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How to Become a Cashless School

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMay 20222 min read

In 2022, we’re continually making moves to become a cashless society, and schools are no different. More and more schools are switching to a form of online payment system and benefiting from fewer admin costs and time spent processing cash and checks.

In this post, we’ll take you through some tips for adopting an online school payment system and becoming one of the growing numbers of cashless schools.

Steps to becoming a cashless school

1. Consider your school’s needs

When it comes to big changes in how school is managed, you need to think about how your school will be impacted. Will there be any adverse effects on students, parents, suppliers or staff? And how can you act to remedy any issues promptly and effectively?

Switching from cash to online school payments should make things easier and more hassle-free for everyone. However, for some, such as children and parents with limited access to the internet at home, it could cause issues.

Consider how you can implement a cashless system that is inclusive. This may mean, for instance, offering alternative payment methods for a select few. You may also opt to take it slow and introduce cashless meal payment initially, before slowly introducing other opportunities for cashless payments, such as for field trips.

2. Create a business plan

While this might not always be necessary, it certainly doesn’t hurt to put together a detailed business plan outlining how going cashless will work. This can help persuade parents, teachers and other school staff that becoming a cashless school will be beneficial for everyone. For example, you could include in your plan how a cashless system could reduce administration costs and save everyone time. You can also look around for testimonies from other schools that have already taken the leap. This can help demonstrate how much easier it can make the running of the school.

3. Use the right software

When it comes to processing school payments online, using the right software and solutions is key. TuioPay and Vanco Payments, for example, offer a range of solutions and features for accepting school payments online.

With GoCardless, schools and businesses can collect payments directly from their user’s bank accounts, eliminating the need to send out reminders and chase up payments. It can be used for recurring payments, such as extra tuition, or one-off payments, like field trips.

4. Maximize online payments

Make an extensive list of all the things you want to take online payments for. This may include school meals, field trips, sports clubs or tickets for school events. Knowing precisely what you need to be able to take payments for can help you choose the right software for your school’s needs.

5. Set realistic goals and strategies

When it comes to radical transformations such as going completely cashless, it’s important to work towards your goal incrementally. At first, for example, you may want to aim to be 50% cashless, focus on introducing easy to use online payments, and then slowly phase out cash and check payments over time.

6. Calculate your costs

Online payment systems will involve certain recurring fees and potentially some upfront costs for purchasing systems. Make sure you are fully aware of the costs this will entail and how it may affect the running of the school.

7. Be transparent and open with students, staff and parents

Once you’ve gotten approval to go ahead and start becoming a cashless school, it’s important that this information is conveyed clearly to everyone it will impact. Consider holding a meeting to provide information on how the new payment system will work, and answer any questions those affected have. Getting everyone on board is important, so make sure you take the time to educate everyone concerned on how to get the most out of the new system.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.