Gone are the days of missing out on lunch because mum forgot to give you lunch money before school.
A secondary school in the UK west midland area – Paulet High School — announced the introduction of a cashless alterative for student lunches, reports Payments Journal. The school has launched a system that gives students the option to pay for their lunch with the use of a quick and easy fingerprint reader.
School officials implemented the cashless technology in an effort to speed up lunch queues, reduce student bullying and to encourage healthier eating habits, making sure students were spending lunch money on school food and not local fast food chains. Cashless payments have become increasingly popular in several financial establishments across the UK. As one of the first schools in the UK to offer cashless solutions, it is expected that Paulet High School will likely inspire other schools across Europe to roll out cashless options for students.
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Tony Bayliss, Paulet’s business manager, stated, “We think that the system will have benefits for pupils, parents and the school. It will avoid the need to operate cash tills and therefore will speed up dinner queues,” reports Payments Journal.
The system enables parents to monitor and top up the accounts online, which can afford better control of how their children are using lunch money. Parents are also given the convenient option of topping up in selected local stores.
The finger scanner is expected to help lunch lines run quicker, which gives the students more time to enjoy food breaks and social time. Moreover, teachers have expressed a hope to reduce bullying amongst the schools. There are students whose families qualify for free meals, and are often subjected to scrutiny from other peers.
Bayliss further explained, “Students entitled to free school meals will no longer have to feel stigma when standing at the till as all students will be treated the same.”
The launch of cashless payments at the East Staffordshire School is further indication that Britain is moving closer to becoming a cashless society.
Read the full story at Payments Journal here and Finchannel here.
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