Not one we lead with. We can board this if you want it. It is not one we know inside out, so we would be setting it up rather than advising you on it — and we would tell you that before you signed anything. Talk it through with us.
POS · Union
Union
iOS-based venue operating system for high-volume bars — and it is processor agnostic.
- Bar & nightlife
- Restaurant
- Attractions
An independent assessment. Vigilant can place Union, and is paid the same either way — which is why the drawbacks are on this page too.
What it is
Union calls itself a venue operating system rather than a POS, which is marketing, but the underlying design choices are real. It runs on iOS hardware including iPhone, it is payment-processor agnostic, and it includes a funded rewards and recommendation programme aimed at lifting average check.
The target is high-volume nightlife: bars, clubs and venues where speed at the rail and tab management under pressure decide the night. Guest-led ordering, offline mode, CRM, loyalty, real-time guest data and 24/7 live support are all in the base product rather than sold as tiers.
Processor agnostic is the line worth underlining. Most bar POS systems in this price band bundle the merchant account. Union does not, which means the rate stays negotiable after you install.
Who it fits
Best for
High-volume bars, nightclubs and venues that want speed, iOS hardware and the ability to shop the processing separately.
Probably not ideal for
Quiet full-service dining rooms and retail. This is built for volume and it is priced for venues that have it.
Key capabilities
- Venue speed
- Built for high-volume service, with offline mode so a dropped connection does not stop the rail.
- iOS native
- Runs on iOS hardware including POS on iPhone.
- Processor agnostic
- The merchant account is not bundled — you keep the ability to reprice.
- Rewards engine
- A Union-funded rewards and recommendation programme aimed at check size.
- Guest data
- CRM and real-time guest insight rather than a nightly total.
- Support
- 24/7 live support covering software, hardware and connectivity.
Strengths and tradeoffs
Strengths
- Processor-agnostic at a size where almost nobody else is — the rate stays negotiable after you install.
- Built on iOS, including POS on iPhone, so hardware is familiar and replaceable off the shelf.
- Offline mode, which for a rail on a Saturday night is the difference between trading and not.
- A Union-funded rewards and recommendation programme aimed at check size rather than at your margin.
- Real-time guest data and CRM in the base product rather than sold as a tier.
- 24/7 live support covering software, hardware and connectivity together.
Tradeoffs
- Built for volume and priced for venues that have it — a quiet dining room will not see the value.
- Less familiar brand locally, so you are buying on the demo and on our word rather than on reputation.
- Because processing is separate, comparing it to a bundled quote takes real arithmetic — total cost, not the software line.
- Not a retail system and not a fit for table-service fine dining.
- Smaller ecosystem of third-party integrations than the big cloud platforms.
Pricing
Subscription plus your own processing. Because the rate is not bundled, compare it against a bundled quote on total cost, not on the software line.
Pricing reflects what the vendor publishes or what we have seen quoted. Your actual terms depend on volume, card mix and what is negotiated — which is the part we do.
Vigilant's assessment
The processor-agnostic design is genuinely unusual at this size, and it is why Union gets on a bar's shortlist even though the name is less familiar. Just compare it properly: bundled quotes hide the rate in the software price, and this one does not.
How it compares
Three systems for a room doing volume. Union and RPOWER both keep your processing negotiable; SpotOn trades that away for a support relationship.
| Criterion | RPOWER On-premise, processor-agnostic | Union iOS venue system | SpotOn Cloud, service-led |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best at | Uptime and raw speed at the rail | Venue operations with guest data and rewards | Service and hand-holding |
| Architecture | On-premise server | iOS, cloud with offline mode | Cloud |
| Processing | Your choice, changeable | Agnostic — negotiate separately | Bundled |
| Check-size tools | Standard discounting and upsell prompts | Funded rewards and recommendation engine | Loyalty and marketing modules |
| Hardware | Purpose-built, owned | Off-the-shelf iOS, including iPhone | SpotOn hardware |
| Support | Developer plus local dealer | 24/7 live, covering connectivity too | 24/7 plus a named local rep |
| Best size | High-volume, single or multi | High-volume venues | One to a handful of rooms |
| Watch out for | Dated look; setup effort | Priced for volume; smaller integration ecosystem | Rate locked once signed |
| Pick it when | Downtime is the risk you are managing | You want iOS, guest data and rate freedom | You want somebody to call |
Verdict. Union when you want modern iOS hardware and a rate you can renegotiate. RPOWER when the building has to keep trading through anything. SpotOn when the relationship matters more than the basis points.
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