Payments Dive
The payments company that caters to restaurants reached that quarterly record after significant expansion this year.
Toast, a provider of payments processing services to the restaurant industry, topped $100 billion in annualized payments in the third quarter for the first time since it was founded more than a decade ago.
“We surpassed $100 billion in annualized (gross payment volume) for the first time,” CEO Chris Comparato told analysts on an earnings conference call Thursday. “These results are a testament to the consistent execution of our core strategy, driving location growth, deepening our ability to serve all segments of the restaurant industry, and delivering product innovation.”
The number of locations using the company’s services jumped to 74,000 in the quarter, up 40% from the year-earlier period, the company said in the Nov. 10 press release. The company’s founders launched Toast services in 2012 at a bar they frequented, according to CNBC.
The Boston-based company combines point-of-sale hardware with software for payroll administration and marketing, among other services. Toast also offers loans for restaurants through a lending program.
“Our community grew rapidly as we added more restaurants to our platform and as the percentage of live customers on our platform using four or more modules continued to increase,” the CEO said during the call. “The industry continues to rebound from the impact of COVID-19,” he added, noting that the company’s gross payment volume mirrored that recovery in the third quarter.
Still, Toast reported a third-quarter net loss that narrowed to $98 million, from a loss of $254 million in the year-earlier quarter. Some analysts suspect it may achieve profitability on an adjusted basis next year.