Consumers increasingly choose digital payment methods even when making in-store purchases. Data shows that 86% of point-of-sale transactions across the U.S. economy used electronic payments like credit and debit cards, and that’s impacting current trends in school payments. It’s clear that consumers prefer non-cash transactions, yet many schools rely heavily on cash and hand-written checks for transactions like meal payments, school fees and dues, and school store purchases.
Cash and check transactions leave families open to frustrations like lost, stolen, or damaged currency. They can also create barriers to on-time payments and debt settlement. Digital payments make it easier for families to fund meal accounts, pay school fees and dues, and shop the school store from anywhere they have an internet connection. That’s why there’s a building trend toward conducting school business digitally with a solution like LINQ Connect. It’s an app that provides an easy way to fund and supervise meal accounts, pay all school fees, and access critical information like forms, free and reduced-price meal letters, and menus.
The future of school payments includes ways for families to pay securely from their computer or mobile device using credit or debit cards, banking apps and digital bank accounts. Let’s look at some reasons why schools choose to offer families a digital payment solution.
Rising trends for school and student payments
Flexibility rules new school payment trends. Everybody’s busy these days, and that includes families. Juggling work, chores at home, and children’s activities outside of school leaves little time to spare. The chaos of it all makes it easy to forget to send that extra cash to pay for lunch, a library fee or club dues.
Giving families more flexibility means they can pay when and how it works best for them. They can also choose a secure payment method they trust. Choice dethrones cash because it lets families handle their finances in their own way.
A digital payment app like LINQ Connect supports:
- Cashless payments
- Multiple payment options
- Mobile payments
- Payment scheduling
- Low balance notifications
The easier a payment is to make, the less likely it’ll be put off until later—or worse, forgotten.
K-12 school payment trends deliver advantages for schools and families
The trend toward digital payment apps gives schools several ways to simplify school payments for K-12 staff members and families. First, a digital payments app can give staff members more information to make data-driven decisions. They can see which fees get paid faster and which ones are more easily overlooked. They can fine-tune payment reminder efforts by seeing which times of day and methods work best to spark action. They can even send personalized messages to families with outstanding balances or late fees to establish communication and facilitate payments or meal debt settlement.
Digital trends in school payments also give families an easy, secure way to make payments. Just as consumers overwhelmingly choose digital payment methods at the grocery store, pet store, and everywhere else around town, they’ll likely choose a digital option when given the choice at school. A solution built specifically for K-12 institutions lets them choose to input their credit or debit card data, pay by ACH, or use another banking service—and more choice means more convenience and peace of mind. Not only can they trust the security of a payment solution like LINQ Connect, but they’ll also enjoy any additional fraud protection offered by their financial service provider—cash can’t offer protection against loss or theft.
Benefits of a single software solution for school payment processing
For families, a one-stop-shop for all school business can be a priceless tool. Nobody likes logging in and out of different systems to make payments for different school organizations or functions. Sometimes, they simply don’t have the time in a single session to navigate several systems, leaving some payments to get back-burnered. Making payments easier for parents and families with a single app removes this barrier and helps families quickly settle school business and move on with their day.
A single solution also makes business management easier for schools and K-12 finance teams. Juggling several different payment processors such as credit card processing machines and online services like PayPal or Venmo can become time-consuming and frustrating. Additionally, different fee structures complicate financial management. Streamlining payment transactions with a single solution minimizes workload in K-12 business team members and lets them focus on more important tasks.
Trending toward faster, easier school payments
Among the trends shaping the future of K-12 education, offering a digital payment solution is among those most rapidly gaining traction. Implementing a single solution like LINQ Connect delivers immediate benefits in the form of faster, easier payments and processing. In the long run, it’s a first step toward a mostly or completely cashless system. Digital payments offer a path toward secure, trackable payments and away from the risks of unrecoverable loss and theft with cash.
Learn more about how LINQ Connect simplifies payments and contributes to more streamlined, efficient K-12 nutrition management at a Virginia school district.