‘Tipflation’ explained: Professor explains explosion of tipping prompts at restaurants, cafes and businesses [Video]

In a trend that some pundits are calling “tipflation,” many Americans are being asked to tip more and far more often than they have in previous years, especially before COVID. 

Professor Ismail Karabas, assistant professor of marketing at Murray State University, explained why in a phone interview with Fox News Digital. 

“Tipping requests have been around for a long time, but the surge began pretty much right with the pandemic, because that’s when we decided to use the digital payment process a lot more than before,” Karabas said. “All of these requests are coming through those digital payment systems,” also known as “POS [point of sale] devices.” 

MAJORITY OF AMERICANS FRUSTRATED BY EXCESSIVE TIPPING: ‘GONE TOO FAR’

POS companies, like Square, Toast and PayPal, make up a significant portion of the payment industry, the professor said. They also are often the companies that supply the software for tipping prompt devices that appear at …