instipClaim your tag

How it works

Ins Tip owns the decisions. It rents the rails.

Every money movement is an instruction to a licensed provider. Ins Tip is never in possession of funds, and the venue is never in the flow of funds.

The control plane

Decisions above. Money below. A guard between.

Diagram. Ins Tip owns the tag and five decisions: Rail, Fee, Release, Tax, Approval. Every instruction passes the perimeter guard, which refuses any instruction that would make Ins Tip hold, pool or own customer money. The money itself moves on rented rails: from the guest, by card payment, through a licensed payments provider, by payout, to the worker's own debit card. The venue is not in the flow of funds.

The money runs along the line from the guest to the worker, on rails that licensed providers operate. Ins Tip sends instructions to that line, and nothing comes back but data.

What Ins Tip owns

Five decisions and one guard.

The tag, the record, five decisions and one guard. In code this is the control plane.

NumberDecisionThe question it answers
01RailWhich rented rail takes this payment?
02FeeWhat service fee does the guest pay on top, in this state, on this rail?
03ReleaseHow much of the tip is made available before the card payment settles?
04TaxIs this a qualified tip, and which occupation code is reported?
05ApprovalMay this agent take this action alone, or does a founder sign off?
GuardPerimeter guardDoes any instruction make Ins Tip hold, pool or own customer money? If so, refuse.

What is rented

What is rented, and from whom.

No partner is signed, so none is named. Providers are described by what they are. Where a public price or a provider’s own wording is quoted, a link goes to the page it comes from.

  • Day one

    Taking the guest’s payment

    Rented from
    A licensed payments provider
    Steered by
    Rail, Fee

    Apple Pay, Google Pay or a card, as a charge on the worker’s own account at the provider. The public list price of a licensed payments provider in the United States is 2.9% + $0.30, at which a $5 tip costs about $0.45 to accept.

    Provider documentation: list prices

  • Day one

    Paying the worker

    Rented from
    The same payments provider
    Steered by
    Release

    A payout to the worker’s own debit card. In the words of a licensed payments provider: “typically within 30 minutes”.

    Provider documentation: payout timing

  • Day one

    Identity checks

    Rented from
    The payments provider
    Steered by
    The provider’s rule

    The provider verifies each worker before it pays them. Ins Tip hands the check over. It does not run it.

  • Year end

    Tax forms

    Rented from
    A tax-forms service
    Steered by
    Tax

    Preparing and delivering Form 1099-K. The cash tips in box 1c and the occupation code in box 1d come from the record.

    IRS: instructions for Form 1099-K

  • Planned

    The Ins Tip card

    Rented from
    A licensed programme manager and an issuing bank
    Steered by
    Rail, Release

    A consumer prepaid card. Planned. Not live. This is a preview. No programme manager and no bank is signed.

  • Experiment

    Machine payments

    Rented from
    A licensed payments provider
    Steered by
    Rail, Approval

    For Tip your Agent. An agent’s endpoint answers 402 until it is paid. Card tips to an agent start at $0.50.

    Provider documentation: machine payments

Ins Tip is a technology company, not a bank. Payments and card services are provided by licensed partners.

What it is not

What Ins Tip is not

  • Not a bank.
  • Not a money transmitter.
  • Not a card issuer.
  • Not a tax adviser.

Ins Tip is a technology company, not a bank. Payments and card services are provided by licensed partners.