Wyndham Hotels & Resorts introduces mobile tipping app

Guests at certain Wyndham Hotels & Resorts franchises will no longer need to carry cash to leave for housekeeping. The company has debuted a mobile tipping solution for its franchisees in the United States and Canada.

Developed and managed by IT company béné, the platform allows guests to tip hotel staff digitally via their preferred mobile device. Béné, which is based in Virginia, operates an app on iOS and Android platforms that enables users to leave and receive tips without exchanging cash.

“The pandemic dramatically accelerated guest demand for digital payment solutions, and that trend will only continue in the coming years,” says Scott Strickland, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ chief information officer.

Guests can tip “housekeepers, wait staff and other frontline team members … at virtually no cost to franchisees,” Strickland adds.

Once a hotel opts-in to the béné platform, guests can tip the employee of their choice by scanning a QR code during their stay. QR codes are unique to each member of the hotel staff, and tips are deposited daily either directly into their individual bank accounts or into the property’s account to be distributed with regular payroll, according to the hotel company.

The béné platform accepts credit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. As with other digital payment services, guests cover platform costs via a “small transaction fee,” according to the hotel company. Franchisees are responsible only for the cost of basic marketing materials.

Adds Strickland: “The beauty of this solution is its simplicity and how easy it is for our franchisees to allow their guests to make the switch from cash to digital. There’s no app to download and no software to install. It’s entirely web-based, which means so long as guests have a phone and an internet connection, they’re able to tip and show their appreciation.”

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts says mobile tipping is part of its ongoing digital transformation. Earlier this year, the company launched Road Trip Planner, a tool allowing travelers to plan and book a road trip through Wyndham’s mobile app. The hotel company also recently launched RevIQ, a cloud-based, mobile-first revenue management system meant to help franchisees optimize their revenue strategies.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts operates a portfolio of 23 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel, La Quinta and Wyndham.

Watch a discussion in the PhocusWire Studio at Phocuswright Europe 2022 with Julie White, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ vice president of commercial for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). White explains how hoteliers are competing for consumers and using business intelligence tools to operate more efficiently.