“Ooh… sorry, I don’t have any cash on me… [cue regretful face]” will no longer be an acceptable policy if this newfangled tip jar gadgetry catches on. DipJar is pretty simple — a credit-card scanner that sits upright and resembles a traditional tip jar. Stick youur card in and leave a tip wherever it’s deserved. Time to start dreaming up alternate excuses, ye stingy folks.

Of course the DipJar came into being in New York City, the land of waiting tables and tending bar while waiting for that big break to come. The New York Post says its inventor had the idea when he saw how little baristas were tipped by customers without cash in his neighborhood. And so the injustice rankled.

“Everyone was paying with credit or debit, so the tips had plummeted,” he said. “Baristas take really great care of me, and I didn’t like that they were working just as hard and making less money.”

Here’s how it works — a customer simply dips the credit card into the jar, and it deducts a pre-set amount of $1 as a tip.

Thus far only two DipJars are in operation in NYC, at two coffee shops, with the hopes of seven more going to work in Brooklyn soon. It remains to be seen whether customers will actually start ponying up if they can tip by credit card, or whether the miserly will stay miserly and the generous will always find a way to give.

Tip o’ the morning to you! [New York Post]

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