It Turns Out Those Fancy iPad Cash Registers Are Making Us Pay Way More

Picture this: You’re at a sandwich shop or coffee joint, and when you go to pay, the iPad screen in front of you prompts you to tip. The cashier is right there, watching you, and the screen is giving you the option to quickly add on a 10, 15 or 20 percent tip… What do you do?

It turns out that most of us end up tipping, and much more than we would if we’re paying with cash or card.

In fact, according to Skift, quick-service restaurants that switched to one digital payment platform (Toast) saw customers tip on 60 percent of credit card purchases, up from 28 percent when they were doing things the old-fashioned way (not paying on an iPad with a tip prompt).

This is a good thing, both for employees and business owners. Those working at the counter get a boost in their take-home wages, and employers can relax a little knowing that their employees are enjoying a wage hike, meaning they’re less likely to leave for better-paying jobs elsewhere.

For customers, this means better, more consistent service, and more reason to keep tipping.

Because these systems are mostly used at places without traditional waiter service, they’re not the sorts of places where people usually feel compelled to leave a full 20 percent. But when you can easily click a button and add a dollar or two to your transaction, it seems like more and more people are going for it.

Maybe instead of replacing employees with machines like some restaurants are trying to do, businesses can just switch to a digital payment system instead.

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