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In hospitality, tipping is not a nice-to-have. It affects staff motivation, retention, and ultimately service quality. If most guests pay by card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, but the terminal never prompts for a tip, part of the potential tip income is likely to disappear.
Most guests will not look for cash or ask staff how to add a tip. If the process is not built in, tipping typically decreases.
Take a simple illustrative case. A hospitality venue generates HUF 1,000,000 in daily turnover. Assume 60% of that turnover is paid by card, and the average digital tip that would have been added on those card-paid purchases is 5%.
That means potential digital tips of HUF 30,000 per day, or roughly HUF 10,950,000 per year. This is not a forecast, only a conservative scenario showing that the business impact can be meaningful even under modest assumptions.
On most modern terminals, tipping is part of the checkout flow. After the purchase amount is confirmed, the guest can choose from preset percentages, fixed amounts, or a custom amount. The purchase and the tip are then charged together in a single transaction.
This works especially well in restaurants, cafes, bars, and table-service environments because it removes awkward manual steps from the payment moment.
Does the terminal support percentage-based, fixed-amount, and custom tips?
Is the feature available on every terminal model or only selected devices?
Can the tipping flow be configured for the venue type?
Can the merchant see tip amounts separately in reports?
Is the feature available on SoftPOS applications as well?
Yes. As cash use declines in many hospitality environments, digital tipping is becoming more important, not less. We checked the provider references on May 6, 2026: Teya highlights a free tipping feature on its Hungarian card-machine page, the SumUp Help Centre has dedicated tipping setup guidance, and myPOS documents terminal tipping as a standalone feature.
That does not mean every provider and every terminal supports tipping in the same way. Merchants should still verify the exact product and software combination before signing.
Two Hungarian-market examples deserve specific mention: SimplePay and HelloPay. In both cases, tipping is presented as a distinct part of the payment experience rather than a hidden extra.
The SimplePay tipping POS page explicitly highlights card-based tipping, direct tipping, and combined service-charge-plus-tip workflows for hospitality merchants.
The HelloPay Fair Tipping page and the main HelloPay services materials put direct digital tipping front and center, including a slider-based guest flow. That makes tipping part of the product promise, not only a background setting.
Bank-independent providers such as SumUp, myPOS, and Teya often communicate tipping more clearly. With traditional banks, merchants should ask specifically how tipping works on the exact terminal model and acceptance package.
SoftPOS applications can also be relevant for delivery, seasonal terraces, food trucks, or pop-up hospitality settings. For more context, see our SoftPOS guide.
The original article was a bit too broad here. Card tips are not just a technical feature. Merchants should also think through accounting, payroll, internal distribution rules, and reporting. Because the money appears in the merchant settlement flow, the exact handling should be reviewed with the venue's accountant or payroll partner.
If a large share of your guests pays by card, the lack of a tipping feature can create a real business loss. In hospitality, choosing a terminal only on transaction fees can be a mistake if the payment flow makes tipping harder.
For a broader merchant decision framework, see our comparison of POS terminal providers and our payment-provider selection guide.
No. Support depends on the provider, the exact terminal model, and the software setup.
In many cases, yes. If guests need to ask separately or look for cash, tipping friction rises and completion usually falls.
Yes, some SoftPOS solutions do, but merchants should confirm this product by product.
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