Swish in restaurants: payment flow, QR codes and reconciliation

A QR code can simplify payment, but it does not by itself explain how the POS knows the right bill has been paid. Start by choosing the payment workflow and assigning responsibility for confirmation.

A number and an integration are different

With a business service, guests can pay the venue’s Swish number. A static QR code can fill in the recipient and other details. Staff need to verify that the correct amount arrived and match it to the bill.

Swish Handel supports integrated API workflows where payment requests can contain an amount and reference. The POS or payment service can receive status for that specific payment. Swedbank describes Företag and Handel; exact agreements and connections depend on the bank or payment provider.

A sign with a Swish number or generic table code therefore does not automatically link to an open bill. Ask the supplier to show how references are carried through and what happens when two guests pay the same amount at once.

How an integrated payment should work

Staff or the guest select Swish for the correct amount. The guest opens Swish and approves on their own phone using Mobile BankID. The payment solution receives the result and the POS can show the status.

An initiated flow or displayed QR code is not completed payment. Investigate status before retrying after an interruption. Adyen’s Swish documentation describes its payment flow and technical prerequisites.

Verify receipt and check QR codes

Use the POS confirmation, provider report or business recipient view. An image on the guest’s phone is insufficient. Swedbank specifically warns about fake confirmation screens.

Regularly check that printed QR codes have not been covered or replaced and that the correct business appears as recipient. Give staff a process for wrong amounts, wrong recipients and unclear status.

Receipts and refunds are separate tasks

Swish is treated like card payment under Swedish cash-register rules. A restaurant subject to those requirements must record the relevant sale in the POS. See the Swedish Tax Agency’s guidance. Swish confirmation does not replace a sales receipt.

Test a refund and trace it to the original payment and POS return. Banks and payment services offer different workflows; Swedbank’s Handel guide describes full and partial refunds. An approved payment does not remove the need to resolve an incorrect purchase.

Costs, limits and payouts

Request prices for the actual service: payment and refund fees, fixed charges, connection and any POS integration. There is no universal Swish commission for every restaurant. Limits also depend on the bank, agreement and payer’s circumstances.

The bank’s ordinary business service sends money directly to the connected account, according to its product information. If payments are handled through a platform, check that platform’s settlement and payout terms. Do not confuse a completed Swish payment with the timing of a consolidated payout.

Test the venue’s actual setup

Vendion offers integrated Swish in its payment solution. Review connection and business approval before activation. Test an ordinary bill, partial payment, interruption, refund and daily reconciliation. Swish and Vendion require internet, so both guest and restaurant connectivity matter.

See Vendion live and follow a Swish payment from the correct bill to confirmation and receipt.