How are Contactless Payments Changing UK Hospitality Tipping Habits?

It’s been almost 20 years since contactless payments arrived in the UK. Back then, the spending limit was just £10 and ‘tap and go’ was accepted by a tiny number of businesses. Fast forward to today, and contactless is everywhere. There’s no doubting the convenience, and now that the spending limit is at the discretion of the banks, it’s become a part of daily life.

But what other effects has contactless had? Recently, we looked at the numbers behind the growth of contactless in the hospitality industry and uncovered trends that are both fascinating and concerning, particularly for tipping habits.

Firstly, it’s clear that contactless has changed tipping behaviour, and significantly. We analysed a million transactions made in the UK, via Paynt’s integrated tipping app, URocked between June 2024 and February 2026, and during that time, the proportion of UK hospitality customers leaving a tip fell dramatically from around 10.9% to 5.5%.

On the plus side, average tip values have increased significantly, from £4.87 to £14.39. The findings indicate that although fewer customers are tipping, those who do are tipping more generously.

Tap and tip?

This is part of a change in payment behaviour, in which the way customers choose to pay directly shapes their likelihood of tipping. Contactless transactions account for 62.6% of all payments but have the lowest tipping rate at just 4.6%, compared to 14.9% for chip card transactions. This suggests that as contactless payments continue to dominate everyday transactions, they are also influencing discretionary actions, such as tipping at the point of sale.

Midweek evenings remain a relatively bright spot, with Wednesday recording the highest tipping rate at 11.1% and Thursday commanding the highest average tip value at £8.52. The 19:00–21:00 dinner window consistently generates the highest average tip amounts in the food and drink sector, ranging from £8.37 to £9.61.

By contrast, Saturday, the busiest day for hospitality transactions, has one of the lowest tipping rates at just 6.1%, less than half the midweek rate. Food, restaurants and bars account for 96.8% of all tipped transactions and 89.3% of total tip revenue, underlining how concentrated the sector’s reliance on gratuity income remains.

“This data highlights a clear shift in tipping behaviour across the UK hospitality sector,” said Swati Deshpande, Marketing Manager at Paynt. “More importantly, it shows how payment methods are increasingly shaping customer behaviour at the point of transaction. While fewer customers are tipping, those who do are showing greater generosity, suggesting a shift in how and when people engage with tipping. As contactless payments become the dominant payment method, businesses need to consider how the payment experience influences discretionary actions such as tipping. Businesses need to make tipping a more intuitive and accessible part of the payment journey.”

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