To find out what the press have to say about tipping practices in the UK, click here

​

1. Who can use Tipster?

​

Tipster is content agnostic and can be used to pay anyone for services rendered.

 

Examples include:

 

• Delivery drivers

• Serving staff in restaurants

• Hairdressers

• Nail salon employees

• Charities

 

Please double check that your employment contract does not legally prohibit you from using Tipster.

​

2. Do I need to check my employment contract?

​

At Tipster, we believe that tips are a voluntary gift from the customer to the person providing the service and that tips should therefore not be covered as part of your employment contract.

​

However, it is worth double checking, please feel free to contact us with an anonymised copy of your contract if you feel that this prevents you from using Tipster.

​

3. I receive tips in my job and want to receive my tips directly – are there any costs associated for me with using Tipster?

​

No, Tipster is free to download and free to use. You also do not have to pay to receive your initial badge or your first set of Tipster cards which you can use to invite tips from your customers. Tipster takes a small fee of 3.0% (which may be subject to change in the future), but this is likely to be offset by Tipster’s other advantages. With Tipster on top of earning your tips directly you could end up saving on your National Insurance Contributions which could be as high as 12% and at a minimum 2%!*

 

This is because unlike any tips which are collected and redistributed to you by your employer (e.g. when paid as via card as part of a “service charge”) any tips which you receive through Tipster are unlikely to attract national insurance!*

 

In addition, our Payment Service Provider will also charge some small costs for each payment collected and paid out through the app (and a monthly charge of currently 2GBP in every month in which you earned at least 5 GBP)*.

 

In order to mitigate this, the Tipster app aims to structure all pay-outs and payment collections in a cost-efficient manner. The more tips you receive the smaller the proportion of these costs will become!

 

Tipster tries to provide as much transparency on all these costs as possible and you can simply compare the “Estimated Pay-out” and the “TOTAL” in the Account section to track the live impact.

 

4. I have signed up – when will I receive my first payment?

 

Payments will usually be due within a few days of the end of the payment cycle which currently runs two times per month. For your first payment, you may experience a delay of a couple extra days which is due to the procedures of our Payment Service Provider.

 

5. What is my starter pack and how long will it take to receive?

 

Your starter pack contains everything to make it easy for you to collect tips via the Tipster App. It contains a Tipster Badge displaying your Tipster Code (which is your unique identifier for receiving tips) and Tipster marketing cards. Simply add your unique Tipster Code in hand writing and hand over a card to your customers when you first introduce yourselves to them or when you provide them with the bill. The Tipster Cards explain to the customers how to tip you directly and they also contain a QR code so that customers can quickly download the app.

 

6. I have an Android phone; how do I enter my birth date during sign-on?

 

Please make sure to press the year at the top of the screen to select your birth year from the scroll down. Then select the months using the arrows at the top of the calendar and by then selecting the right date

 

7. I have earned my first tip – when will I see the expected pay-out in the account section?

 

You need to earn a minimum of 5 GBP, before the TBD sign is replaced with your expected pay-out figure.

 

8. I am a tip receiver - What are the ranks and what do they do?

 

The ranks are a function of your tips and your referrals. Look out for the notifications which will guide you on how to move up in ranks!

 

9. I have some feedback or question?

 

Please do let us know by sending us an email in the feedback section!

 

10. I just received my first tip, why does it say TBD?

 

Your first Tip is likely to cover quite a bit of costs levied by our PSP provider. We need to have you receive tips which aggregate at least 5GBP* for us to have enough data to provide you with a more meaningful Estimated Pay-out figure. Please remember that the more you earn the smaller the percentage difference between your Estimated Pay-out and your Total. 

 

11. I work as a waiter in a restaurant, but we are being told that some of our tips need to go to pay the kitchen staff?

 

Some employers will claim that it is a team effort and claim that tips should “shared” between all employees or used to cover cost of the employer...

 

At Tipster, we believe that this leads to:

 

(a) A loss of transparency as to who earned what tips when and dilutes any good service provided

(b) One set of employees (waiters) suddenly being responsible for the pay of the other set of employees…

 

Let’s say you are a very good cook, would you want your craft and skill reflected in the pay received from your employer or would you want your pay to depend on how well the waiters have been at collecting tips on a given day and how good they are at sharing these with you?

 

Of course, kitchen staff are free to make arrangements with waiters they see fit. They could even also receive a Tipster badge and get waiters to pay their code an amount at the end of their shift…

 

12. A lot of delivery services already allow for tips when placing the order? Why would you use Tipster?

 

A lot of delivery services do indeed allow you to also add a tip when you place an order. However, we feel that this is not the right way to go about this.

