Companies Drop Tip Prompts at Unmanned Checkouts

Businesses are removing tip requests from self-service payment screens after customers pushed back on the practice.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Robotics

Isometric editorial illustration of a self-checkout kiosk beside a plain counter holding a water bottle and tote bag, with an empty shelved aisle behind. — Companies including Atli dropped tip requests from unmanned checkout screens after customer backlash, including at a Newark Airport store where a prompt appeared on a $4.29 water purchase. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do you think businesses should be allowed to ask for tips at self-service checkouts?

Companies removed tip requests from unmanned checkout screens after customer backlash, including at an unmanned airport store where a tip prompt appeared on a $4.29 sparkling water purchase. Atli stopped requesting tips in its cafe payment systems and raised hourly wages by $1.5 to offset the lost tip income.

Why it matters

The controversy reflects customer resistance to tipping at self-service kiosks where shoppers scan and bag their own items. Cornell University professor Michael Lynn said companies will realize tip requests cannot be expanded and will give up those attempts.

Self-service checkout systems at the Newark store and similar unmanned points of sale display tip prompts through the payment interface, with the Tipsy Robot bar in Las Vegas automatically adding a 10% service charge. The extraction does not specify whether the prompts can be disabled per merchant or how many unmanned terminals nationwide carry them.

The players

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

The bi-state agency that manages Newark Airport and demanded the tip feature be removed from the unmanned checkout.

Atli

A cafe operator that stopped requesting tips in its payment systems and raised hourly wages by $1.5.

Michael Lynn

A Cornell University professor who predicted companies will abandon attempts to expand tip requests.

The details

A customer posted a video of a tip request at an unmanned checkout at Newark Airport, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said there should be no tip request screen there and demanded the operator remove the feature immediately. Commenters argued that tips are for people and that self-checkout customers should receive discounts for doing the work themselves.

Last month: Newark Airport physician Clay Moss filmed the tip request at an unmanned water checkout.
November 7, 2026: The New York Post reported on the tip-screen video.

The Tech Race

Tip prompts moved from counter-service staff into unmanned payment screens, the same self-service kiosk model that robotic bars like Tipsy Robot have extended with automatic charges. Customer pushback at Newark and Atli's reversal place this trend under open challenge.

Shoppers at self-service checkouts may encounter tip prompts on payment screens, and some businesses are now removing them. Customers who pay at unmanned counters can expect fewer tip requests where companies respond to the backlash.

The takeaway

Customers pushing back on tip prompts at self-service kiosks can influence which payment screens businesses keep. Shoppers who scan their own items should expect fewer tip requests as companies reconsider the practice.