Our Head Technical Engineer, Russell Churchill has been an engineer working on commercial laundry equipment and dishwashers for over 25 years! For our latest Q & A with Russell, we asked him to tell us more about cashless payment systems.

What is a cashless payment system?

Exactly as it says, it is a system where payment for services does not need coins or physical cash to function.

Why might commercial laundry equipment need a payment system?

For businesses such as student accommodation, campsites and caravan parks, and some sheltered housing applications, a payment system will be needed. This means the people being charged for the service are the ones actually using them, instead of a “service charge” where the charge is there anyway regardless of whether you use the commercial laundry equipment.

How does a cashless payment system work?

Previously, payment systems would use coins (or tokens). When the coin dropped through, a mechanism would trigger a switch to tell the machine that payment had been accepted. Most new systems will accept cashless payment – either contactless, or with an app. These will then use a relay to replicate this signal to tell the machine payment has been made.

What are the benefits compared to coin or token operated payment systems?

There are numerous benefits, three key ones are:

  • There is no longer a need to spend time emptying machines. Payments will go direct to the nominated account, so the transactions are seamless.
  • There are no coin jams, which is a common issue that can cause downtime on the laundry equipment
  • Most cashless payment systems will use an online system to make it user friendly, and an online dashboard for the operator, showing how much the machines are in use and the revenue collected from each machine. You can also change pricing easily through this dashboard.

What are the most popular systems for cashless payment?

We use 3 possible systems depending on each application:

  • appWash – this is a system designed and developed for the Miele range of commercial laundry washers and dryers. It is very popular in student accommodation and is mainly app based, but can have contactless built in if needed.
  • Airwallet – this is system built specifically for commercial laundry equipment. It is also app based but has the advantage of a contactless card payment system as well, called “Anton”. This can be integrated into the installation.
  • Nayax – this is a system that we can design and install when the site need any special requirements. This system is contactless on cards and phones.

All of these systems offer a dashboard where the operator can view every transaction, as well as process refunds if needed, all without having to physically visit the location.

Do they only work on new machines?

No, it is worth noting that these systems can also be retro fitted to existing machines with coin systems, or even in some cases to machines that have not previously had a payment system fitted.

Thank you to Russell for this Q & A, and if you want to discuss please contact us on 0113 257221 or service@jtmservice.co.uk. There is also more information on our website, just go to https://jtmservice.co.uk/cashless-laundry-contactless-payment/.

Finally, if you want to know more about Russell and his role at JTM Service, please visit our Meet The Team pages – see https://jtmservice.co.uk/meet-the-team-russell-churchill/.