Have you ever been to a store? Probably. If you have in the past couple of years you’ve seen these cool, fancy little credit card machines that make transactions easier. Because of these things, it makes it easier to tip your cashier or cook. Unbeknownst to you, there are psychological things that go into these tip-asking machines.

Tipflation is a term to describe the United States’ and some other countries’ recent widespread expansion of gratuity, or tips, to almost everything now as opposed to being traditionally only present in full-service restaurants. Tipflation’s origins are likely the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflation surge which began in 2021.

Businesses like Toast supply the fancy credit card thingies to restaurants and other places. They design the layout on the tablet to ensure a tip gets paid by guilt-tripping you into giving a tip. By selecting “no tip” most people feel a sense of guilt as the person that just served them is right behind the counter, and will likely see the absence of a tip. Tipflation is becoming a key part of the pay of the workers inside the businesses.

A recent survey by Bankrate found that around 66% of Americans have a negative view of tipping. Around 30% of the surveyed think that tipping culture is “out of control,” with more companies encouraging customers to tip at their counters than ever before. 32% find the pre-entered tip screens aggravating and 41% think businesses should pay their employees more rather than rely on gratuity.

Tipflation is surely getting out of control. Just go to any little store or restaurant (like Superfruit, highly recommend) and you’ll see one of the fancy Toast-like tablets waiting for you to hit that 10%, maybe even 20% tip button.