Tip Method Overview

Tipping methods

Tip adjustment and inline tipping are two methods of accepting tips. Depending on your solution type and business type, only one method of tipping may be available. 

• Inline Tipping
  Through the payment terminal, the customer can add a tip by selecting the preset tip suggestion or they can add a custom amount to the transaction prior to finalizing the sale.
  
• Tip Adjustment
  The tip prompt is bypassed at the time of the transaction, to which a tip line will be printed on the receipt. The tip is written on the receipt by the customer. The transaction must be adjusted to add the tip before batch settlement. 

Important reminders about tipping:

• Debit cards are processed as credit (Signature Debit) and tip adjustments for debit card sales must be completed at the time of the sale and cannot be adjusted later. 
• If the transaction has settled, the tip cannot be changed. 
• When using tip adjustment, transactions will need to be manually batched out each day after the tips are adjusted.

NOTE:
Inline tipping is the only tip option for the Essentials Light solution.

Tip Adjustment MCC

Not all businesses may use the tip adjustment option per payment network rules. Tip adjustment is only available to businesses with specific Merchant Category Codes (MCC) which are listed below. 

The payment networks only allow these Merchant Category Codes (MCC) to be enrolled in tip adjustment:

Finalizing tip adjustment transactions

Tip adjustment requires that all transactions be manually batched out for settlement once a tip is added to each transaction. Each transaction is a preauthorization for the amount minus the tip. Sales are not complete until a tip amount is added to each transaction. If the transactions are manually forced to batch with unadjusted transactions, the terminal will prompt a warning on the display that there are unadjusted transactions to give one last opportunity to add tips to the transactions. Once the transactions are finalized a tip cannot be added at a later time. 

IMPORTANT!
Enter a zero for any transactions that did not earn a tip. Each transaction must have a tip amount entered in order to manually batch out and settle, this includes any transactions that include a zero tip. 

More information can be found on how to add a tip adjustment in Payments App Tip Adjustment if using the Basic Payments solution or the Tip Adjustment on the Point of Sale App if you are use a Point of Sale Software solution, such as Essentials Solution or Restaurant Solution. 

Finalizing inline tip transactions

When using inline tipping, the tip is added during the sale by the customer and then the transaction is finalized at the point of sale. Inline tipped transactions still require a manual or auto batch at the end of the business day.