[kuschku]

Here in Germany it works like this:

1) You get the check with a total 2) the waiter hands you a mobile card terminal (like this: http://pay-tec.de/cms/paytec/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/1.jp... ) 3) You put your card in the terminal 4) waiter enters amount to pay + what you said you'd tip 5) You see the total, enter your PIN, press confirm 6) waiter hands you back your card.

[alistairSH]

The US lags behind in card payment systems. We usually hand the card over to the wait staff, they carry it away to a remote terminal (and we trust that they don't copy the card while in their possession), then we manually enter a tip after the fact.

[efuquen]

Yes, this is how it works in many places in Europe. I really wish I saw this in the US, such a shame.