Status: 12.10.2023, 16:00 PM
By: Anne Hund
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Many guests like to tip by rounding up accordingly when paying. But what if a card reader suggests different percentages?
In Germany, it is customary to tip in a restaurant if you were satisfied with the service. No one is obliged to do so. But etiquette experts advise this because it is a polite gesture – according to the common rule of thumb, about five to ten percent of the bill amount is appropriate in a restaurant. Of course, everyone is also welcome to give higher amounts.
Tipping: Card readers sometimes suggest percentages
Some guests have to get used to paying by card when they are automatically suggested a possible tip amount on the payment terminal – as is now the case in some restaurants or even in some cafés at sales counters – and can choose between ten, 15 or 20 percent via the tip function on the card reader, for example. They can do this by pressing the corresponding button on the reader and thus selecting one of the suggested percentages. The USA is leading the way. In the meantime, such devices are also being used more and more often in Germany, as Spiegel Online reports. You can also click on the option to waive a tip as a possible option. So guests still have a choice.
Rounding up amounts alternatively
Nevertheless, it feels correspondingly different than if you can generously round up the amount individually – as many restaurant guests have known and practiced for years – if the food tasted good and you want to tip the friendly staff spontaneously and casually. In this way, guests can simply give a small fee in the traditional way and do not have to worry about percentages.
Will the card payment systems described above change the tipping culture? Linda Kaiser, deputy chairwoman of the German Etiquette Society, takes a pragmatic view of the whole thing. "Everyone should be able to estimate the amount displayed and visualize what sums are involved," she said, according to Spiegel Online. "The system only facilitates electronic processing," the etiquette expert is convinced.
Many now pay by card in the restaurant. (Symbolic image) © Westend61/Imago
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Tipping has risen in the U.S.
In the USA, meanwhile, tips in the catering industry have risen significantly in some cases, as several media report. Even during the Corona pandemic, the Americans had shown themselves to be "very generous", N-tv.de described (as of 3 October). Typically, people tip significantly more in the USA than in Germany anyway. However, data from financial apps shows "that tips in New York, for example, rose from an average of 19 percent to a full 25 percent," the ntv report continues. On the payment terminals in restaurants, "22, 25 or 30 percent" is being suggested as a possible tip, the news channel reported.
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Tipping is common in many industries in Germany
In Germany, tips are not only common in the catering industry, but also in many other industries – this also applies, for example, to the delivery service or the hairdresser. Meanwhile, certain professional groups are not allowed to accept tips at all. These include, for example, civil servants, postmen or conductors.