Payment requests for amounts under five euros following a visit to a restaurant or bar are causing discomfort amongst younger generations

Almost two in five Dutch restaurant-goers would rather pay too much than argue about the bill

Almost three in ten (29%) restaurant-goers in the Netherlands find it inconvenient to send a payment request for amounts under five euros after paying the bill in a restaurant. Among younger generations, this figure rises to 38 per cent for 18- to 34-year-olds. For the over-55s, this is much less of an issue: only one in five (19%) find it difficult. This is according to research by a till and payment platform Lightspeed (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), carried out amongst 3,000 Dutch restaurant-goers.

Talking about money remains a sensitive subject

The discomfort is not limited to the request to pay alone. Many restaurant-goers also find it awkward to discuss money or prices in a restaurant: more than one in five (22%) recognise that feeling. Fourteen per cent feel uncomfortable discussing how the bill is to be paid or split, and sixteen per cent have sometimes left the bill unmentioned so as not to spoil the atmosphere. It is precisely because people prefer to avoid the conversation that they sometimes end up paying more than necessary. Nearly four in ten (38%) would rather chip in a little extra than have a discussion about who ordered what.

The contrast among young people is striking. Although they find it difficult to ask for money themselves, they are also the least likely to pay. Nineteen per cent of young people aged under 25 have at some point ignored or delayed a payment request from someone else, compared with seven per cent of all respondents.

Those who share equally order differently

Splitting the bill equally is cited by 42 per cent as the usual way of paying when dining with a group. This does not reflect what everyone wants: 29 per cent of restaurant-goers would rather pay only for their own dishes than have the total divided amongst the number of people at the table. When it comes to splitting the bill, a few other patterns emerge. For instance, 24 per cent have sometimes ordered cheaper dishes because others at the table did the same, whilst ten per cent say they have sometimes ordered less in order to keep the total bill down. Conversely, six per cent do sometimes order more expensive dishes, knowing that the bill will be split equally. Among 25 to 34-year-olds, this figure rises to as much as ten per cent.

“Payment technology has significantly changed the way we pay in restaurants,” says Emine Youssef, Regional Senior Director for Western Europe at Lightspeed. “Whereas groups used to pay together and small differences were simply rounded off, people now more often pay separately or a payment request is sent round afterwards. It’s handy, but it turns a shared moment into something individual, and that can feel awkward, even if it’s just a few euros. That same technology can just as easily eliminate that awkwardness. If the till system effortlessly splits the bill per guest or per dish, nobody needs to do the maths afterwards or send a payment request. Then the technology actually works for the group rather than against it.”