FreedomPay and Toast Research Reveals 97% of Hospitality Leaders Surveyed Expressed Confidence in Their Ability to Meet Future Security Goals

New Research Highlights the Critical Need for Secure and Reliable Payment Processing in the Hospitality and Food & Beverage Industries

PHILADELPHIA, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FreedomPay, a global leader in Next Level Commerce™, and Toast, the digital technology platform built for hospitality, announce the results of a new survey, revealing top business considerations for enterprise hospitality leaders: data security, integration, and growth enablement.

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. Security and privacy remain non-negotiable and are foundational expectations for payment solutions, with survey respondents showing broad consensus on their importance year over year.

To deliver truly customer-centric payment experiences, offering various payment options is crucial to overall profits and positively impacts an organization's sense of security, suggesting that flexibility and customer choice are key differentiators in today's competitive landscape.

"Enterprise hospitality leaders are facing increasing pressure to protect sensitive customer data while also delivering seamless and innovative guest experiences," said Chris Kronenthal, President at FreedomPay. "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."

The Enterprise Merchants Needs Assessment Study, conducted in April 2025, surveyed 200 decision makers, including C-level executives, IT decision-makers, and other key influencers in the hospitality industry to understand their key challenges and priorities when selecting payment solutions and POS systems. These findings underscore the evolving landscape of the enterprise hospitality market and the increasing importance of secure, reliable, and customer-centric payment experiences.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Data Security is Paramount: Cybersecurity remains a priority in hospitality, and 97% of survey respondents expressed confidence in their ability to meet future security goals. Emphasizing the need for robust protection against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
• Integration Drives Value: 100% of merchants surveyed find an integrated payment solution could be very or extremely valuable to their organization. 52% of merchants also cite increased data security as a top value of an integrated payment solution, compared to 28% in 2024.
• Growth Enablement is one of the Top Priorities: Scalability is key. 92% think an integrated solution could scale well for their business as it grows.
  

"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."

By prioritizing data security, seamless integration, and reliable performance, FreedomPay and Toast are committed to empowering enterprise hospitality leaders with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of the modern payment landscape and unlock new opportunities for growth.

The research can be found here: https://bit.ly/4n1QFGF

About FreedomPay

FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce™ platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge and enables merchants to unleash the power of pay. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, foodservice, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce.

The company maintains a world-class security environment and was one of the first payment solution providers in North America to be validated by the PCI Security Standards Council. FreedomPay’s robust solutions across payments, security, identity, and data analytics are available in-store, online and on-mobile and are supported by rapid API adoption. The award winning FreedomPay Commerce Platform operates on a single, unified technology stack across multiple continents allowing enterprises to deliver an innovative Next Level experience on a global scale. Learn more at www.freedompay.com

About Toast
Toast [NYSE: TOST] is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a comprehensive platform of software as a service (SaaS) products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, payments, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. We serve as the restaurant operating system, connecting front of house and back of house operations across service models including dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, and retail. Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue, and deliver amazing guest experiences. For more information, visit www.toasttab.com.

Contact:
Jennifer Tayebi Burson for FreedomPay
+1 734 395 0780
jennifer.tayebi@bursonglobal.com

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