Tom's Watch Bar

‍Tom’s Watch Bar is a rapidly-growing chain of sports bars that provides an immersive entertainment experience. They currently have 14 locations across multiple states. We spoke with Kailee Aitken, HR Manager for Tom’s Watch Bar, about why her team switched to Branch to power their tip payouts—and how the change has benefitted their business. 

Looking for a Tip Payout Solution With Better Controls—and Fewer Fees

Prior to implementing Branch, Tom’s Watch Bar was using another digital tip platform to pay tips nightly. They knew that same-day tip payouts were a necessity for today’s workforce. However, their previous solution came with a few critical pain points, including lack of control and oversight into the tip payout process each night. 

Because managers had to export and import different files into the tip payout platform, attempts to finalize the tip payout amounts weren’t always done correctly, which created administrative hassles for Aitken and her team. 

“We had issues with people [adjusting] calculations, sending in the wrong reports because before they were required to export and import files into the tip payout platform,” explains Aitken. 

Their previous solution also came with two other issues: pre-funding and fees. They were required to pre-fund an account for the previous provider in order to pay out tips. And once employees received their tips digitally, they were charged transaction fees of up to 75 cents per transaction. 

In some states, Tom’s Watch Bar had to cover those fees for employees, too. 

This clunky tip payout process, which required additional oversight and reconciliation, made the team at Tom’s Watch Bar consider different options. They hoped for one without fees or pre-funding—and one that could streamline the tip payout process from start to finish. Enter: Branch.

Switching to an Automated Solution for a Streamlined Tip Payouts Process 

When it was time to switch to Branch, Tom’s Watch Bar found it to be a seamless implementation process with responsive customer support. 

“After [our team] would go to each restaurant and train employees on Branch, we would be up and running within a couple of days after we had everyone enrolled,” says Aitkin. 

Aitkin also praised Branch’s customer support, citing that her contacts were very responsive in helping solve any small issues they faced during enrollment. 

Once Branch was fully implemented, Aitken and her team started to see an immediate improvement in the tip payout process at the end of each shift thanks  to the controls they could now set within Branch, making the process seamless and automated.

“With Branch, we have a lot more controls within the support center, and we’re able to select what the managers at our locations can and can’t do, including calculations,” Aitken says.  

This reduced the amount of payroll reconciliation that had to be done at the end of another long day.

“Instead of finding out afterwards if someone had made a mistake with the prior day’s file, Branch has alleviated those issues since it just goes from the system to Branch automatically and there’s nothing that managers have to download and re-upload,” Aitken says.

Saving Time and Money—While Improving the Employee Experience

In switching to Branch for their tip payouts, Tom’s Watch Bar has been able to save both time and money. Not only offer Branch free options—saving employees and Tom’s Watch Bar money— but the streamlined tip payout process has meant an easier end-of-shift routine for managers, and smoother reporting for payroll.

“It’s definitely saved our managers time when closing the restaurant,” Aitken says.  “And it’s improved reporting for all of our payroll processes.”

Plus, while their previous provider required them to pre-fund a separate account for tip payouts, Branch provides the capital for those payouts, removing an additional burden from the Tom’s Watch Bar team.  

On top of these business benefits, switching to Branch has also been a positive experience for Tom’s Watch Bar employees, Aitkin explains. 

“We have had several employees who have found it especially beneficial; people who might not have financial literacy in setting up a full bank account and managing that. Having access to Branch has been especially nice for those team members."