Top 10 Benefits of Moving School Payment Processes Online

As COVID-19 escalates, we are all urged to reduce human interaction and practice safe social distancing. But what does this mean for payment transactions?

To help reduce the risk of contracting the virus, shops and supermarkets are discouraging physical cash transactions, which begs the question; how does your current school payment method safeguard your staff and pupils?

Schools across the UK share the benefits they have found due to turning 100% cashless.

1. Bringing schools and parents together

Online payments are the preferred way to pay, with over 89% of parents choosing to make school payments online.

CRB Cunningham's iPayimpact online payment solution offers complete transparency with payments for parents and guardians. They can see their entire transaction history alongside detailed information such as; school trip payments, school shop payments, and even specific lunch choices their children have eaten on any given day.

2. Live data

Moving payment processes online ensures that all data is in one place and is up to date. Installing an online payments platform guarantees all parties view the same live information, eliminating any confusion with payments.

Online payments offer efficient management for all school purchases. Controlling how your school accepts payments simplifies the administration process of reconciling cash, card and cheque methods, providing administration teams with one payment method and a single administration process.

3. Improved timeliness

It’s no secret that automated processes can save time for busy admin teams. For schools, an online payment platform can significantly reduce time chasing school payments and debt, helping to cut down on associated costs.

Email alerts and notifications inform parents that their balance is low and makes them aware of any recurring payments that are due, ultimately saving schools valuable time in chasing overdue payments or debts.

4. Increased document security and control

An online payments platform dramatically reduces the human error of making payments, such as staff taking payment details down incorrectly or incorrect amounts. If needed, processing refunds through iPayimpact issues payments to the correct accounts.

5. More reliable backups

An online payments platform ensures that the entire payment history is automatically backed-up. iPayimpact enables school staff to create reports on important information, including transaction costs, account details and item descriptions.

The reliable software eliminates the risks associated with a paper trail, including human error during the administration process, forgetting to log payments manually, and losing paper copies of transactions.

6. Lower management and archiving costs

The cost benefits of online payments far outweigh the costly task of keeping up with out-of-date payment processes. iPayimpact helps schools create substantial tangible and intangible savings. By allowing the upload of documentation to iPayimpact, schools can save on print and copy costs as parents can review and download information online.

7. Better knowledge management and search

An entire audit trail and transaction history are available online for both schools and parents. With CRB Cunningham's powerful reporting tool, schools can find vital information, including balances, free school meal allowances, and food trends.

Smart reporting can help schools create more cost savings. Reporting on the most popular food items provides invaluable insights into food trends, helping reduce food wastage and the associated costs.

8. Compliance

When looking for an online payment provider, you must ask for proof of their security and compliance certifications. iPayimpact is a secure hosted solution utilising a payment gateway certified at Level 1, the highest level of certification under the PCI. Read more about the DSS PCI Level 1 certification.

9. Reliability

Accessible anywhere with an internet connection, iPayimpact gives parents a single view over all their children's activities, including clubs, trips and meal accounts, rather than having separate logins or checkout payments for each child.

Especially beneficial for councils and MATS, parents of multiple children benefit from having one account for all their children irrespective of different schools or bank accounts. Schools can rely on iPayimpact to provide a fully automated payment platform with an entire audit history more secure than traditional payment processes.

10. Allergies and vital information

There are many more benefits to switching to online payments, including helping to safeguard your pupils. iPayimpact provides parents with a platform to upload, review or download information relating to school trips, clubs, activities and even sign parental consent forms, saving schools hours of administration time chasing paperwork.

They can also automatically upload vital information such as allergens and important medical details to inform school staff of potentially life-saving information.

As well as school trips and lunchtime information, school staff can use this automation for various types of information, including school prospectus, newsletter and lunch menus, to save substantial printing costs and administration hours.