‘Fintech-for-good’ start-up thankyü has developed the first decentralised peer-to-peer tipping platform, powered by Viva.com and Mastercard Move.
It means staff can receive and manage their tips quicker, employees don’t have to pay tax or NIC at source and employers don’t have to pay National Insurance on them.
It also provides a downloadable financial record of tips to help hospitality and service staff fill in self-assessment forms and use as a credit reference to help them secure a loan or a mortgage.
The Hull-based firm’s system has been trialled in Hull’s Nibble café to help waiting staff collect tips electronically and the Polar Bear Music Club in Hull, where gig-goers can ‘tap-to-tip’ performing musicians after their sets.
The founder of thankyü, Gerard Toplass, is a successful technology entrepreneur with 20 years’ experience in building technology and services businesses.
He said he was driven to develop the platform to give hospitality service staff and musicians a better deal and the respect they deserve.
“This is a tough time for the hospitality and service industry. Rising National Insurance and reduced business rates relief will make it harder for businesses and an increasingly cashless society means there’s less money for physical tips that go straight to staff, which can account for 40% of their income,” he said.
“But surveys show over 80% of customers want to tip using their cards or integrated wallets but want to make sure the person serving them actually gets the tip.
“That’s why we created thankyü. We want to ensure staff have the ability to keep up to 100% of their tips so they can earn more money and get paid faster. We want to treat hospitality and service staff as the key workers they are.”
The introduction of the system comes as hospitality businesses face a triple whammy in April of National Insurance for employers increasing to 15%; Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief being reduced from 75% to 40%; and the National Minimum Wage increasing to £12.21 an hour.
Anna Lamb, founder and owner of the Nibble Café in Hull, who are using thankyü added:
“I started Nibble in 2016 to serve nearby office staff for breakfast and brunch but we’ve now doubled in size. We’ve got an outside area as well and some great customers.
“But on April 6th we face an increase of National Insurance to 15% and that’s going to be hard for us.
“I’ve always wanted a system where we could cut out the middleman so the staff could get the tips directly without NI being taken off and thankyü seems to be the answer.
“What I love is that it’s just direct. The staff can manage their own app. For me, it’s less admin time because at the moment, we’re manually having to add things up during the day, add it up at the end of the week. Whereas thankyü just does everything for you.”
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