https://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2018/03/paying-service
This short article from The Economist sheds light on a problem that most of us probably haven't recently considered. With the rise of electronic payment systems tipping has gone to the wayside for many people. The article mentions that the Uber app now has a function for tipping. Prior to this update, many divers explained that they were not receiving tips because customers couldn't provide a tip through the app. People either didn't have cash on them or thought it wasn't necessary because the app didn't offer the opportunity to tip. The problem with these kinds of interactions is that many people rely on tips as a fundamental part of their income and the rise of electronic payment has begun to hurt those individuals.
6 comments:
I think tipping should be a common courtesy for many service providing jobs. I feel like electronic currencies will eventually make it easier to tip once the apps are updated. At many restaurants, they have preset tipping options (15%, 20%, etc.) when paying the bill to get rid of the math involved for the consumer. On the other hand, it could make the transactions more difficult in other jobs, such as a valets or bellhops, when using cash would be much easier.
I agree with Nate. It is a common courtesy for tipping people at different jobs.
Also another thing many people don't think about is that when you pay with a card there is a transaction fee that goes along with it. Credit card companies often charge businesses for credit card transactions. I know specifically through my families business that cash is preferred because the transaction fee that is put on businesses. However the convenience of using a card is much more customer friendly. There are trade-offs with both.
I think it's interesting to note that the article sheds light on the problems with using electronic money. As our societies move towards cashless transactions the problem is likely to be addressed in the long run.
I believe that this addresses an intriguing societal problem with the move to electronic money and a cashless society. The structure of Uber's business model definitely does not support drivers the way the traditional taxi driver has been supported over the years. The problem with this shift is that it ultimately pays the drivers differently through the form of a wage and benefit based upon number of miles driven. This is more than likely more efficient for the business as a whole, but doesn't benefit the driver to the extent done in past times. This issue should become even more interesting as the role of the driver starts to disappear and Uber becomes driver-less.
I have never thought about these until now, it is true that when you pay with a credit card sometimes its hard to leave a tip, because you don't have the chance to give it with the credit card, and you don't have any cash, but I believe these apps will change this so its much easier to leave a tip. But as said in a comment before jobs like valets or bellhops, would be really hard to tip with the current technology, so in the future I believe this will be fixed, but for now one option that these jobs might have is to start having an actual salary, and their wage would depend on that and not on tips. But society is probably going to go cashless eventually, so there has to be a technological advancement that allows you to tip people in a more effective and easier way, which would help many people that depend on tips and it's their main source of income.
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