A sample letter explaining the implementation and benefits of Cashless Catering
Dear xxxxxxxxx,
I am writing to advise you of an exciting change to the way we intend to run the school canteen at [Educational Facility]. We are installing a new type of fingertip cashless catering technology called VeriCool for Schools.
How does the system work?
- Once enrolled, as each student enters the canteen, they will place their enrolled finger on a fingertip scanner to make a payment for their food. No cash or swipe card required. During the enrolment process the software captures a digital signature of your childís middle fingertip, which is then broken down into data points, similar to reference points on a map.Vericool then turns these into a binary algorithm which is then encrypted using 128bit encryption and stored on our own school server.
- No-one has access to this information and the stored data points can never be viewed as any thing other than a string of numbers and letters, so please be assured this software is very secure
- We intend to launch this new exciting software in [Date] but to be able to achieve this we ask that you send in a cheque which will cover a minimum of two weeks worth of purchases for your child
- If your child spends £2.50 per day then you will need to send in a cheque for £2.50 x 5 days x 2 weeks = £25.00. If you are able to send in a cheque to cover a longer period then please feel free, although we recommend you donít send in more than is needed for 1 term
- Cheques must have the name of the child, form group and admission number clearly written on the reverse side. The school administrator will then update the relevant account accordingly
- There are two other options for payment. Firstly by cash using the wall mounted coin and note loaders. Each child can then load their account and monitor their own balances on a daily basis. These units are programmed to accept 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 coins as well as £5, £10 and £20 notes only
- From the date we go live with VeriCool; cash will no longer be accepted at the food counter till points
Benefits of the new technology.
- As each child pays the same way no one knows who has or has not got a free school meal (FSM) allowance which obviously removes any associated stigma. However, if your child is entitled to a FSM they can still add cash to their account but the system will ensure that their daily FSM allowance is only used during the lunchtime service
- By ensuring that all money is loaded to an account your child will be unable to make purchase off site at local shops
- Removes many of the associated issues found when using cash in schools i.e. theft and bullying
- When creating menu items we can allocate healthy eating points for specific items
- Children having control of their own accounts assist them to learn important life skills
- All transactions are recorded by day, terminal, child, food type etc so we can produce a report to show you what your child has eaten and when
- VeriCool has the added benefit of speeding up the lunch time queues and most importantly ensuring that your child eats a good meal in the school canteen every day
We have been investigating a cashless payment system for our canteen for some months but as VeriCool is a fingertip based system and not swipe card the software has the added benefit of no on-going costs and in fact over a period of time will be able to pay for its self.
I can give you my full assurance that the information collected will b e solely for school use and held on school systems only and also please be assured that whilst this technology is relatively new, there are nine other schools using VeriCool and unlike similar technology that we have tried, VeriCool is a proven technology that does work and will assist [Educational Facility] in demonstrating that we have your childís best interests at heart.
Yours sincerely,
Additional reading...
Optical Scanning Explained...
A straightforward guide to the functionality and purpose of optical scanning with VeriCool. Read the full article.
How to implement biometrics
A guide to how you can successfully implement Biometrics. Read the full article.