 

Customers should be able to decide if and how much they want to tip AFTER having received a service.

 

If you order a pizza but it gets delivered 2 hours late is the tip which you agreed to pay when you placed the order still appropriate?

 

Equally, if you placed an order for a pizza without leaving a tip and then the delivery driver delivers it promptly despite of terrible weather conditions, would you not feel bad if you could not give him a tip (for example because you had no cash on you)?

 

13. I have lost my phone/my phone has been stolen, what should I do?

 

If your phone has been stolen, please report your theft to the police.

 

Unauthorised users should not be able to use the Tipster App to make payments unless they know your Tipster Security Code to log into the app. Nonetheless, to be absolutely safe we recommend that you call your bank and deactivate the card which you registered with the Tipster app (in particular if you have used the same card for other apps allowing payment, such as apps for e.g. Uber, booking.com or Amazon).

 

14. What else can I do to prevent any unauthorised transaction on my phone using Tipster?

​

Make sure to use a use a screen lock on your phone and keep your Tipster Security Code secret at all times to avoid anyone else accessing your Tipster App. In case of theft or loss please carry out the steps outlined in the previous question.

 

15. I am a Tip Receiver - I hear that I may be required to provide some form of ID after I earn a certain amount? Is that correct?

 

Yes, usually after you earn the equivalent of a couple of thousand USD our payment service provider will require you to upload some type of identification. We will notify you when this is the case!

 

16. I am planning on having a new phone can I still use my old Tipster account on my new phone?

 

Yes, if you are a payer simply download the app again. If you are a payment receiver, simply download the app again and when asked whether you have a Tipster badge reply yes and answer the questions regarding your account.

 

17. So far I have been using Tipster to pay tips, what do I need to do if I also want to be able to receive tips?

 

Simply select the option “Become a Payment Receiver” in the menu

 

18. How does the referral system work?

 

If you received or ordered Referral Packs, you can pass these on to friends who you think could also benefit from using Tipster to earn more tips.

​

You can track when they download the app under your Referrals in the App Menu. You will then earn a Bonus as well as a small commission on all their tips.

 

19. My boss tells me I am not allowed to use Tipster, but there is nothing in my employment contract

 

Interesting! Is your boss aware that if he would let you use Tipster he would save time, hassle and money (employers currently pay 13% of employer national insurance contributions on tips earned by staff!) and have a super motivated employee?

 

Please feel free to provide details of your work place anonymously and we may try and get in touch with them!

 

20. Tronc systems

 

Some employers used to use the old “it is a team effort” trick and claim that tips should be equally shared between all employees (and, as has been laid bare by the numerous scandals, often with the lion share going to the employer himself!)

 

When this practice got out of hand, the government published a set of guidelines for Tronc systems. These were meant to remove the employer’s involvement but apart from not being mandatory Tronc systems do not tend to work very well:

 

• There is total loss of transparency as to who earned what tips when (i.e. who is a good waiter and who is a bad waiter)

• This punishes good waiters and rewards bad waiters

• They are supposed to be administered by one member of staff on behalf of all others: this is an unfair task as it is in most cases not compensated, it creates trust issues, requires employees with a high integrity and also assumes that employees are staying for the long term to keep administering the Tronc which is not what is actually happening with waiter jobs

• Where Tronc systems are outsourced to external providers this leads to a lack of visibility and some extra costs for employees and employers alike – Tipster is virtually free!

 

*This statement does not constitute a representation or legal advice. Anyone wishing to rely on this should get their own legal advice. Numbers and percentages may be subject to change

 

DISCLAIMER

 

The Tipster app has been built by a third-party provider for Tipster Ltd (“Tipster”) and relies on an external payment service provider. Users accept that Tipster Ltd shall have no liability in connection with the Tipster app.

 

The use and utilisation of the Tipster app is subject to users accepting that Tipster shall not be held liable in relation to any loss sustained by users as a result of using the Tipster app. By registering their account users also explicitly agree to Stripe’s services agreement and the Stripe connected account agreement.

 

Users agree to only use the service provided by the Tipster app using payment cards in their own name and for the purpose of providing or receiving tips where this is customary and does not constitute criminal or illicit activity.

 

Tipster reserves the right to block, deactivate or place on hold any account where it suspects any wrongdoings.

 

Tipster will not be responsible for any data breach and for losses caused to users as a consequence thereof.

 

Tipster reserves the right to stop the application from being available at any time.

 

Tipster provides no legal advice and users and restaurant managers remain fully responsible for income taxes, VAT, National Insurance Contributions and any other taxes which may arise as a result of using Tipster.

 

Tipster reserves the right to amend these terms in the future.