your customers see at the till, not only a back-office setting |
| Early termination fee may apply | An exit cost exists; the amount is not published |
| At least two months of processing statements | A quote requires evidence of existing card volume |
| $250,000 minimum annual processing volume | Roughly $20,800 a month in card sales; below that, the offer does not apply |
| $150 per station where no statements are provided | A new business with no history pays per station instead |
| Quote valid 15 days | The figures expire quickly, which compresses the time to compare |
Reading the offer as a whole
Read as a whole, the offer funds software and hardware out of three years of card processing at a volume verified from your statements, with a customer-funded pricing model on top. That is a recognised way to sell a POS, and publishing the conditions is better practice than leaving them to a verbal pitch. It does mean the honest comparison is not "$0 versus $89 a month" — it is three years of Heartland's card rate plus a cash discounting programme against a monthly fee and a rate you can see. Only one of those numbers is published.
What Heartland does not publish
- Its processing rates. No percentage, no per-transaction amount, no split by card type or channel. Since the offer requires processing through Heartland for three years, this is the single largest number in the deal and it is not on the page.
- Standard subscription pricing. What Heartland Retail costs per month for a merchant who does not qualify for, or does not want, the promoted offer.
- The early termination fee amount. Stated to be possible, never quantified.
- Renewal and notice terms. What happens at the end of the three years, and how much notice is needed to stop it.
- Hardware list prices outside the offer, and what happens to the hardware if the agreement ends early.
- Restaurant POS pricing, which is quoted rather than published.
The cash discounting condition deserves its own thought
Requiring a 4% cash discounting programme is a condition about how your customers pay, not just about how you are billed: the card-paying customer sees a higher price than the cash-paying customer, and the difference offsets your processing cost. It is visible at the till, it affects how prices are displayed, and it is governed by state law and card network rules on disclosure, signage and receipt wording — so confirm it is permitted for your business in your state before accepting it as a condition of a $0 headline.
What to settle before signing
- The processing rate in full — percentage and per item, by card type and channel — in writing, for all three years.
- The early termination fee, as a formula or an amount, with a worked example at month 12.
- What happens at the end of the 36 months: does it renew, for how long, and what notice stops it.
- Whether the hardware becomes yours, must be returned, or is charged for if the agreement ends early.
- Whether the $250,000 minimum is a qualification test at signing or an ongoing obligation, and what happens in a year you fall below it.
- Written confirmation that the 4% programme is disclosed to customers in the manner your state and the card networks require.
How an independent agent's quote differs
We place the merchant account with a processor separately from the POS and name every line: interchange as the card networks publish it, network assessments, and our markup on its own line. You can then price a $0 bundled offer against a quote where the rate is visible, over the same 36 months, and pick whichever wins on total cost rather than on the headline. The free statement analysis does that arithmetic from your own last three months — which, conveniently, is roughly the same paperwork Heartland asks for to quote.
Related reading
- POS pricing compared: what ten providers publish
- Toast POS pricing: what Toast publishes
- Cash discount vs surcharge: the difference that matters
- Early termination fees and liquidated damages clauses
- Retail payment processing and POS
Sources
- Heartland, point of sale, as read 2026-09-17 (the site returns HTTP 403 to automated requests, so it could not be re-fetched when this page was written): heartland.us
Heartland is a trademark of its owner and is used here for identification only. CELER Merchants is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, this company. Prices and terms change; confirm current pricing with the provider before deciding.
Related questions
Heartland promotes a $0 start for Heartland Retail with no subscription, setup, hardware or shipping fee, as recorded on its point-of-sale page on 17 September 2026. The footnote attaches conditions: approval, processing through Heartland, up to ten stations, a three-year contract, a required 4% cash discounting programme, a minimum annual processing volume of $250,000, at least two months of statements, and a possible early termination fee. Those conditions are the price of the $0.
Not published. The standard subscription price for Heartland Retail, outside the promoted $0 start, does not appear on the page.
Not published. No percentage, per-transaction amount or rate by card type appears on the point-of-sale page. Because the offer requires processing through Heartland, that unpublished rate is the largest recurring number in the deal.
The footnote conditions the offer on running a 4% cash discounting programme. In a cash discount or surcharge model, card-paying customers are charged more than cash-paying customers, which shifts part of the processing cost onto the guest. Whether that is permitted and how it must be disclosed depends on your state and on the card network rules, so it is worth checking before agreeing to it as a condition.
Not published. The footnote states that an early termination fee may apply, without an amount. On a three-year term, that amount should be obtained in writing before signing.
Send one statement. Every fee named, back, usually within 4 hours.
It is free, there is nothing to sign and nothing to cancel. We read your current merchant statement line by line, name every fee on it — including the ones buried in the fee schedule — work out your true effective rate, and send the written analysis back, usually within 4 hours. Do not want to wait? Call 1-888-705-7896 and we will read your statement with you on the call in about 5 minutes.
Every fee named, usually within 4 hours. Or call now and we quote you on the spot.
Everyone else in this industry says twenty-four hours. We say four — and if that is still too slow, pick up the phone and get your numbers while you are on the call. No contract, nothing to cancel, no pressure.