The pool
Tips left at the counter or on the card machine often go into a pool, get split unevenly, or pass through a manager who decides who gets what. Some staff are pressured to hand over more than their share.
A Patreon for ordinary people
Support the people you see every day.
Pick the barista, the bartender, the server who makes your mornings better. Support them directly with a small monthly amount, paid straight into their own account, for as long as you like.
Now hand-recruiting 30–50 workers at cafes and pubs on one busy street.
Maya
Corner Cafe · Morning shift, Mon to Fri
Monthly pledge$5.00
Maya gets the full $5
$2–$50a month, per person. The cap means money can't buy attention.
100%of the pledge reaches the worker. Nothing is taken from their tip.
One lineon your statement, however many people you support.
No searchand no chat. You only reach someone by their code.
Why it exists
Tips follow the shift. Thanks should follow the person.
The regular who's ordered the same flat white for two years has no way to send thanks to the person who remembers their name.
The prompt
A percentage on a shared screen, asked under social pressure at the till. It goes to whoever is on shift, not the person you meant to thank, and you can't see where it lands.
The jar
Few people carry cash. A coin on a busy Saturday says nothing about the other days they showed up, and it leaves no trace of the relationship once the shift ends.
TipRiver money goes from the regular straight into the person's own account. The employer never handles it, never sees it, and can't redistribute it.
How it works
A personal code, a scan, and a monthly pledge that runs itself.
Nothing else changes about the visit. The worker sets up once, the regular takes under a minute, and TipRiver handles the monthly charge and the payout.
Set up between shifts
- Open tipriver.com on your phone. Nothing to download. Add a first name or nickname, your workplace, and a photo and one-line bio if you like.
- Connect a bank account or debit card on Stripe's secure form. TipRiver never sees the numbers.
- Get your personal code: a QR on your screen, a card or a pin, plus a short link like
tipriver.com/maya-corner-cafe. - Tell your regulars, the way you'd mention anything else.
Scan, choose, done
- Scan their code. You'll see their first name, photo, workplace and a line they wrote ("Morning shift, Mon to Fri").
- Pick an amount: $2, $5 or $10 a month, or your own.
- Pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, a card or PayPal. Your account is created in the same step, with email only.
- Add a one-line note if you'd like. Done.
Quiet, predictable, yours
- On the 1st, each regular is charged once for everyone they support, as one line on their statement.
- On the 5th business day, each worker gets one payout once their balance reaches $20.
- Workers see who supports them, by first name or "Anonymous Supporter", the regular's choice.
- Regulars change, pause or stop any pledge with one tap. If a worker changes jobs, their supporters come with them.
The promise you can test
Tick every box. Maya’s number doesn’t move.
The worker keeps 100% of what the regular chooses to give. Fee cover and the platform tip sit on top of the pledge, never inside it. Try it below. This is the exact page a regular sees after a scan.
Alice is charged
| Pledge to Maya | $5.00 |
| Fee cover | — |
| Platform tip | — |
| Monthly charge | $5.00 |
Alice is charged $5.00 a month. Maya receives $5.00.
Maya receives
$5.00
Every month, in full, to her own account. Payout fees are absorbed by TipRiver.
On her dashboard you appear as: Alice
Bundled, on purpose
Many small pledges in. One quiet line out.
Card fees have a fixed 30c that would eat small tips alive. So TipRiver charges each regular once a month for everyone they support, and pays each worker once a month for all their regulars.
| Charged as | Processing | Share lost |
|---|---|---|
| One $2.00 pledge, alone | $0.36 | 18% |
| Three $3.00 pledges, bundled into $9.00 | $0.57 | 6.33% |
Alice supports Maya ($5.00) and Sam ($3.00), covers fees and adds the tip. That's one charge of $9.34. Maya nets $5.00, Sam nets $3.00, and nobody sees anyone else's line.
Maya · month one
$15.00
Current balance: $15.00, will be rolled over to next month.
A delay, never a forfeit. Nothing is lost while it builds.
Maya · month two
$25.00
Current balance: $25.00, will be paid out.
Paid on the 5th business day, to the account she already uses. Four regulars at $5 reach the $20 line.
Two people, one relationship
Built for what each side actually worries about.
The worker carries nearly all of the risk. Every default protects them, and every interaction costs the regular almost no effort.
For workers
Steady extra income that isn't tied to one shift.
- "Strangers knowing my full name or where I live."
- You control what is shown: first name or nickname only. No surname, no phone, no home suburb, no social links. Nobody can search for you.
- "The boss finding out."
- No venue accounts, no pool settings, no manager view, ever. Money lands in your own account. Share by word of mouth, and check your workplace rules first.
- "Fees eating small amounts."
- You keep 100% of every pledge. TipRiver absorbs payout fees. One payout a month once your balance reaches $20.
- "Tax paperwork."
- A simple annual statement from TipRiver. Stripe Connect handles tax forms like the 1099-K. We point you to local advice, not guesses.
