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You're probably used to rounding up the bill on your taxi ride or dropping a buck in a jar at the coffee shop. Now, new high tech ways to pay nudge you to tip more generously and more often.

Molly Moon Neitzel has seen this firsthand at her Seattle, Wash., shop, Molly Moon Homemade Ice Cream. Last year, she installed a type of iPad-based cash register made by Square at one of her six shops. When customers pay with a credit card for their scoop, the cashier flips the iPad around so customers can swipe their cards. Before they can sign their names, they're presented with a screen that suggests tip amounts. The options at Molly Moon are $1, $2, $3 or no tip.

You physically have to hit "no tip" — and feel like a jerk — if you want to be stingy. The system is smart. If you buy only one cone, it will give you whole dollar tip suggestions. However, if you buy scoops for, say, an entire little league team, Square suggests percentage tips. This might sound insignificant, but Neitzel says her staff at the store using Square noticed they were quickly making more in tips — 50 percent more.

"People were wanting to trade their shifts in other neighborhoods and come work in this shop only," Neitzel says.

Then, one day, Square updated its software. With the change, the tip options were on the same screen as the signature. It was easier to ignore. No longer did you have to choose a tip to get to the next screen. Neitzel's employees started to "freak out," she says. That small tweak meant they were making a lot less money.

A couple of days later, Square restored the old design and avoided a riot.

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