The best cashless catering system: MSP vs others

Benefits of a Cashless Catering System for Schools

There are many benefits to implementing a cashless catering system.

Financial transparency

When linked to the school’s finance and budgeting system, a cashless catering system can centralise all monetary transactions. Not only does this enable a school or trust to monitor cash flow more effectively, important information such as payment history, refunds and manual transactions are easy to identify. A good cashless catering system should seamlessly integrate with the school MIS.

Enhanced reporting tools will improve financial transparency, as well as making it easier to manage parent accounts that are in debt.

Better parent engagement

Building good relationships with parents and guardians is key to ensuring pupil success. In today’s increasingly digital world, parents and guardians expect to be able to engage with schools digitally. Whether paying for school meals or an upcoming trip, with a cashless catering system in place schools can meet these expectations.

With every pupil assigned a unique login, parents and guardians can access the online portal, check transaction history and raise queries - all in just a few clicks. There is also the functionality to automatically top-up accounts or view the existing balance. With My School Portal, parents and guardians are able to pre-order and pre-select their child’s school meals ahead of time.

More time for value-added tasks

The benefits of implementing a cashless catering system also extend to school staff. Chasing, collecting, reconciling and banking cash, as well as managing the documents and spreadsheets that are part and parcel of schools managing monetary transactions, drain hours of staff time. With all of this automated, teams will be freed up to focus on more strategic or value-add activity.

Less waste

Reducing waste is a key aim for every school and a cashless catering system can help towards minimising paper consumption and eventually going completely paperless. The forms associated with pre-ordering meals or extracurricular activities can all be stored digitally, with the functionality to set notifications or alerts when payments are next due, rather than sending out letters.

Check out our blog exploring the steps a school can take to become paperless.

A cashless catering system that integrates with the canteen inventory system also allows for food to be pre-ordered - cutting down on food waste and ultimately saving the school money.

Improved security and safety

Parents and guardians expect that their money and personal details will remain completely secure everytime they make a payment. From ad hoc payments for school trips, events or activities, to automated top-up payments for school lunches and dinners, parents can rest assured knowing their information is safe.

Cashless Catering System Requirements for Schools

Within an educational setting, cashless catering  removes the need for children to be sent to school with cash or a bank card to pay for school meals. Unlike contactless card payments, cashless catering in schools usually works more like an online money transfer service such as PayPal. Money is sent by parents or guardians from an online portal and children are able to redeem their meals without needing to carry cash or a bank card.

Not only do they provide greater convenience for parents, cashless catering systems also play an instrumental role in helping schools to work smarter and more efficiently.

Find out what is cashless catering and how can it benefit schools!

Overview of MSP and Cashless Catering System

Key Features of MSP Cashless Catering System

The My School Portal cashless catering software is easy to set-up and is installed like any other programme onto the school’s cloud server.

The fact that it’s cloud-based means that school staff, parents and guardians can login without having to install a programme on their device.

Once logged in, parents and guardians can add credit to their child’s account, either on an ad hoc basis or by scheduling regular payments to keep the account topped up to a certain level. Once card details are submitted, parents only need to login and amend this if there is a change to be made. There is no need for parents to arrange direct debits or standing orders, it’s all done via the portal and is as easy as shopping for anything online. 

Unique identifiers are used to link accounts to pupils, be it a student’s name, roll number or ID badge which they present at the till to pay for whatever has been purchased.

School’s that link their cashless catering systems to their food and beverage system can offer the option for parents or guardians to pre-select school meals, functionality that is useful for those with allergies or special dietary needs. It also gives parents reassurance that their child is eating well away from home and helps canteen staff to accurately order stock.

The benefits of a cashless system can go far beyond just catering. My School Portal can support a variety of monetary transactions taking place between schools and parents, such as paying for school trips, clubs and school uniforms.

MSP Cashless Catering System Pricing

My School Portal Payments is really easy for school staff and parents to use. We believe that schools shouldn’t have to pay over the odds for this technology and we have put together a competitive price point for a 12 month contract.

Case Studies of MSP Cashless Catering System in Schools

Crompton House CofE school is a co-educational academy converter in Greater Manchester. Having implemented the My School Portal software over five years ago, find out what assistant headteacher, head of year 11 and KS4 raising standards leader, Chris Raynerd thinks, here. 

MSP Cashless Catering System VS. other brands

When comparing cashless catering systems, it is crucial to evaluate various providers, including the likes of SIMS Dinner Money/Pay360, Civica Pay, Parent Pay and so on.  

While most cashless catering systems can integrate with a school’s wider MIS, there are a number of unique features My School Portal offers. From the ability to automatically top-up accounts and transfer money, to providing parents with complete oversight of events that have been or need to be booked.

In addition, the ability to generate transaction, settlement and revenue reports provides much needed insight and can enable teams to better balance the books.

Unlike some of the other cashless catering systems on the market, the My School Portal software offers the ability to communicate with parents via SMS message. This level of convenience is growing more important, especially for those parents who lead busy lives themselves - the last thing they want is to be relying on paper-based methods of communication.

Summary of the Benefits of our MSP Cashless Catering System

The best cashless catering system for one school will differ from one that works best for another. There are many payment solution providers on the market, so it’s important to consider your school’s specific challenges and how they can be met.

If your school outsources its catering, it’s worth speaking to the suppliers about what systems they work with.

The My School Portal cashless catering system has been designed to meet the needs of a wide range of schools. With the requirements of school teams, parents and pupils taken into consideration, the system can improve overall experience, drive efficiency and reduce waste.