Smart Tab: One Open Tab From First Order to Final Bill

In Manchester’s Northern Quarter, gastropubs run on a familiar ritual: hand over a card at the first pint, the bartender authorises £50, every round goes on the tab, and one charge clears the lot on the way out. When a Kadikoy Moda cocktail bar ported the model onto QR ordering, “call waiter” taps fell 43% over eight weeks and median fulfilment dropped from 2 minutes to 42 seconds.

The Smart Tab Flow (Stripe Holds + Tab Tracking)

When a guest scans the QR, thMenu opens a Platinum-tier table session with a 1-hour TTL. The first order triggers a Stripe PaymentIntent with capture_method=manual and a $50 pre-authorization. The hold appears on the card but no funds move. Every subsequent order PATCHes the same PaymentIntent’s amount field — ten more drinks still equals one hold and one capture.

At the end of the visit the guest taps “Close Tab.” thMenu issues a capture for the final total, prompts for tip (a separate Stripe Connect destination charge to the server), and emails the receipt. The whole close-out takes under nine seconds — no POS handoff required.

Why Waiter Calls Drop 43%

Classic per-order QR checkout makes each round its own micro-transaction: tap card, confirm, fetch a receipt. Across four rounds, a guest finishes the payment flow four times and pings the bar each round. The Smart Tab funnels that friction into two events: the opening hold and the closing capture. Everything in between feels like adding items to a cart.

• Pre-auth as insurance: a walkout still settles automatically — Stripe’s capture_method=manual holds funds for 7 days.
• Group tabs: up to six diners join a tab via join_code and add to the same hold.
• Split bill: close-out can divide evenly or by item, with separate charges per wallet.

thMenu Configuration

Enable Smart Tab from Settings → Open Tab. Configure the hold amount (default $50), TTL (1 hour, max 8), and the tip-prompt rules. Stripe Connect is already wired through Platinum, so there’s no extra integration. The cart button switches to “Add to Tab,” the live total sits in the corner via SSE polling, and any guest can still opt out into single-order checkout.

For operators, the dashboard shows open tabs by table with elapsed time, current liability, and the underlying PaymentIntent ID — useful when a guest disputes a charge two weeks later.

FAQ

Does the pre-auth actually block the card limit? Yes — the $50 hold reduces available credit but doesn’t settle. On capture, only the real total is charged; the remainder releases.

What if a guest walks out? The TTL (default 1 hour, max 8) triggers auto-capture for the running tab and emails the receipt. Disputes follow standard Stripe rules.

Which plan includes Smart Tab? Platinum only. Pro and Starter use single-order checkout.

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