Tipping rate approaches 10% in Hungary

The data processing of Teya Hungary, which operates the card acceptance terminals (Teya lime POS) of approximately 20 thousand businesses in Hungary, showed the following for the entire calendar year preceding the 2025 Christmas period:

• Hungarians tip 8.12% on average at commercial establishments.
• Typically, we leave higher tips at entertainment venues (clubs, pubs) at around 9.45%, while we leave less in restaurants and cafes (8.5%).
• Looking at the entire year 2025, we gave the most tips in July, 11%+, at catering establishments; in the rest of the year, this value averaged between 6 and 10% of the total monthly average of the transactions examined.
• Interestingly, the lowest tips (~7%) are typically given at the end of the year or at the beginning of the year (Oct-Dec, Jan-Feb), while the highest (~9%) are given in the summer months (June, July, August).

Teya Hungary has been an active part of the Hungarian card acceptance market since 2020. Based on the choice of SMEs, domestic card users can increasingly encounter Teya’s lime-colored terminals in catering and retail establishments. In December 2025, Teya contributed to the development of local businesses with its modern payment technology at nearly 2,000 hospitality service providers.

“The issue of tipping has now gone far beyond a simple polite gesture: it has become an integral part of consumer habits. The spread of service charges, the everyday use of digital payments, different generational expectations, and record-breaking tourism are all reshaping the way guests view tipping. It is therefore not surprising that while tipping remains unknown to some or is confused with the service charge, more and more people are seeing it as a conscious, considered and completely optional gesture. At Teya, we believe that quality service speaks for itself. That is why, if a commercial entity aims to increase the amount of tipping, the first and most important task in any case is to raise the level of service. At the same time, it is at least as important that guests are given real freedom in how and to what extent they express their satisfaction. Our task is to offer simple, transparent and modern technological solutions for this in every situation” – said Ákos Bálint Dencz, Managing Director of Teya Hungary.

With the rapid spread of payment technologies, the management of tips has become a strategic issue for commercial units.

“In Hungary, guests most often leave tips between 5–10%, which is in line with the data we have seen. This moderate domestic norm level harmonizes with the Central and Eastern European region, but is significantly lower than the 15-20% industry average measured in the United States. According to international experience, overly intrusive, consecutive and difficult to navigate tip prompts contribute to the feeling of so-called “tipping fatigue”; On the other hand, a well-designed POS experience — such as freely selectable percentages, zero or ‘other amount’ fields and a clear, transparent interface — increases conversion and reduces dissatisfaction.” – added Arvithis Georgios, CFO of Teya Hungary.

Teya terminals offer an optional tipping feature that businesses can customize to suit their needs. In the case of the “quick checkout” option, the tip option appears during the payment process, but the transaction can be completed without interruption even if the customer does not choose to tip. The “maximize tip” setting displays the options on a separate interface, while also providing the option to proceed without tipping. Teya aims to keep payments fast, transparent and consistent with the customer experience, while supporting merchants to increase revenue. With Teya’s lime-colored terminals, customers complete the payment transaction in as little as 2 seconds.