Enable gratuity and service charges

Gratuity and service charges allow you to add additional fees to purchase transactions, providing flexible pricing models for hospitality venues with transparent fee communication. These features are particularly useful for situations where you need to reward service staff or apply percentage-based fees.

For POS+ integrations, gratuity and service charges offer flexible implementation options depending on where you want to manage them.

Gratuity allows customers to add a tip when making purchases. For POS+, tips can be handled in two ways:

• Managed on your merchant POS app: Your app handles tip selection and sends the tip amount in the transaction request to the device. The tip is displayed on the printed receipt but the tip selection interface is not shown on the POS+ device.

• Managed on the POS+ device: The device displays your configured tip percentage options to the customer, who can select a percentage, enter a custom amount, or proceed without a tip. The tip amount is automatically included in the transaction total and returned in a separate field of the API response to your merchant POS app.

Service charges allow you to add percentage-based fees to transactions with two different approaches:

• Mandatory service charges: A fixed percentage automatically added to the transaction total. For POS+, mandatory service charges can be sent in your transaction request to the device to be included on the receipt. The amount goes to the employer and is reported as service charge amounts in the Unity Portal. For example, a 10% service charge for group bookings of more than 8 people.

• Voluntary service charges: A suggested percentage that the customer can accept or decline. For POS+, voluntary service charges can be sent in your transaction request to the device, and the customer will be presented with the option to accept or decline it on the POS+ device (similar to standard POS functionality). If accepted, the amount is added to the total and appears as gratuity on the receipt. If declined, the transaction proceeds with only the original amount. Accepted voluntary service charges must be provided to employees like tips and are reported as gratuity amounts in the Unity Portal (in accordance with regional regulations, such as UK tipping law).

Both features are only available for purchase transactions—they're not supported for refunds, authorisations, or other transaction types.

Before you can use gratuity or service charges, you need to enable them in the Unity Portal and configure your POS+ devices.

Before devices can offer gratuity options, the feature must be enabled and configured at the site level. This ensures all devices at a location use the same tip percentage options when device-based tip collection is used.

1. In the Unity Portal, go to Merchant groups > Sites.
2. Select the site where you want to enable gratuity.
3. In the Services tab, find the Pos service and click Edit.
4. Click General POS service settings.
5. In the Gratuity section, toggle Gratuity to On.
6. Configure your three pre-selected tip percentages (see Tip percentage configuration).
7. Click Save in the top right.

Gratuity is now enabled for all devices associated with this site. You can disable it at the device level if needed. See Enable or disable gratuity on a device.

When tips are managed on the POS+ device, you can configure three predefined tip percentages that will be displayed to customers during checkout. These percentages provide quick-select options for common tipping amounts.

• Each percentage value must be unique.
• Values will automatically be displayed from lowest to highest.
• The options will appear with 1, 2, and 3 stars to indicate the tip levels.

Example: If you configure 10%, 15%, and 20%, customers will see these three options plus a custom amount option at the payment screen.

Once gratuity is configured at the site level, it's enabled for all devices under the site.

To disable or enable it at the device level:

1. In the Unity Portal, go to Merchant setup > Sites.
2. Select the site associated with the device.
3. In the Services tab, find the Pos service and click Edit.
4. Click on the device that you want to manage the feature for.
5. Click Feature settings.
6. In the General section, toggle the Gratuity switch.
7. Click Save in the top right.

The device will automatically download the updated configuration during its next sync.

Before devices can apply service charges, the feature must be enabled at the site level. This ensures all devices at a location can use service charge functionality.

1. In the Unity Portal, go to Merchant groups > Sites.
2. Select the site where you want to enable service charges.
3. In the Services tab, find the Pos service and click Edit.
4. Click General POS service settings.
5. In the Service charge section, toggle the Service charge to On.
6. Click Save in the top right.

Service charges are now enabled for all devices associated with this site. You can disable them at the device level if needed. See Enable or disable service charges on a device.

Once service charges are configured at the site level, they're enabled for all devices under the site.

To disable or enable them at the device level:

1. In the Unity Portal, go to Merchant setup > Sites.
2. Select the site associated with the device.
3. In the Services tab, find the Pos service and click Edit.
4. Click on the device that you want to manage the feature for.
5. Click Feature settings.
6. In the General section, toggle the Service charge switch.
7. Click Save in the top right.

The device will automatically download the updated configuration during its next sync.

When integrating gratuity and service charges with your POS+ application, you have flexibility in how you handle these fees.

When tips are managed on your merchant POS app, include the gratuity amount in your transaction request. The device will process the transaction and print a receipt showing the tip separately. The tip selection interface will not be shown on the POS+ device.

When tips are managed on the POS+ device, the customer selects the tip amount on the device during checkout. The payment API response includes the tip amount in a separate field. Your application should:

• Capture and store the tip amount for your records.
• Display the tip amount in your app's transaction history.
• Use the tip data for staff payroll or reporting purposes.

When you need to apply mandatory service charges, include the service charge amount or percentage in your transaction request. The device will process the transaction with the service charge included and print a receipt showing the charge separately.

When you want to offer customers the option to add a service charge, include the suggested service charge amount or percentage in your transaction request. The device will present the option to the customer (similar to standard POS functionality). If the customer accepts, the amount is added to the total and appears as gratuity on the receipt. The API response will include whether the charge was accepted and the final amount.

After enabling gratuity or service charges, test your configuration.

When tips are managed on the device:

1. Process a test purchase transaction without sending a tip amount in your request.
2. Verify the gratuity prompt appears with your configured percentage options on the device.
3. Select a tip amount and complete the transaction.
4. Check the receipt includes the tip amount separately from the purchase amount.
5. Verify the API response includes the tip amount in a separate field.

When tips are managed on your app:

1. Process a test purchase transaction with a tip amount included in your request.
2. Verify the transaction processes without showing a tip selection screen on the device.
3. Check the receipt includes the tip amount separately from the purchase amount.

Mandatory service charges:

1. Process a test purchase transaction with a mandatory service charge included in your request.
2. Verify the service charge is included in the transaction total.
3. Check the receipt displays the service charge amount separately from the purchase amount.

Voluntary service charges:

1. Process a test purchase transaction with a voluntary service charge included in your request.
2. Verify the device presents the customer with the option to accept or decline the charge.
3. Test both accepting and declining to confirm the correct behaviour.
4. Check that accepted voluntary service charges appear as gratuity on the receipt.
5. Verify the API response indicates whether the charge was accepted.

Gratuity and service charge data is captured across multiple reporting tools:

• Transaction reports: The Unity Portal includes tip and service charge amounts for each transaction in your standard reports. See our Reporting section for more information.
• End of day reports: EOD summaries include all tips and service charges captured during the day.
• API responses: Tip amounts are included in payment responses for integration with your own reporting systems.