As customers, we’ve all experienced the frustration that comes with dining out in a group and not being able to split a bill. There’s the struggle to find an ATM, count the cash and figure out who has shorted the bill. Or maybe one person pays and has to wait for their friends to repay them their share later. It can put quite a dampening on the entire restaurant experience.
But for restaurant owners, the issue of split bills is a much bigger one. The hassle of fumbling around takes time away from other patrons and the bill has to be checked carefully to make sure everything has been covered – who had that bottle of wine?
But there’s now an app to help both customers and restauranteurs with split bills.
Aiming to make the process effortless, Groupee, which can be downloaded for free on Apple and Android devices, it allows patrons to quickly and efficiently split a bill with up to 20 friends at participating bars, restaurants and cafes.
That means no more lining up to pay, no more hunting down an ATM to withdraw cash and absolutely no more need to send bank account details or chase up those who never paid.
To pay, one person simply enters the bill total on the app, selects the number of people they’ll be splitting it with, shares the bill code with their friends and waits for them to appear on screen.
The waiter then makes sure the amount being paid matches the bill total, enters the venue’s unique Groupee verification code and it’s done. The app charges each user 2.5% for its service.
It’s easy for restaurants to signup on the app and doesn’t require any additional tech to be purchased or used.
Kochie’s Business Builders attended a lunch at Catalina Rose Bay and tested the app when paying. The process was simple, straightforward and completed in about a minute!
Over 200 restaurants and cafes Australia-wide have already signed on to use the app including some of Sydney’s best dining venues such as Catalina, Aqua Dining, Chiswick, North Bondi Fish, Aria, Paddington Inn and NOMAD who will offer payment via Groupee.
Founder and CEO Jarred Baker said the idea came from his own experience as a waiter processing multiple payments for one bill. “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.”
“I knew from first hand experience that making this process easier would benefit so many people, hence Groupee was born.
“This way, payments are completed instantly and securely with a simple staff verification on the customer’s device — all whilst never leaving their table.”
While diners will love using Groupee, merchants and hospitality venues will benefit too by no longer needing to process multiple payments increasing staff efficiency, customer turnover and venue profitability.
Owner and operator of Catalina Rose Bay, Judy McMahon, said Groupee solves a genuine problem her staff and customers face every day.
“We are excited to be using a new technology which will speed up and simplify the process of finalising group bills, save us money and enable us to get back to offering exceptional service to our customers,” said Mrs McMahon.
“We are proud to be offering Groupee to our customers as soon as it is available.”
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