How to tip in a cashless world

Tipping isn’t compulsory in Australia but it’s a nice thing to do. The problem is it’s getting harder and harder to do in a world where cash is an endangered species, writes Victoria Hannaford.

As the temperature soared in the past week, the desire to cook in my household plummeted.

Who can be bothered to turn on the hobs in a heatwave?

The winning option: Get dinner delivered.

As pizza arrived at our house, the mercury hovered just under 40, and gave rise to another dilemma.

The bloke, who had ventured out in the scorching conditions, clearly wanted a tip.

He held out his hand, leading to an exchange more awkward than finding out your loved ones think pineapple is an acceptable pizza topping. There’s no doubt the guy deserved to have a few bucks slung his way for delivering food when we’d decided that the weather had sapped our will to live — or at least, make a meal.

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But the food had been paid for with an app, and there wasn’t any cash in the house. Short of raiding a piggy bank for a stack of embarrassing shrapnel, there was no way of giving the bloke a tip.

How do you say “keep the change” in an ever more cashless society?

If you can afford home delivery, you’re doing all right. Why not pay it forward? Picture: John Fotiadis

The latest statistics from the Australian Payments Network note that only 37 per cent of payments are made in cash, compared to 69 per cent in 2007. We’re also making fewer trips to the ATM, and becoming more fond of contactless payment. And if we’re less likely to carry cash, it’s more difficult to perform spontaneous acts of generosity, like tipping.

Thanks to a decent minimum wage, gratuities aren’t a compulsory part of life in Australia. It’s not a necessity, but a nice thing to do, especially for a worker eking out a living in the gig economy. My rationale is that if I can afford to eat out, or get food delivered in a heatwave, life’s good. Why not pay it forward a little?

In the US and UK tipping is customary, and often the only way people working in some low paid service industries have a hope of making a decent living.

The rules are more well defined too — it’s expected, and while cash is preferred, because it’s commonplace, tips are easily added to a credit card or debit card bill. It’s just a matter of crossing your fingers that your maths is OK, and hoping the tip ends up in the pocket of the person it’s intended for.

The heat is tough on us all but spare a thought for those pedalling through it to get your food to you.

But the rules are far less clear here. As the Lonely Planet’s advice on tipping in Australia outlines: “It’s common but by no means obligatory to tip.”

So you can if you want to. Some food delivery apps provide the option of tipping, but it’s not a given, and it’s also a choice, especially in Australia, that’s easily forgotten until the driver’s on your doorstep.

And then, if you haven’t got cash, what are the options? Well, as our digital era dictates, tech has the answer.

The Big Issue, a magazine sold by disadvantaged vendors on street corners, has sorted payments for our cashless times. They’ve got tap and go devices, and an app link up so you can scan a code and pay that way — and either would offer an easy way to tip a home delivery driver if the food tab’s already been paid via an app.

It’s just a matter of companies getting on board so nobody’s left high and dry when a generous mood strikes.

In the meantime, I’ve visited an ATM for the first time in about two months — I’m keeping a cash stash for when the next heatwave hits.

Victoria Hannaford is a senior writer and producer for RendezView.

@vhannaford