TiPJAR’s Customer FAQ & Support
We exist to help tipped workers earn more.
As we use cash less and less often, many in hospitality have seen their earnings fall significantly.
People still want to tip and say thank you for brilliant service, but without cash it’s becoming harder and harder to do.
TiPJAR is creating a revolution in the world of tipping. Direct, transparent and cashless. It’s better for customers who can have the confidence their tip goes to the people who deserve it, better for staff who get to keep more of their tips, and better for operators who don’t have the headaches and cost of administering card tips.
It’s a triple win!
Most people don’t realise that when you add a tip to your card payment or pay a service charge on the bill, that money doesn’t automatically go to the person who served you. Traditionally, it is collected by the business first, and it is up to the operator how – or even if – that money is shared out amongst staff.
Although many businesses aim to do the right thing, others have historically used these funds in ways customers wouldn’t expect — such as supplementing salaries, covering general business expenses, or even retaining part of the money as profit. Even well-meaning operators can struggle, because distributing tips fairly and legally can be complex, time-consuming, and costly to administer.
The new Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act has now changed the landscape, requiring businesses to pass 100% of qualifying tips to staff and provide full transparency around how they are allocated. However, ensuring compliance still requires the right systems, processes, and documentation.
That’s where TiPJAR comes in.
TiPJAR is an independent, HMRC-approved platform designed to make tip distribution simple, fair, transparent, and fully compliant with UK legislation. By taking operators out of the middle and automating allocation and reporting, TiPJAR ensures:
staff receive their earnings directly
businesses remain compliant without complex administration
customers know their tip is genuinely going to the people who earned it
More money to staff, less administrative burden for operators, and complete transparency for everyone involved.
It’s really simple! When you scan the QR code or click the link you’ll be taken to our responsive website, where you can pay your server a tip with Apple Pay, Google/Android Pay or by entering your credit card (all details of which are stored not by TiPJAR, but by Stripe, our payment provider).
The amount you pay is sent straight to their account and they get the money as soon as we receive it. Where teams share tips, they are able to share them out daily, weekly or monthly, based on the hours each team member has worked.
TiPJAR was built by hospitality workers, for hospitality workers. Founded by James Brown, who has worked in hospitality for over 20 years, doing every job from pot-washer through to becoming a Director of a major hospitality operator, our team is formed of people who know what’s it like at the front end.
James and our whole team were moved to act by the plight of staff seeing their tips dwindle as we all stopped carrying cash, and by the complexity and lack of transparency in the way tips are handled by operators.
Alongside James we have raised support from a number of restaurateurs, technologists and entrepreneurs who see TiPJAR as a huge opportunity to make a positive difference for tipped workers, customers and business owners in hospitality and beyond – in fact anywhere people want to say “thanks” for a job well done!
We can’t avoid the high costs of payment card processing. At the moment, this costs us 20p plus 2.5% of every transaction. It sucks.
BUT, the bigger TiPJAR gets, the lower the card processing fees will be. Tip with TiPJAR and create a revolution!
TiPJAR earns its revenue by charging restaurant, bars and other hospitality venues a software fee.
It’s completely secure. Our system is built using the same security used by most banks and financial institutions. TiPJAR never holds your card information but this goes through our payment processing company, who are one of the largest in the world and operate to the highest standards in the industry. You can find out more here https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe
We don’t use your data for any other reason than getting your tip to the tipped worker, and won’t use it for marketing or anything else unless you choose to opt in.
If you want to close your account, you can do so by submitting a request to our team.
When you tip you can choose to share your profile information with the recipient – that way they’ll know it was you!
If you prefer, you can also tip anonymously.
TiPJAR operates as a commercial agent to our tipped worker users. We agree a contract which each of them to collect tips on their behalf.
When you tip, we’ll show you the exact amount that the recipient will receive.
Tips that have been received by your employer and then are to be distributed by TiPJAR have to be taxed before they are distributed.
We send the tax to HMRC and the tips after tax are sent to your personal TiPJAR.