How Cashless Payments Can Facilitate Tipping, Service, and More

While COVID-19 has impacted every sector across the globe, the hospitality industry has been among the hardest hit. It has never been more important to speed up the delivery of essential gratuities and wages while upholding social distancing, as well as health and safety measures. Fortunately, flexible digital payment solutions provide real-time cashless payments. Combining a Visa® prepaid card, mobile wallet, and an easy-to-use platform ensures that disbursements of gratuities are instant and seamless; a mobile enabled solution can be fully integrated into existing payroll or point of sale software making setup simple and cost-effective while eliminating risk of handling cash. APIs, Secure File Transfer and POS integration options provide an automated solution, with detailed reporting and reconciliation built in.

Digital payments have largely outstripped cash as the dominant mode of payment- only 18% of restaurant tabs are estimated to be paid with physical currency. Cash isn’t just an inconvenience to the customer, it’s also a burden for the employer. Distributing tip-outs can quickly become a massive administrative hurdle for any company. Our solution helps hospitality operators eliminate the inefficiencies of processing tip-outs by curating a cashless tip-out, payment, and brand loyalty experience which can be tied into existing software systems for any number of employees. By using our solution, managers can save time, money, and eliminate trips to the bank by being able to load employee’s cards instantly with tips, wages or incentives regardless of credit history, banking relationship, or wages.

Digital payments solutions are uniquely positioned to benefit employees by offering them flexible, easy to use, and instant rewards. Our real-time “Points-to-Cash” conversion system offers employees rewards for outstanding achievement, performance, any kind of multi-partner promotion, or as appreciation for loyalty and hard work. Once rewards are issued and converted, employees can spend their digital cash on whatever they like! Furthermore, the transparent, real- time nature of cashless rewards provides both employers and employees with much more mobility. Virtual reward programs can open the door to new and enhanced bonus structures in which employers can pay out instantly. This boosts morale by providing rewards with a broader range of use compared to traditional methods, increasing the usefulness of the reward to employees, and allowing for more transparency around reward structures.

In an ideal payment process, no one should have to think about paying; money would virtually find its way into the right accounts without the inconvenience of fumbling for one’s wallet or agonizing over how to distribute tip-outs in cash. Customers will no longer be required to exchange or wait for their change, thus producing faster turnaround times (critical considering reduced capacities due to COVID-19). A cashless future enables effortless loyalty programs with unprecedented rates of retention; a major cause of turnover in loyalty programs is the undue effort required on the part of clients to keep points organized, and our solution allows customers to collect loyalty points without a second thought. Finally, a cashless future will redefine one’s experience at a hotel; a single card given at check-in will empower the customer to tip, access their room, and pay for meals without reaching into their wallet once.