For regulars
A simple way to say thanks, without cash or awkwardness.
Office workerFlat white on the way in
LocalKnows which server has the usual table
RetireeThursday afternoons, end of the bar- "Being charged forever by accident."
- Your Total Next Charge is always the first thing on your dashboard. Change, pause or cancel with one tap.
- "The money not reaching the person."
- It goes straight to their own account through Stripe Connect. No pool, no venue, no detour.
- "Looking cheap."
- You choose the amount privately on your phone, never at the till. Pledge anonymously if you prefer.
There's nothing to sign up for in advance. Ask the person for their code, or scan it when they show you.
Who it's for
Anyone you see face to face, regularly.
The pilot starts with hospitality: baristas, bartenders and wait staff on one busy street. Then it opens to everyone else whose regulars already know their face.
All portraits are illustrative. They are not real TipRiver workers, and TipRiver never features identifiable workers.
Privacy and safety
Protection built into the shape of the product, not bolted on.
TipRiver connects people with someone they see at a fixed place and time, often on a predictable shift. One bad story ends the brand, so safety comes first.
01
You control what is shown
Nickname, optional photo, workplace, one line. There isn't even a field for a surname, phone or address.
02
No open search
Nobody can browse TipRiver for "bartenders near me". You only reach a worker through their code or link.
03
No direct messages
A regular can attach one 100-character note. The worker can reply with a one-tap "Thank you for your support!" No threads.
04
Block and report
Remove any supporter at any time, with the pledge stopped and no explanation required. Report anything that feels wrong.
05
Money can't buy attention
$50 per worker per regular per month, maximum. Support stays generous but small.
Clear fund flowAnonymity, your choiceOne-tap controlEvery fee shown firstOne bundled charge
No card or bank numbers ever touch TipRiver. Stripe handles them in its own secure forms, and TipRiver never holds your money.
What already exists
Cashless tipping is crowded. Nobody owns the word "regular."
| Option | What it does | How TipRiver differs |
|---|---|---|
| eTip, Tippy, Grazzy, Kickfin, Hifive | QR and NFC tipping sold to hotels and restaurants, with payroll-ready reporting | Built for the business, one tip at a time. TipRiver is built for the regular, every month, and the employer is never a party. |
| EZTipr | One QR page linking to a worker's own payment apps, plus wearable pins | Still a one-off tip, and the worker has to expose their PayPal or Venmo handle. TipRiver shows a nickname, not a handle. |
| Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee, Ko-fi | Recurring support for creators | Built around content and audiences. TipRiver is about a face you see at the counter: no posts, no tiers, no discovery. |
| Cash, tip jar, card prompt | The status quo | Forgotten, shared with the pool, or feels forced at the till. |
| TipRiver | Recurring, private, direct support from a regular to a person | Portable: if the worker changes jobs, their supporters come with them. |
Honest about where we are
One street. One question: do regulars keep giving in month three?
We're not here to prove we can build a tipping product. We're here to find out whether people keep paying. If fewer than half of pledges survive three months, we rethink before spending a dollar on growth.
Retention is also our reputation system. There are no stars and no reviews. A regular who keeps paying, month after month, says more than a rating ever could.
Context: the global digital tipping market is valued at $190.6M in 2025, projected to reach $635.2M by 2034 (14.2% CAGR). QR tipping already accounts for 12.8% of volume ($24.4M). One 2026 industry report found digital and QR tipping adoption rose 29% in hospitality. Almost all of it is one-off and venue-mediated.
50%of pledges still active after 90 days: the single success threshold for the pilot.
30–50hospitality workers, hand-recruited
8–12weeks on a single busy street
4active pledges: where a worker's payout becomes real ($20/month)
$0taken from any worker's pledge, ever
Questions
The things people ask first.
Can I just search for my barista?
No, on purpose. Nobody can browse TipRiver. You reach a worker only by scanning their code or using their link, which they share themselves. A searchable directory of service workers tied to a workplace is a stalking tool, so we don't build one.
Does any of my pledge go to TipRiver?
No. The worker keeps 100% of what you pledge. TipRiver is funded only by the optional 50c platform tip and optional fee cover you can add on top, plus printed cards and pins sold at cost plus a margin.
What if I forget I'm paying?
You'll see one charge a month, as one line on your statement. Your dashboard always shows your Total Next Charge, and you can pause or cancel any pledge with one tap.
Will my employer see this?
TipRiver has no venue accounts or manager view. Money goes to your own account. Some workplaces do have rules about sharing personal payment links, though, so check yours before sharing at work. Word of mouth is the safest way.
What happens if I change jobs?
Your code and link stay yours. Update your workplace name, and your supporters' pledges keep going without them having to find you again. Each regular decides whether to continue.
Your regulars already know your name. Give them a way to say thanks.
Set up on your phone in one sitting. Your code goes live the moment your payouts connect. During the pilot, we'll hand you a printed card and a pin.