You’re done with the hassles of paying out tips in cash: constantly making trips to the bank, reconciling the till, or even putting tips on employee paychecks—which we know isn't fast enough for most workers. But even if your business is ready for cashless tip payouts, how do you know which tip distribution solution is right for you?  

Both Branch and Kickfin offer ways to streamline the tip payout process for service-based businesses, helping you ditch slow, outdated processes like cash and paper checks by switching to fast, cashless tips instead. However, there are a few key differences between the two solutions. While you’re researching tip distribution solutions for your team, you’ll want to consider where Branch differs from Kickfin to ensure you’re choosing the best option for your business. 

Branch v. Kickfin: Key Differences

Even though both Branch and Kickfin can fast digital tip payouts to employees, there are some key differences in how these solutions work and what they can do for your workers. Use this chart to get a quick sense of our differences, and read on below for more details.

Where payouts are sent

With Kickfin’s tip management platform, there is only one place tips can be sent: to your employees’ existing bank accounts. 

With Branch, there are a few different ways you can send tip payouts:

1. Payouts can be sent straight to your employees’ Branch accounts, which are fee-free bank accounts that also come with a physical debit card. Workers can either spend or save their money directly from their Branch account, or transfer earnings to another bank account whenever they want.
2. We also offer Branch Direct, which allows companies to enable payouts directly to worker’s existing bank accounts. 

At Branch, we feel that this dual optionality helps you support more of your workforce. For example, unbanked workers, workers with limited documentation, and minors 14+ who may not have an existing bank account can use their free Branch account as a full digital banking experience. Providing a fee-free bank account and debit card to these employees can be life-changing, as this may be their first financial account or gives them an opportunity to save more of their money and avoid exorbitant fees that traditional banking accounts tend to have. Plus, banking history is often needed to obtain loans, mortgages, and other financial services. 

Fee structure

Implementing a cashless tipping solution has the potential to streamline the payout process and improve your workers’ day-to-day lives. Receiving fast, digital access to their tip payouts is convenient and more efficient than having to deal with cash or wait for tips to show up on a future paycheck. However, a cashless tipping solution that benefits both your business and your team should be cost-effective—not filled with fees. 

Branch is free for employers, while Kickfin charges a fee anywhere from $75-$100 per month per location, depending on the business size.

Branch also offers free transaction options for users, whereas Kickfin charges a fee for every transaction. This can be picked up by the company or you can choose to pass on this cost to your employees.  

Offering a new financial solution to your workforce is great—but if it comes with hidden fees, it may do more harm than good. 

Additional payment options

Kickfin is a tip management platform, meaning tip payouts are their sole focus. Branch is a workforce payments platform with multiple capabilities, including tip payouts. This allows us to fine-tune our solution to best meet your needs; you can use Branch as a cashless tipping solution and also choose to offer things like direct deposit of regular wages, off-cycle payments / bonuses, and free earned wage access, too. 

Earned wage access (EWA) is a feature where your employees can request an advance of a portion of their wages ahead of payday if needed, to cover emergency expenses or other unexpected needs.

While this feature isn’t required, many businesses like to offer EWA to their employees alongside tip payouts, as it’s an in-demand benefit that employees want. Your employees’ advances can be sent to their Branch accounts just like their tip payouts. This would also give your other employees—like managers and back-of-house staff—access to their earned wages daily, so everyone on your staff has an option to access their earnings more quickly. 

Pre-funding 

While searching for a tip payouts solution, you may see that many providers require pre-funding. Pre-funding means that your company will need to tie up capital in a separate account in order to fund employee payouts. Kickfin is one of the many payment solutions that requires a pre-funded account when issuing tip payouts to employees.  

Branch does not require pre-funding. We front the money to your workers for their tip payouts, meaning you do not need to tie up capital in a separate account.

Financial wellness + rewards

At Branch, our mission has always been to improve the lives of working Americans. And that means that the financial services we provide come with financial wellness tools that can help your workers budget, save, and find new financial opportunities. 

With Branch, your employees can earn cashback rewards on everyday purchases at select retailers. We also provide personalized spending insights in the Branch app that can help your workers better manage their money and a savings goal feature so they can set aside funds for a rainy day. And our latest addition, Greenhouse, is a curated marketplace powered by MoneyLion that offers access to financial products and services like personal loans or refinancing options. 

With Kickfin, you’re getting a straightforward tip payouts solution; with Branch, you get a comprehensive payments platform that can open up a world of financial possibility for your workforce. And with 60% of workers citing they’d be more likely to stay at their job if their employer offered more meaningful financial benefits, it pays to consider the financial offerings you’re providing in addition to speedy tip payouts. 

Tip pooling methodology

Tip pooling has become an increasingly important function for service-based businesses looking to streamline the payout process. With tip pooling, you combine all of a businesses’ earned tips and divide them among employees either evenly or based on some agreed-upon ratio, such as hours or shifts worked. (For more on tip pooling, check out our blog.)

Both Branch and Kickfin can accommodate tip pooling, but we use slightly different methods. Kickfin has built-in tip pooling functionality, whereas Branch has a tip pooling partner, Gratuity Solutions. Gratuity Solutions can take into consideration complex tip pooling rules and automate payouts seamlessly through Branch, helping streamline the entire tip distribution process from start to finish.

Finding the Best Tip Distribution Solution for Your Business

Both Branch and Kickfin allow you to switch to easy cashless tip payouts for your workforce—something that can improve the lives of your employees while also making day-to-day life easier for you. Yet the two solutions have some notable differences, namely: fee structure, where the tip payouts are sent, and what additional financial services or features the solution comes with. When determining whether to choose Branch or Kickfin for your tip payouts, it pays to weigh your options and find the solution that will be the best fit for you. 

Learn more about cashless tip payouts with Branch.