By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
A new app is now being used in over 200 venues across Australia to allow patrons to split their bill with ease.
Groupee allows a group of up to 20 people to split the bill electronically at venues that also use the app. To pay, a patron enters the total bill amount and the number of people splitting it. The bill code is then shared with friends through the app. Front-of-house staff ensures that the amount is equal to the bill total, and then enters the venue’s Groupee verification code. The credit cards registered to the app for each patron are then charged that amount. Groupee adds on a 2.5 per cent surcharge.
Groupee CEO, Jarred Baker, came up with the idea due to his own experiences with bill splitting.
“After working as a waiter at my friend’s restaurant I realised that split bills was a real pain point for both restaurants and customers.”
“This way, payments are completed instantly and securely with a simple staff verification on the customer’s device — all whilst never leaving their table.”
A variety of restaurants, bars and pubs across the country are using the app, including Catalina Rose Bay, Maybe Frank and The Butler. The app is also being used at Solotel’s The Paddington Inn, where licensee Chelsea Carter has found the app to be beneficial.
“Having implemented Groupee at The Paddington Inn, we’ve experienced just how it makes serving large tables faster. Seeing a table of 19 pay in a matter seconds using the app really showed just how useful it can be.”
Currently patrons are only able to split the bill evenly, however Baker has stated that other bill splits will be available shortly.
“At this point in time the app only allows for even splits, however we will be introducing functionality in the next few months to allow for proportional splitting, once users familiarise themselves with this new way of paying. We wanted to keep things super simple as it’s important that people find the process easy to follow.”
