FAQ

General Questions

TipBrightly is a proprietary software platform designed to make tipping faster, easier, cashless and contact free. Purpose-built for businesses in the tipped service industry — TipBrightly integrates digital, cashless tipping, real-time feedback, and analytics into a single, seamless platform.

TipBrightly creates QR codes (with unique URL) that are assigned to individual, team, group, event, department. Anyone with a mobile phone can scan a QR code or click on the unique URL to send an anonymous tip, from anywhere at anytime. With no mobile app required.

Q: Why have a TipBrightly account?

TipBrightly is not another payment app like Venmo or CashApp, which requires users to download a mobile app and reveal personal details, it’s a versatile solution for collecting, tracking, managing, and paying out tips in a way that can be customized to meet a business’s needs.

TipBrightly is a B2B solution through which employers can help their employees recover earnings in an increasingly cashless society.  For employers, TipBrightly removes the friction and pain from managing tips, providing a fast, easy, and turnkey solution for enabling employees to track tip transactions, view service ratings and feedback, and receive tips directly into their account in 1-2 days.

Q: What makes TipBrightly different?

Our patent-pending platform is purpose built for the service industry, generating value beyond the tip and providing multiple benefits. TipBrightly account holders can track tips, receive real-time notification via text, feedback via email, and view activity on a dashboard. For employers, a TipBrightly account provides a way for them to manage tips and view service ratings and feedback.

Q:  Who is TipBrightly?

We are a minority female-founded company based in Mountain View, California. We are a financial services company with a social impact mission. Incorporated as TipGenie, we rebranded as TipBrightly in 2020. TipBrightly was inspired by our founder’s mother, a hotel housekeeper, whose earnings she spent on her children. Growing up, a $5.00 tip meant a trip to McDonald’s and three Happy Meals. A small tip can go a long way.

Q:  What is our mission?

Our mission is to help those who rely on cash-based income to recover the lost opportunity for tips in an increasingly cashless society and contactless world. We believe that technology has the power to make life easier and better for everyone and can be used to fix broken systems -- like tipping.  By optimizing existing mobile payments technology we can transform tipping, making the experience more than a one-way payment transaction. By creating a payments ecosystem powered by appreciation — we generate value -- for employees, work, and service — creating a win-win-win for everyone. 

How Does TipBrightly Work?

Q: How does a customer tip an employee with TipBrightly?
Now anyone can simply point your mobile phone camera at the QR code to send a tip in three steps. 1) Scan and tap prompt that appears on screen; 2) confirm recipient and enter tip; and 3) leave service rating and feedback. That’s it!

Q: Does the customer need to download an app?
No mobile app is required. Tips are anonymous and can be sent from anywhere at anytime. Each QR code also has a unique URL which can direct user to the tipping page

Q: Does the employee need a phone or an app to receive tips?
No. The employee receiving a tip does not need an app or a mobile device on hand, just a Stripe account to be paid their tips.  The business implementing a cashless tipping program needs a way of making the QR codes visible and visual.  TipBrightly’s system is flexible.  QR codes can be displayed that match the service provider’s branding.

Q: Where can I use TipBrightly to send a tip?
A business will need to implement the system in order to create the QR codes that customers can scan. If you’d like to see TipBrightly used in a business, please direct them to our website.

Q: Why are customers charged a “convenience” fee?
At TipBrightly we are committed to transparency.  We ask guests to accept ALL fees and display that as part of the tipping process. The guest has the option to accept or deduct fees from tip. Here’s the breakdown of our fees:

• Stripe charges 2.9% + $.30. This is a fixed cost for every tip.

• TipBrightly currently charges between 3%.

TipBrightly has selected Stripe for its high level of security. Stripe is certified as PCI Service Provider Level 1, which is the most stringent level of certification in the payments industry.

Q: What is Stripe?

Stripe is a U.S. company that enables businesses to accept payments over the Internet and transfer funds to customers. It operates in 25 countries and powers 100,000+ businesses. Stripe is used by Lyft to collect and send tips to drivers.  Learn more about Stripe’s security and privacy policy, and their verification process.

Q: How are tips processed?
When we accept payments, we do so in a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) compliant manner. The simplest way to be PCI compliant is to never see (or have access to) card data at all. The information entered by the user is encrypted and not seen or stored by TipBrightly. Stripe uses encryption and handles, on TipBrightly’s behalf, all issues dealing with compliance, disputed and fraudulent charges.

Q: How does Stripe maintain compliance?
Stripe has been audited by a PCI-certified auditor and is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry. To accomplish this, Stripe makes use of best-in-class security tools and practices. Stripe regularly audits the details of our implementation: the certificates they serve, the certificate authorities they use, and the ciphers they support. Stripe uses HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to ensure browsers interact with Stripe only over HTTPS. 

Q: What can you tell me about encryption and compliance?
Because all sensitive information is handled by Stripe, it features simple PCI compliance with SAQ reporting. Stripe also provides a single interface for Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the Payment Request API.

Q: How is information stored and encrypted?
Security is one of the biggest considerations in payments and we take your privacy and data security seriously.  We provide below detailed technical information to ensure that guest payment information and tip payments are secure & protected.

With Stripe, all card numbers are encrypted and decryption keys stored on separate machines. None of Stripe’s internal servers and daemons are able to obtain plaintext card numbers; instead, they can just request that cards be sent to a service provider on a static whitelist.

Stripe’s infrastructure for storing, decrypting, and transmitting card numbers runs in a separate hosting infrastructure, and doesn’t share any credentials with Stripe’s primary services (API, website, etc.).  Stripe has two PGP keys to encrypt TipBrightly communications with Stripe or verify signed messages TipBrightly receives from Stripe.

Q: What companies use Stripe?
Companies like Uber, DoorDash, and Shopify use Stripe to process payments.

A QR Code provide a fast and easy way to view and send information. With TipBrightly, QR codes make tipping fast, easy, and secure. TipBrightly has built into our platform the ability to generate QR codes, which are assigned to an individual person, employee, team, group, department, location. Think of each QR code as a virtual tip jar.

With COVID-19, QR codes have become an increasingly common way to get information or initiate a transaction.

Q: What is a QR Code?
A QR code, which stands for “quick response” consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device such as a mobile phone camera or scanner. The information embedded in the QR code cannot be easily read with the naked eye. QR codes are nearly impossible to manipulate once published or generated!

Q: How does TipBrightly use QR codes?
A TipBrightly QR code is a unique digital image with a URL. Anyone who scans this code can send you a payment.]

● Share QR code and URL via text or email

● Send as an attachment

● Post on website and social media channels

● Print QR code on business cards, flyers, posters

● Embed URL as a link on printed materials

● Display on monitor, live stream, YouTube

Q: What happens when a guest scans the QR code?
The QR code simply directs the user to a portal through which a payment can be made. Once scanned, the user is taken to a screen that allows them to enter a tip. Scanning a TipBrightly-generated QR code automatically sends the user to the employee’s unique account. No typing or trying to write down a URL address, name, phone, or email.  TipBrightly’s payments platform directs, manages, and protects all that information, by using Stripe.