The average dental practice loses $25,000–$40,000 a year to credit card processing fees. Cash discounting eliminates them — without changing your fee schedule, your workflow, or your patient experience.
PPO write-offs, rising supply costs, and a competitive hygienist market are squeezing margins from every direction. Processing fees are one of the few costs you can eliminate overnight.
The typical dental practice spends 60 cents of every dollar on overhead before the owner sees a dime.
Insurance fee schedules slash your per-procedure revenue — and you still pay processing fees on what's left.
Cash discounting eliminates the fee entirely. You keep 100% of what you collect.
This isn't abstract. Here's what processing fees actually cost on the procedures you do every day — at a 3.5% effective rate.
| Procedure | Patient Pays | You Lose |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning + exam | $250 | $8.75 |
| Crown (porcelain) | $1,200 | $42.00 |
| Invisalign case | $5,000 | $175.00 |
| Single implant + crown | $4,500 | $157.50 |
| Full-mouth rehab | $30,000 | $1,050.00 |
| Monthly total (est. $75K collections) | $2,625 | |
Plug in your monthly card collections and see what you'd keep.
Based on 3–4% effective rate. The average GP collects $65K–$120K/month on cards.
5-minute application. Most practices approved within 24 hours.
Pre-configured and shipped to your office. Plug it in at the front desk — it works alongside your existing practice management software.
The terminal handles cash discount calculations automatically. Card patients pay posted prices. Cash/check patients see a small discount. You pay zero processing fees.
"Between PPO write-offs and processing fees, we were giving away almost half of every crown. EmeraldPay eliminated one of those problems overnight. Not a single patient has said a word."
"Our front desk was hesitant at first. After the first week they forgot it was even a change. We saved enough in year one to upgrade our digital X-ray system — something we'd been putting off for two years."
"I run two locations. Processing fees were costing me more than my marketing budget combined. Now those fees are zero across both offices. The Clover terminals look great and the team picked them up immediately."
Your front desk team is already juggling insurance verification, scheduling, and patient communication. Adding cash discounting doesn't add to their workload — here's why.
Your team doesn't calculate anything. The Clover terminal automatically applies the cash discount and displays both prices. All they do is process the payment the way they always have.
"We offer a small discount for cash or check payments." That's it. Most patients won't ask — and the ones who do are usually happy to hear about the option.
Your posted fees don't change. Card-paying patients pay exactly what they've always paid. Cash patients simply get a small discount. Nobody pays more than before.
Cash discounting applies to whatever the patient owes at checkout — copays, deductibles, cosmetic procedures, payment plan installments. The terminal handles it the same way regardless.
Professional hardware that fits your front desk. Real integrations with tools your practice actually uses.
Practice owners are using their savings to solve the problems they've been putting off.
A part-time hygienist costs $30K–$40K/year. Your processing fee savings could cover that hire — and the revenue they generate pays for itself.
Digital X-rays, an intraoral scanner, or a CBCT unit. Equipment that increases case acceptance and lets you do more in-house.
Top practices spend 3–7% of revenue on marketing. Your fee savings could fund an entire SEO + Google Ads campaign.
After years of reinvesting everything, you can pay yourself what you're worth. $25K+ back in your pocket isn't a rounding error.
Yes — legal in all 50 states. Surcharging adds a penalty to credit card transactions and is restricted in some states. Cash discounting offers a reward for paying cash, with your posted price as the card price. It's treated differently under the law and has no state-by-state restrictions.
Yes. Cash discounting applies to whatever the patient pays at checkout — copays, deductibles, out-of-pocket balances, cosmetic procedure payments. The discount is applied at the point of payment.
No. Your posted fees stay the same for card-paying patients. Cash patients see a small discount. Card patients pay exactly what they've always paid. Nothing changes in your practice management software.
EmeraldPay provides a pre-configured Clover terminal. It arrives ready to process — plug it in at your front desk and connect to your network. If you have multiple locations, we can set up terminals at each one on a single account.
Most practices are live within 48–72 hours of approval. We handle terminal configuration and shipping. You apply, get approved, and start saving.
We'll walk you through pricing and terms during the application process. Everything is straightforward and transparent — no hidden fees.
Book a free 15-minute call with Chris. He works with dental practices every day and can walk you through exactly how this works for your office. No pressure.
Apply in 5 minutes. Most practices are approved within 24 hours and live within the week.