Saturday, August 07, 2010

Why Are We Still Not Able Leave Tips On Debit Transactions?

There are many reasons debit cards are a godsend and not just for people who like me who have “essential tremor” and handwriting is increasingly difficult. Debit transactions passed credit cards in ‘08. By the end of ‘09 I believe there were 36 billion debit transactions compared to 20 billion with credit cards.tipping-table-money

It is like writing a check but without the paperwork and it makes tracking expenses much easier. Debits are now accepted for common transactions like fast food places without even a signature.

So I find it increasingly annoying that restaurants and/or debit card issuers haven’t found a way for you to leave a tip. At one restaurant where I often go for breakfast, they finally started letting patrons use debit but then if you ask to leave a tip, they print it out and have you tally and sign anyway.

Seems to me leaving a tip should be as easy as they make it to get cash back. Just have an option that pops up before approving that asks if you want to leave a tip for service and gives you several virtual buttons for 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%. They could even note under 20% “average.”

This would make it easier for the customer, good for the business because of much faster check outs and it would give the uninitiated or cheapskates an education in tipping. Seems like a win-win-win-win.

As fast as things evolve, I’ll bet this begins to happen even as you read this.

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