British FinTech start-up thankyü has introduced an innovative solution designed to support hospitality staff, gig workers, and musicians by enabling seamless and direct tipping through a customer’s phone.
The new wearable tipping band, known as the TipTapb comes at a critical time for the hospitality sector, which faces increasing financial pressures, according to FF News.
On April 1st, the National Insurance rate for employers will rise to 15 per cent, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief will be reduced from 75 per cent to 40 per cent, and the National Minimum Wage will increase to £12.21(US$15.60) per hour.
These changes will significantly impact businesses, with some, such as cafes earning £20,000 annually in tips, facing an additional £3,000 in National Insurance Contributions (NIC).
thankyü is pioneering the first decentralised peer-to-peer tipping platform, powered by payments technology firm Viva.com and Mastercard Move.
The solution ensures that employees receive and manage their tips instantly, without deductions at source, while employers are relieved from paying NIC on these transactions.
The thankyü platform is designed to streamline the tipping process. Users can collect tips directly into their personal digital wallets and withdraw them at their convenience.
The app also generates financial records to assist workers with tax self-assessment and credit applications, facilitating loan and mortgage approvals.
thankyü’s TipTap band, featuring NFC (Near-Field Communication) technology, allows customers to tap their phone on the wearable to send a tip directly to the server’s account. Customers can also tip via an in-app QR code.
Once the tip is sent, they can provide a star rating, and funds are settled into the recipient’s bank account every Tuesday, or sooner if requested.
The platform has already been trialled successfully at Hull’s Nibble Café and the Polar Bear Music Club, demonstrating its effectiveness for both hospitality workers and musicians. The thankyü app is available for free on Apple and Google Play stores.
The solution is compliant with the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, which mandates fair and transparent tip distribution. Before the act, tips were often pooled and distributed after up to 60 days, leading to concerns over fairness and transparency.
thankyü offers two tipping options for staff:
thankyü Now: A pay-as-you-go model where staff pay 5 per cent per transaction.
thankyü Freedom: A subscription-based model where staff receive cashback on platform charges, a free TipTap band, and a complimentary tastecard worth £79.99 annually, providing discounts at popular UK restaurant chains.
thankyü founder Gerard Toplass, a seasoned entrepreneur with two decades of experience in technology and services, emphasised the importance of supporting service industry workers. He said, “This is a tough time for the hospitality and service industry. Rising National Insurance and reduced business rates relief will make it harder for businesses and an increasingly cashless society means there’s less money for physical tips that go straight to staff, which can account for 40 per cent of their income.
“But surveys show over 80 per cent of customers want to tip using their cards or integrated wallets but want to make sure the person serving them actually gets the tip.
“That’s why we created thankyü. We want to ensure staff have the ability to keep up to 100 per cent of their tips so they can earn more money and get paid faster. We want to treat hospitality and service staff as the key workers they are.”
Founder of the Nibble Café in Hull, Anna Lamb highlighted the administrative burden of handling tips manually. She said, “I’ve always wanted a system where we could cut out the middleman so the staff could get the tips directly without NI being taken off and thankyü seems to be the answer.”
Director of the Polar Bear Music Club in Hull, Rose Barker also praised the innovation, particularly for musicians. She said, “thankyü is perfect for us as we can offer it to the bar staff to earn more tips and for musicians to get more donations. There’s lots of red tape around tipping through businesses, so having something that’s simpler really works for us.”
The first 1,000 people to download the thankyü app will receive a free TipTap band, making it easier than ever for workers to collect their hard-earned tips.
