A pint glass full of cards
Friday evening. Groups open tabs by handing over a card, which goes in a glass behind the till with a sticky note. At eleven, someone asks to close their tab, and the barman searches the glass for a card with a name that matches a scribbled note. Another customer went home an hour ago and left their card, and their tab, open. Their friend says they will pay tomorrow.
On Saturday morning there are four cards in the glass and two open tabs on the till nobody can match to a person. One card holder rings to cancel their card. One tab is never paid.
Why card-in-a-glass tabs persist
Tabs are good for trade. Groups spend more when they are not paying per round, and regulars like them. The card behind the bar is the pub's security, the only thing stopping someone leaving without paying. It works when the bar is quiet and staff know everyone.
On a busy night it fails. Cards and tabs are matched by names that do not agree, staff change over, and customers forget. Many EPOS systems support tabs, but not a way to secure them without holding the card, unless the payment side is set up to do it.
Staff changeovers are when most of the confusion happens. The person who opened the tab and took the card goes home at nine, and the evening team inherit a glass of cards and a list of tab names they did not create and cannot match to faces.
The trouble with tabs as they are
| Risk | What happens |
|---|---|
| Lost or mixed-up cards | Wrong card charged, or a card missing |
| Tabs left open | Unpaid bills and awkward follow-ups |
| Cards left overnight | Customers cancelling cards and complaining |
| Tabs not matched to people | Staff guessing who ordered what |
| Handover between shifts | Open tabs forgotten by the next team |
Holding cards also puts responsibility on the pub for something valuable that belongs to someone else, which most licensees would rather not have.
Tabs secured without holding the card
- A tab is opened by taking a pre-authorisation on the customer's card through your card terminal or a payment provider such as Stripe, for an amount you set. The customer keeps their card.
- Where it suits the group, the customer can open a tab by scanning a QR code at the table and entering a card on their own phone.
- The tab is created in your EPOS with the customer's name and a table or description, and drinks are added to it as normal.
- If the tab goes above the pre-authorised amount, staff see a prompt to top it up.
- When the customer closes, the final amount is charged. At closing time, open tabs are flagged, and any left open can be settled against the pre-authorisation following the terms the customer agreed when they opened it.
- Each tab's history, who opened it, what was added, how it was closed, is kept for any query.
What your card terminal and EPOS support matters a lot here. We check what your payment provider allows, and we make sure customers are shown your tab terms when they open one. The terms themselves are yours to decide.
A Friday night of tabs afterwards
A group opens a tab with a tap of a card at the bar and keeps the card. The barman adds rounds to the tab on the till. At eleven they close it and pay. The one group that left without closing is charged at closing time in line with the terms shown when they opened it. There is no glass of cards and no Saturday phone calls.
- No customer cards kept behind the bar
- Tabs secured against walkouts
- Open tabs flagged at closing
- A clear record of every tab
Is your pub running tabs like this?
- Customers' cards are kept in a glass or drawer behind the bar.
- Tabs have been left unpaid when customers went home.
- Staff struggle to match cards to tabs at closing.
- Cards have been left overnight or handed to the wrong person.
- Open tabs are missed when shifts change over.