New app lets diners skip long restaurant queues by donating to charity

A new app is giving impatient diners the chance to skip the queue at their favourite restaurant - and do a good deed in the process.

CharityWait is a new offshoot of restaurant-management app Smartline, a computer program that helps restaurants manage waiting lists and guest information.

When a guest shows up at a restaurant signed up to the system, they are sent a text message with the waiting time.

With CharityWait, the guest can then decide if they want to skip the queue, in exchange for a donation to a charity selected by the restaurant.

The fees, which are calculated based on the group size, the wait time, and the restaurant prices, are generally between $10 and $50.

Sixty percent of the fee goes to the charity and forty percent goes back to Smartline.

So far only around ten restaurants are using CharityWait, mostly in the New York area, but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and thousands of dollars in donations have already been raised.

“The people love it. We haven’t had any negative feedback at all from the consumers,” Smartline CEO Daniel Reitman told ABC News.

“Being able to give back to their local community or major charity and have the ability that if they don’t want to wait, they don’t have to wait. They can do something good and save some time.”

Mr Reitman said he hopes to evolve the business into one that generates millions of dollars in donations.

“We’re really looking to push this over the next few months and get as many restaurants on board [as possible]," he said.