Banking31.05.2025

Car guards saying goodbye to cash

A digital tipping platform, Tipped, is giving customers an easy, cashless way to tip petrol attendants, car guards, and service industry workers.

South Africa is increasingly moving to a cashless economy. Today, many businesses only accept digital payments, and many people use cards or cellphones as their primary payment methods.

As a result, many people have stopped carrying cash altogether. This shift has many upsides for consumers. In addition to the convenience factor, digital payments are also safer and easier to track.

However, one group is missing out on this shift: those who rely on tips. This includes car guards, petrol attendants, and those in the service industry.

Previously, it was common practice to tip these workers with any cash you had on hand. If you have no cash on you, though, this could mean that you leave no tip at all.

Although some companies offer the option to leave a tip when paying with your cards, the worker may not receive the tip.

This gap led to the creation of Tipped, a digital tipping solution. Customers (tippers) and workers (tippees) can sign up on Tipped using a simple onboarding process.

When customers want to leave a tip, they scan the worker’s QR code using their phone camera, enter the tip amount, and hit send.

They can use this to tip petrol attendants, car guards, golf caddies, hotel staff, porters, waiters and waitresses, bartenders, domestic staff, beauticians, informal traders and more.

The QR codes can be scanned directly by your online banking app, so there is no need to download an app before tipping.

However, Tipped is available for download on all major app stores. At its core, it functions as a digital wallet, offering users a range of easy and secure tools to receive, transfer, and spend money.

Tipped makes use of assigning a unique QR code and digital wallet to the tippee (recipient). Through a simple onboarding process that requires only proof of identification.

This QR code can be printed out by the recipient and displayed in any way to make it visible to the public. Tips can now be received and tippees will be able to transact, send or withdraw this cash.

Tippees are able to withdraw cash at ATMs or at Pick n Pay till points as well as purchase goods at till points through their wallets.

Supporting the unbanked

“Tipped began with a simple goal: to create a cashless way for tippers to show appreciation to tippees,” Kimlynn Temple, Tipped founder and CEO, told Daily Investor.

“Over the years, through multiple pilot programs, we’ve focused on building a financial solution accessible to anyone, regardless of background, with a strong emphasis on supporting the unbanked.”

According to the World Bank, as many as 12 million South Africans do not have a bank account, and many others have limited access to banking.

“Our goal has always been to create financially sustainable models that empower individuals who are often overlooked in informal or service-based roles. We’ve invested years into understanding the real-world barriers these individuals face.”

“Through our strategic partnership with Origin Fintech, we’ve been able to develop a comprehensive ecosystem that supports financial inclusion and long-term empowerment.”

Temple said she launched the idea of Tipped six years ago, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the pandemic quite significantly pushed South Africa into the digital world.

“It’s been a rollercoaster journey, teaching me resilience through reinvention as I’ve had to rebuild the platform four times due to setbacks with digital wallet providers.”

Temple launched the first proof of concept for Tipped five years ago with just 18 car guards, and it was during this time that she said she truly recognised the immense opportunity ahead.

“What started as a practical solution quickly revealed its deeper potential to empower individuals and promote financial sustainability and inclusion.”

“Through Tipped, I became acutely aware of how impactful a simple, smart, and accessible tool could be in creating meaningful change.”

Using Data to Drive Economic Empowerment

The platform also allows the company to access interesting data about tipping patterns, which couldn’t be tracked previously.

Temple said that the data insights the company is gathering through Tipped have been incredibly valuable. They can observe insights like the average tip given, which is currently R30.

“We’re now able to track individual performance metrics and customer satisfaction across a wide range of settings—from forecourts, salons, performing artists to hotels.”

“Our data also includes insights into retail spend, in-app purchases, and detailed tipping behaviour, such as frequency, value, and emerging patterns.”

For example, operators can now compare litres pumped to tips received at forecourts, offering a whole new layer of performance analysis.

“As our dataset continues to grow, it’s providing deeper, more actionable insights – highlighting real opportunities to revolutionise traditional tipping models.”

“This is the future of Tipped: transforming everyday appreciation into measurable, empowering value,” Temple explained.

She also noted that the positive response from tippees has made her fiercely determined to create something significant.

“We are seeing car guards saving for education, upskilling and using the platform as a savings mechanism to build their own businesses. We have proven that we can increase revenue for the recipient by almost 40%, which is huge.”

She highlighted how powerful it has been to impact people’s lives to that degree and to create a possible change for those they support.

“This kind of shift creates meaningful, grassroots-level economic change, with the potential to contribute to broader transformation within the South African economy.

Going forward, Temple plans to keep developing the platform – which she said is continuously evolving, both in its development and its use – and to take it outside of South Africa.

“Our current goal is to expand our user base and continue to develop our ecosystem with an extensive roadmap ahead, taking Tipped into Africa.”


This article was first published by Daily Investor and is reproduced with permission.

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