SpotOn Integrates Visa Direct in Its Tip Payout App

SpotOn Transact LLC has integrated Visa Direct, a faster-payments service, into its DayCheck earned-tip payment app. The integration will allow restaurant owners to simplify tip payouts and enable restaurant employees to move tips directly to their bank accounts.

San Francisco-based SpotOn says restaurant operaters are squeezed by working capital challenges and staff retention. The difficulty with tips is operators need to keep enough cash on hand to fund tip payouts, with credit card tips typically funded the next and up to four days later on holiday weekends, Doron Friedman, SpotOne chief innovation officer, says in an email to Digital Transactions News.

Launched in September, DayCheck automatically calculates tips earned by employees. After tips have been calculated, the information is recorded as payouts in the payroll report, allowing payroll providers to tax the tips. Tips are then paid to an employee’s account. Restaurants do not need to prefund tip payouts in a separate account.

For qualified merchants, SpotOn will supply the funds for their employees’ earned tips knowing it can collect these amounts the next business day once funds are settled, Friedman says. “With Visa Direct handling the push to the employee’s bank and Astra providing the orchestration layer, the system advances payouts against confirmed incoming proceeds—so operators don’t have to park extra cash up front. Controls, eligibility, and limits apply to keep the process safe and predictable,” he says.

Payouts are facilitated by an application programming interface to the Astra instant-payments platform. Astra’s APIs support real-time transfers, bank debits, and card disbursements in the United States. Astra manages a wide variety of payment functions from initiation to settlement and provides automated treasury functionality.

“Together with SpotOn Teamwork, DayCheck simplifies the entire tip-out. It pulls actual shift data from the POS, calculates allocations, and pushes payouts directly to employees—creating a clean audit trail with fewer manual steps,” Friedman says. “Operators carry less cash, cut reconciliation time, and improve scheduling and retention because staff get paid quickly and predictably. The result is tighter daily operations, clearer books, and happier employees without adding another tool to manage.”