Even though Switzerland does not have a ‘tipping culture’, a new practice of ‘set’ tips is increasingly seeping into Swiss restaurants and coffee shops. However, most customers don’t seem to like it.
While the study, carried out by Bank Cler, found that the majority of those surveyed almost always leave a tip when dining out, 69 percent of them much prefer cash than credit card transactions – especially when the US-style payment terminals are used, where client must choose an amount that is already programmed in, instead of having an option of deciding how much they want to leave.
“Even on payment terminals, customers want to determine their own tip.,” the study revealed. “The automatic options of 5, 10, or 15 percent displayed on card machines do not appeal to them: two-thirds of those surveyed said they do not appreciate this method.”
Furthermore, 41 percent of respondents said they don’t want to set their tip as a percentage of the total price, preferring to determine the amount themselves.
In fact, “the more customers are encouraged, or even directly solicited, to tip, the less they appreciate it,” Bank Cler reported.
‘Significantly more tips’
It is perhaps not surprising that those directly invested (literally and figuratively) in the business of tipping, see things differently, arguing that customers actually do like cash terminals .
Raoul Corciulo, director of Vendomat, a company that offers cash register systems for restaurants and hotels, told Blick newspaper that “the majority of our approximately 2,600 customers choose the percentage option.”
“And the result is that employees receive significantly more tips, he pointed out, adding that “human contact remains essential to service, but in the background, digitalisation is becoming increasingly important.”
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‘Leave coins on the table’
Anecdotal evidence, however, demonstrates this is not necessarily so.
At the end of 2024, Blick interviewed some people in Geneva who have recently been confronted by the tipping system on a payment terminal.
“Some customers raised their eyebrows in perplexity. One woman actually exclaimed that this is not the United States,” it reported.
“Coins left on the table are still more commonplace in Switzerland,” the article concluded.
READ ALSO: Swiss uneasy over rise of American-style tipping system
