SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--eTip, the digital tipping and financial benefits platform tailored to service sector businesses, is now an approved digital tipping provider of IHG Hotels & Resorts. This partnership enables associates across IHG's vast network of more than 6,000 franchises, managed properties, restaurants, and bars to access eTip's modern contactless tipping technology. By using the eTip platform, hotel colleagues have the potential to increase their tipped wages, while guests can enjoy the enhanced convenience of cashless tipping.
eTip's advanced payment and banking system, designed as an end-to-end digital tipping solution, can accommodate all payment scenarios for tipped workers at IHG locations, from a guest’s stay in their room to the tip they leave for a meal at the hotel restaurant. By offering guests a user-friendly tipping experience, eTip enables them to express gratitude through a secure and compliant payment method. This convenience results in an average increase in income of $2 per hour and a fivefold increase in tipping frequency, empowering guests to recognize exceptional service.
From valets and housekeepers to bartenders and waitstaff, hospitality workers are increasingly facing the challenge of a clientele that no longer carries physical money to tip. According to data, two fifths of Americans no longer carry any cash. In response, forward-looking hotel groups such as IHG are leveraging technology platforms such as eTip to capture the gratitude of hotel guests conveniently, securely, and compliantly. The demand for eTip’s services is also evident with its own growth – the partnership with IHG comes on the heels of eTip’s recognition as the approved tipping partner for major global hotel brands and its designation as a digital tipping solution partner for both Visa & American Express.
“We are seeing an increase in market demand for a fast, reliable, and fully digitized tipping experience for hotel guests and employees in the hospitality industry,” said Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, Senior Vice President of Visa Direct. “eTip now offers a digital tipping solution, enabled by Visa Direct, to modernize that process for their guests and employees.”
eTip requires no mobile app download or login credentials. Guests simply scan a QR code using the camera on their mobile phone, tap the banner on their screen, and then tip using their preferred payment method. eTip also offers “tap to tip,” allowing guests to pay through an NFC-enabled QR code. Once a guest leaves a tip, associates can receive the tip in their bank account on demand and in real-time through Visa Direct, eliminating the need to wait for a tip to be paid through the weekly or bi-weekly payroll process.
With eTip’s platform, IHG properties can now enjoy:
- Effortless Appreciation: Guests can easily show gratitude through a user-friendly interface, expressing appreciation with a few taps on their smartphone. This convenience leads to an average increase in income of $2 per hour and a fivefold increase in tipping frequency.
- Instant Recognition: Hotel associates receive tips promptly, without having to wait for payout disbursements. eTip seamlessly integrates with restaurant and bar Payment Operation Systems (POS), ensuring rapid payout times for all staff.
- Equitable Tip Distribution: eTip automates fair tip allocation among staff, ensuring transparency, enhancing employee satisfaction, and boosting staff retention rates.
- In-depth Analysis: eTip's compliant and enterprise-grade reporting provides valuable insights through comprehensive data, allowing businesses to analyze tipping trends, evaluate staff performance, and understand guest satisfaction on a deeper level.
“IHG truly embodies the concept of a hotel group that understands how great technology powers exceptional experiences,” says Nicolas Cassis, Co-Founder and CEO of eTip. “We’re proud to have been chosen as a key part of that strategy and look forward to using the power of gratitude to deliver unprecedented levels of employee and guest satisfaction. With eTip’s technology and our ability to drive greater financial stability for their hardworking and valued staff, we’re helping them do just that.”
Interested in enabling digital tipping for your business? Schedule a demo.
About eTip
eTip is an end-to-end specialist in digital tipping and financial benefits tailored to the hospitality and service industries. eTip is trusted by global hospitality, leisure, and retail brands and some of the largest hotel management companies, including Davidson Hospitality, Shamin Hotels, Baywood Hotels, Concord Hotels, and Kalahari Resorts, to name several. eTip leverages technology, payment innovations, and the power of gratitude to build solutions to solve customers' service-level challenges and address industry-specific needs. eTip's mission is to empower the services economy with a holistic platform that digitizes cash-heavy operations, centralizes on-bill and off-bill tipping, and offers workers financial wellness tools, including emergency savings, credit building, and, more recently, on-demand payout of tips to achieve employees’ long-term financial goals. For more information visit eTip.io. Click here to schedule a demo. Connect with us on LinkedIn.
About Visa
Visa is the world's leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable, and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network, and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.
