Heartland Digs into School Lunch Payments with Mobile App (June 4, 2013)
Heartland School Solutions, a division of Princeton, N.J.-based payments processor Heartland Payment Systems, has unveiled a new mobile app that enables parents of school-aged children to manage their kids’ lunch expenses via smartphone or tablet. With the MyLunchMoney app, parents can prepay for student meals, view recent meal payment activity, set daily or weekly spending limits and replenish accounts using payment cards or electronic checks.
Available for Apple iOS, Android and Windows Mobile, MyLunchMoney is aimed at helping busy parents conveniently manage their children’s school lunch spending, while increasing efficiency and speed in the cafeteria line. “For schools, our MyLunchMoney solution shortens lines, reduces cash handling and tightens cash controls, allowing schools to serve more students in less time while reducing administrative costs,” noted Michael Lawler, president, strategic markets group, Heartland Payment Systems. A number of school districts already have begun using the service, including the New York City Department of Education, Public Schools of Washington, D.C., and Denver Public Schools.
Student dining halls have been fertile ground for mobile payment providers, though mostly at the collegiate level. In April, food service manager Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services teamed with mobile payment and loyalty network LevelUp to launch a pilot program that enables college students to pay for food purchases using QR codes generated through LevelUp’s mobile payment app.
