Types of Laundry Payment Systems
When you think of commercial laundry payment systems, if you don’t think past coin slots, you may be behind the times. While, as we will discuss, coin laundry payment systems remain a popular choice, emerging laundry payment technologies are quickly gaining ground.
Let’s look at 4 types of laundry payment systems that you may want to consider for your commercial laundry, whether you run a laundromat or a multi-housing laundry room.
Coin laundry payment systems
Ah, the sweet sound of a quarter falling onto the coin box. For many commercial laundry operators, that sound is synonymous with the profits of the laundry business.
Indeed, coin-op remains a popular choice for laundry payment systems. The Coin Laundry Association says, “The coin laundry industry is approximately 70 years old and is primarily composed of individual owner/operators. No significant franchises are in operation at this time. Currently, there are about 29,500 coin laundries in the United States, generating nearly $5 billion in gross revenue annually.”
As we said above, however, a variety of laundry payment system options have emerged that are complicating the industry dominance of coin. There are several reasons that coin is losing its edge:
A recent national coin shortage
Concerns over the relative cleanliness of coin
Emerging and highly portable technologies
An industry-wide desire for better payment transparency than laundry services have historically provided.
As the proverb goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Laundry room payment systems have fit that model.
Smartphone app laundry payment systems
One of the technologies that have burst to the forefront are smartphone app laundry payment systems. KioSoft, the maker of the wildly popular CleanPay Mobile application, says, “Mobile technology is revolutionizing payments; laundry is no exception. KioSoft is thrilled to announce that their industry-leading mobile app for laundry payments, CleanPay Mobile, has surpassed two million users around the globe, and continues to experience rapid expansion.”
With a smartphone app laundry payment system, users can upload their payment information into the application, and simply scan a QR code on the machine to pay. No more dashes to the bank for singles for the coin changer, or for rolls of quarters to skip the coin changer, with an app everything can be handled wirelessly.
Smartphone apps can also provide additional information to users, such as a (digital) snapshot of how many machines are free at a given time, or laundry cycle timers. And with two million users, your laundry business may benefit from adding this laundry room payment system.
Credit card laundry payment systems
Cashless laundry payment systems can include more than the smartphone app technology we mentioned earlier. They can also include credit card laundry payment systems.
As the name implies, these are systems that accept payment from debit or credit cards, allowing users to wash and dry without quarters. CreditCards.com explains that credit card laundry payment systems are all about convenience: “Cards also make it easier to pay for larger-capacity washers. When you’re feeding quarters to an XL appliance that will do the equivalent of four, five, or six loads, you are going to be weighted down with a lot of quarters as you head into the laundry. Swiping or inserting your credit card is a lot simpler.”
Laundry card payment systems
Similar to Credit card systems, laundry card payment systems allow users to pay without quarters. Here, instead of swiping or tapping a credit card at the machine, the user will buy a prepaid (and often refillable) laundry card.
Using a kiosk in the laundry room, users can fill their cards using cash or credit/debit cards, and then use their laundry cards to securely pay for their laundry. At the machine, laundry card payment systems are touch-free, as users can easily tap their cards to activate the machines.
The neat thing about these different laundry payment systems is that commercial laundry operators don’t need to pick just one. “Brian Wallace, president and CEO of the Coin Laundry Association, says the group’s 2018 survey found 12 percent of coin laundries now accept quarters, credit cards, debit cards, reloadable payment cards, or mobile payments (or some combination of these payment methods).”
The range of technology offered by SelfOp Laundry would allow you to quickly and easily implement a credit card or smartphone app laundry payment system by retrofitting your current equipment, while still allowing your machines to accept quarters! We also offer access to brand-new equipment that can accept any (or even ALL) of these payment options in a snap.
Want to learn more about our laundry payment solutions? Click here.
