As people continue to purge cash in favour of debit and credit cards, ubiquitous digital payment terminals are increasingly providing opportunities for customers to tip — and tip well — on even the most routine services.
"So, the opportunity to tip has been enhanced in a lot of different verticals, so, everything from fast food to almost any service organization. You could find examples where there's really no service, it's just actually buying a product or something, and there's still an opportunity to tip the cashier, who isn't giving you good service per se like you would receive in a fine dining restaurant," he adds.
Gomes and Trejier oversee establishments known to Statistics Canada as limited-service eating places, which make up about 40 per cent of all food service and drinking places. "It could also work against giving a tip because it feels transactional and non-relational," he says. Who benefits from higher tips? Prompting all these tips are restaurants and stores that are sold these digital terminals by large financial technology companies that complement the services of major credit card companies.