Do card payments and inflation threaten the financial allowance?

Keep the change! These two words – accompanied by a smile – turn a lower bill into a higher bill without anyone complaining about the wrong result of adding. Because rounding is known as a tip in many industries and countries. However, this math of friendliness and satisfaction is being heard less and less.

There are two reasons for this right now: on the one hand, since the corona pandemic, significantly more people are paying with debit or credit cards – you need to actively initiate a tip and, as with cash, elegantly “Right!” You cannot answer. payments. waive the change; On the other hand, inflation means that many people are short of cash and do not want to pay more than the bill.

Less tip due to card payment?

Over Christmas, SonntagsBlick published that inflation and the drop in cash are causing problems for beggars and charities. And the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” recently reported on how tips in German restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and taxis are declining: “Concerns about price increases seem to upset this well-crafted ritual.” In addition, the card reader is a “natural enemy of employees”.

How is the tip flowing in Switzerland right now? “I don’t see any noticeable change from my point of view,” says Susanne Aregger, 29, restaurant manager at the Hotel des Balances in Lucerne. “At the moment, I haven’t noticed any changes other than the increased number of card payments,” says Danilo Azzarito, 36, founder and owner of Liebevoll, a men’s and women’s hairdresser in Basel. Before Corona, half was paid by card, now over 90 percent – without affecting the tip.

At Restaurant des Balances directly in Reuss, guests are also paying by card more frequently since the pandemic – and Aregger sees the consequences for service staff here: “For smaller amounts, slightly less is given compared to guests who pay a cash bill.” If you pay the bill with a card, you usually ask if the service worker, not the company, got the tip.

They ensure that the tip distribution in the balances remains more or less balanced, and that those who work in the background also benefit from it. Each ward waiter and waitress gives one percent of the daily turnover, limited to 25 francs.

At the end of the month, 55 percent of that goes to the kitchen and office, and 15 percent to the head of service – Aregger and his two assistants split equally. Azzarito of Coiffure Liebevoll quotes his annual tip of about 4,800 francs at the end of the year: “My employees get this money in addition to their salary.”

Many dumpers want to know where they’re going. This was confirmed by a recently published study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Winterthur. “About half of those surveyed want to ensure that the tip goes directly to the service worker who collects the fee,” says the representative survey of 1,179 people across Switzerland.

Around 84.9 percent of the restaurant bill

To ensure this, 76.4 percent give the tip in cash. In German-speaking Switzerland, 22.6 percent of card payers also accept coins and notes, compared to 40.2 percent in French-speaking Switzerland. Because: “By far the most common reason for tipping in Switzerland is to show gratitude to service personnel,” says the research. And this can only be done in direct contact.

According to this survey, although service has been included in prices in the Swiss hospitality industry for nearly 50 years – especially since May 17, 1974 – 84.9 percent still consider it appropriate to over-tip voluntarily. Because tipping has a long tradition and is deeply rooted in people: the word “dringelgelt” has been attested in German-speaking countries since the 14th century, as noted by the Brothers Grimm in their “German Dictionary” (1854).

Concerning the meaning of the word, he says: «Small money for illegal services or other special occasions, originally for liquor, bibale; Also called beer money.” In Russia and China, the tip is called the “tea money.” As early as 1788, Adolph Freiherr von Knigge (1752-1796) recommended “giving the wagon master a good tip” in his 1788 treatise classic.

Initially, there was a financial bonus for each well-performed service. But today the postman rings the bell twice, puts the parcel on the doorstep, and hurries away again – no time for a face-to-face meeting. And the museum no longer has a cloakroom to entrust your coat. Instead, you cram it into a box and need two francs for the coin deposit lock instead of the tip.

“In no other case in Switzerland is tipping as prevalent as in waiter service restaurants,” write the Winterthur researchers. A service in the beauty and wellness area such as a hairdresser is most often rewarded with a tip with 45.4 percent, followed by bars/night clubs with 41.4 percent and transportation services such as taxis with 40.5 percent.

Peter Hostettler (64) has been driving through Bern for Nova Taxi for over 30 years. Passengers reward their services with an additional CHF 400 per month. “Recently I have the impression that despite Corona and inflation, the tips are more or less the same,” he says, “but regular customers are making fewer trips.” However, he still gets more tips from the locals than the tourists.

200 francs for a 20 franc travel tax

The Hostetts don’t see a difference in gender, but Azzarito, men’s and women’s hairdresser, says: “Men tip more often, women are more generous.” The highest amount he has ever received is 200 francs. “This was the first week after the curfew,” Azzarito says. “Customers were so happy they could get their hair done again that they wanted to pay us for missed appointments due to Corona.”

The biggest tip the taxi driver Hostettler had ever received was 180 francs, for a 20 franc road tax! And Susanne Aregger of Balances in Lucerne has such experience. “That was when I was still working as a chief de rang,” she says. “I used to receive 200 francs from American guests, who at that time enjoyed a fine meal and fine wine.”

Americans already have a special relationship with tips (see also the box for other countries). Markus Dobler from Berlin, in his doctoral thesis on “tip culture” to the Technical University of Dortmund (D) in 2009, reports: “In the USA, the annual amount of tips in restaurants alone is estimated to be 21 billion dollars. ”

A sum that seems enormous, but in the United States, tipping is an important part of wages, and without it, service workers cannot earn even the minimum wage. The U.S. government caused the inclusion of background workers, such as cooks and dishwashers, in the distribution through the “Consolidated Allowances Act 2018”.

The United States has a relatively short tradition of tipping: traveling citizens brought it home from Great Britain only after the Civil War (1861-1865). There was a counter-movement at the turn of the century, and individual states made tipping a criminal offense. By 1926 at the latest, these laws were no longer in effect and tipping became a social norm in the United States.

At the end of the 19th century, there were also efforts to abolish tipping in German-speaking countries. German lawyer Rudolf Jhering (1818-1892) wrote: “I think tipping is a traditional form of begging. (…) But every begging requires an internal and external humiliation; A man who knows his worth does not beg(…)»

Sincerity is more important than performance and quality

In his thesis, Dobler establishes a certain “master-maid” relationship while making the following statement under the heading of “tip-taking factors”: “People you like are more likely to tip than other people,” and concludes: “No matter who. It increases the chances of a high tip.”

The current ZHAW study confirms this statement: Accordingly, “servant’s friendliness/sympathy” is the most important factor for the size of the tip – only then “servant’s performance” and “servant’s quality” are followed by food. According to this survey, “servant’s appearance” is of least importance.

As for the reasons for the Swiss to tip in restaurants, as we mentioned at the beginning, gratitude to the service personnel is at the top of the list. However, according to the survey, the second most important reason is “Because the salaries of the service personnel are low and depend on the tips.”

You should always keep this in mind at the restaurant, in the taxi or at the hairdresser’s, or whenever you encounter a stressful parcel postman.