The world is swiftly migrating to a cashless environment, it’s time to ditch the germ infected notes and start utilising technology. Nowadays there are apps for nearly every possible service, it's clear that digital is the future.
Digital platforms are also healthier, cleaner and safer for everyone. Cash and debit or credit cards can carry germs and nasty microbes for up to 48 hours. So why do we insist on sending dirty money to school with our kids?
A recent study by LendEDU shows that the average credit or debit card had a Germ Score of 285 and the average cash Germ Score was 160. The higher the Germ Score the dirtier the surface with food establishments required to have Germ Score of 10 or less.
This critically shows that the money we are handling on a daily basis, be it cash, debit or credit cards, are filthy and just as likely to be passing on diseases and germs as physical contact with another person. For example, with the Karri school payment app there is no need for a parent to come onto the school premises to use a card terminal; or for children to be moving around dirty money.
Cashless also removes the temptation for opportunists. Sadly in recent months, schools across South Africa have become a soft target for criminals. Having little to no security at schools and thousands of Rands sitting in an office is a worry for everyone. Plus, sending your child to school with a small fortune puts them at risk too.
Remove all of the anxiety by adding all of your school collections onto Karri. The payment system allows schools to create collections online within minutes. Parents then simply download the Karri app, create a profile and make the payment, removing the need for the child to be responsible for cash and putting the school at risk of theft.
Apps like these help schools to save hours of administration time, improve efficiency and provide transparency on financial reports. Karri not only provides a simple, secure gateway for parents to pay for school-related transactions; it also provides the school with a fully comprehensive financial management system.
It will also saving the finance team hours and hours of painful reconciliations. One can use the Karri system to track every payment made to the school even if this is not via Karri. Plus, you can send out reminders to parents who are yet to pay.
Rather than scrambling for cash, schools can now also create a variable donation style collection, allowing parents to donate however much they want to the cause. These collections are sure to raise significantly more due to the ease and convenience provided to the parent. Time and time again our schools have proven that running their fundraisers on Karri has allowed them to collect double, sometimes triple what they used to collect in cash.
More importantly, when choosing a product to implement into your school, it is important to provide a trustworthy service to parents and teachers alike. Having the security of a bank-backed product like Karri means there are absolutely no grey areas when it comes to the security of your money. Karri is the only product in this industry which is backed by a bank, meaning your money is always safe and secure.
*Doug Hoernle is the CEO of Karri.