Blackbird Labs Debuts Check-Settlement Platform for Restaurants

Hospitality tech firm Blackbird Labs has launched a new payments product for restaurants.

“Powered by Blackbird’s new blockchain, the Blackbird Flynet, Blackbird Pay gives restaurants a fresh way to address the ever growing problem of shrinking margins and eroding cash reserves by providing them with their very own end-to-end payments and check settlement network for the first time,” the company said in a news release Tuesday (July 30).

According to the release, restaurants on the network pay on average 2% per transaction while diners can enjoy automatic settlement, not having to wait for the check. In addition, diners can be in “$FLY,” described as “Blackbird’s native rewards points.”

Blackbird Labs was founded by Ben Leventhal, also the co-founder of food and drink magazine Eater and restaurant reservation platform Resy.

“The restaurant business model is broken,” Leventhal told TechCrunch last year after the company raised $24 million. “It can be really expensive to remain at the top of a sea of competition. Operational costs are also at an all-time high, and restaurants need revenue. There’s only two paths forward: creating new revenue streams or creating regulars who’ll want to come back.”

As PYMNTS wrote in June, one of the things that could keep patrons coming back is the option to pay at the table. While QR codes on menus haven’t quite caught on, the technology is finding an audience with diners who are fans of the pay-at-the table concept.

“With that technology (literally) in hand, restaurant-goers pay for their meals with their phones at the point of sale with a device used by the waitstaff,” that report said.

PYMNTS wrote earlier this month that the restaurant sector is facing “a pivotal opportunity with the rise of frictionless digital payments, responding to growing customer demand for convenience.”

Despite these advances, adoption rates have been slow, thanks to the entrenched use of traditional payment methods and ongoing staffing obstacles.

The new PYMNTS Intelligence’s study, “Why More Restaurants Need to Bite Into Digital Transformation,” examines at how consumers are embracing technologies like digital wallets, mobile apps and QR codes because they meet the wishes of tech-savvy diners, while also improving operational efficiency and helping staff to enhance the dining experience.

“To stay competitive in this digital-first era, restaurants must integrate these modern payment solutions to ensure seamless dining experiences and avoid falling behind more innovative competitors,” PYMNTS wrote.