Tipping support in the Android SDK
This document provides an overview of tipping functionality available when taking card payments through Zettle Payments SDK for Android.
The usage of tipping is optional. For each call the requestor can specify if tipping should be part of the payment or not. If tipping is enabled, the payment will return both the total amount and the tipping amount.
Example: Merchant initiates a payment of 150 and tipping is enabled. The card holder decides to give an additional 20 as a tip. The total amount returned from the call would be 170 and the tipping amount would contain 20.
The process to enter tips in the card reader may vary between markets due to to differences in tipping behaviour. From an integration perspective, there is no difference however. The market specific logic is handled by the SDK and the card reader.
Please note that the following prerequisites are required to initiate tipping:
- Tipping is only available on the Zettle reader
- Usage of SDK version
1.4.0or later - The card reader needs to contain the latest software versions.
- Tipping needs to be enabled for the market connected to the Zettle account used by the merchant. See the list of supported markets for tipping.
Tipping will be made available on a market by market basis. The following markets are supported at the moment:
- United States
- Sweden
- Norway
- Denmark
- Finland
- United Kingdom
- The Netherlands
- France (from SDK version
1.23.1) - Germany
Zettle's tipping function allows customers to add an extra amount to the total sum of their bill (market specific versions: entering total sum or adding an extra amount), and they can do so straight into your card reader. This function only works with a Zettle Reader.
Tipping is optional and is enabled by setting enableTipping to true. For more information on activating the tipping function, see Starting card payments.
Setting enableTipping to true does not guarantee that tipping flow will be displayed. This is because tipping is not supported by all accounts and all card readers.
See section prerequisites.
User research showed that the methods to give tips differ between countries. In the UK users want to be prompted with a question before entering the tip amount. As a contrast in Norway and Sweden, users prefer to enter the total amount including tip directly.
| Total Amount | Extra Amount |
The tipping style is pre-defined per market and is not configurable.
| Market | Tipping style |
|---|---|
| United States | Extra Amount |
| Sweden | Total Amount |
| Norway | Total Amount |
| Denmark | Extra Amount |
| Finland | Total Amount |
| United Kingdom | Extra Amount |
| The Netherlands | Total Amount |
| Germany | Total Amount |
To prevent accidental or invalid amounts (for example if the customer enters their PIN code instead of a tip amount), the maximum tip level is set to 50%. If the customer enters more than 50%, the card reader will show a “too high amount” warning message.
In markets where the tipping style is Total amount, there card holder is required to enter the amount to be charged including tips. If the user enters an amount that is less than the amount entered by the merchant, the card reader will show a “too low amount” warning message.
Yes, tipping requires a minimum version of the card reader software. It’s highly recommended that merchants upgrade the card reader software prior to accepting payments with tips. The update will take a few minutes to be completed.
The SDK will verify that the correct software is installed on the Zettle card reader when requesting tips. If the card reader software doesn’t support tipping, a message will be displayed asking the merchant to update the card reader software.
Important
- Make sure that the card reader and your smartphone or tablet are charged before you update the software.
- Keep the smartphone or tablet close to the card reader during the update.
What happens if a tipping call is made using a Zettle account in a market that doesn’t support tipping?
The payment function will work as before when the tipping flow is not initiated in the card reader.
Tipping is planned to be introduced in more markets. Information about the availability will be announced on Github and via email.