The machines also ensure that the tips go directly to servers in restaurants rather than into the cashflow of the business

Dublin-based start-up JustTip has come up with a new technology which allows people to tip to servers in restaurants more easily when paying with plastic or other cashless technologies.

The company’s “tap to tip” machines allow consumers to tip with their phone or bank card without going through the cumbersome process of scanning QR codes or entering card details.

The machines also ensure that the tips go directly to servers in restaurants and grab-and-go settings like coffee shops rather than into the cashflow of the business.

JustTip has installed its technology in 16 separate locations during the five weeks it has been operating, including outlets of the Happy Pear food company and the Two Fifty Square coffee chain. It has a further 25 locations signed up and waiting on machines.

The machines are situated beside the till so they’re a direct replacement for a conventional tip jar and in coffee shops and other settings the tips are set at a fixed amount, chief executive James Fahy said.

He said servers in the hospitality industry have borne the brunt of the current Covid-19 crisis and the shift to more cashless methods of payment has squeezed them further. JustTip gives servers the opportunity to earn tips again electronically while also bringing transparency to tipping.

Several recent surveys have indicated that people are less likely to tip when paying by card as they are unsure if it will go to the right person.

And with many businesses and consumers going cashless, fewer and fewer customers are opting to carry cash to tip. The change represents a problem for workers who rely on gratuities.