Contactless payments halve UK tipping rate
New data has shown how the proportion of UK hospitality customers leaving a tip has fallen from 10.9% to 5.5% in two years.
URocked and Paynt analysed the numbers, with the companies tracking payments between June 2024 and February 2026.
However, average tip values increased during the period, from £4.87 (US$6.53) to £14.39 (US$19.31).
Contactless transactions accounted for 62.6% of all payments and had the lowest tipping rate of 4.6%.
Conversely, of those who paid by chip card, 14.9% left a tip.
The highest rate was during midweek evenings, with Wednesday recording the highest tipping rate at 11.1% and Thursday the highest average tip value at £8.52.
The 7pm to 9pm window generated the highest average tip amounts in the food and drink sector, ranging from £8.37 to £9.61, correlating with dinner time.
Despite being the busiest day for hospitality transactions, Saturday had one of the lowest tipping rates at just 6.1%, less than half the midweek rate.
“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 choosing to tip, those who do are showing greater generosity, suggesting a change in how and when people engage with tipping.
“As contactless payments become the dominant way to pay, 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.”
The UK government recently updated its tipping legislation.
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