WHAT IS CASHLESS CATERING?

Cashless catering is a novel technology allowing students to pay for school meals at their school canteen without the need to carry notes and coins. Instead the students use a pre-paid smart card enabling the student to pay on-site. Total transaction is deducted automatically from the pre-paid card account. Credits can be added to the card account either online via account or on-site, at the canteen till.

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM?

The system offers the full benefits of an advanced cashless solution. The following features are integrated into one complete and easy to use system: cashless card, online portal, meal reporting.

Cashless card

The student pays directly with the card, with one single tap enabling the student to be served more efficiently and quickly - no more looking for change every morning.
It ensures that the money provided by the parents to pay for school meals is used only for that purpose.

Online Portal

Parents create an online account where they can manage and reload their cashless card.
Parents can login to the account at any time to top-up the card balance, or to view transaction and payment history. Automatic balance alerts will be sent to the parent when the credit hits a certain threshold.

Meal reporting

The system allows for digital records of every meal purchased with the school canteen. Parents can login to the account at any time to see when money has been spent and on what food.

GETTING STARTED
How do I get a card?

To get a card, the parent will first need to register an account via the caterer website tfwfoodservices.ie. Parents will also need to be able to access their email as the email address will become their new username and is used for the verification / confirmation process and any correspondence regarding the cashless system.
If you do not receive the confirmation email within a few minutes please check your junk / spam email folder just in case the email got delivered there instead of your inbox.

Once the account has been created they can then set up a card user. The card is then ready for collection at the Caterer station / School Administration on the following school day. The card can only be used for payment if parents have topped up the card beforehand via their account or on-site.

Can I have a single account/login for all my children?

Yes. Parents are able to add all their children to a single account. There will be however one card per child.

Every card under the account will be assigned its own credit.

Parents cannot move credit from one card to another card unless one of the children leaves the school.

How can I Top-Up the cashless card?

Parents can add credit to the card(s) under their account in the two following ways:

A. Online:

Using credit / debit card, this is the most convenient way as students do not need to bring cash on-site to load the card at the school and the cardholder can go straight to get his/her meal. To load the card online, follow these steps:

  • 1. Login to the account
  • 2. Select the top-up amount you want for the card
  • 3. Repeat step (2) if you want to add more credit to one or multiple cards under your account
  • 4. On checkout you will be redirected to a third-party payment gateway. Follow the payment instruction and the process is complete.
  • 5. This online purchase is viewable in the purchase history in the online account.
B. On-site :

At the canteen till, using cash:

  • 1. The cardholder presents the card to the canteen staff.
  • 2. Top-Up amount is tendered and added to the card.
  • 3. This cash purchase is viewable in the purchase history in the online account.
How do I use the card?

Once you have loaded credit onto the card account, you will be able to use the card for payment:

  • 1. Present the selected item to the Canteen Staff at the till.
  • 2. Cardholder taps his/her card at the reader device located at the till.
  • 3. The food item is charged to the card and total deducted from the card balance.
How do I check the card balance?

You will be able to check the amount of credit you have left on the card(s) registered under your account using the following methods:

Online

Via the account. Please note that the card balance is updated at the end of the day and therefore card balance at time of viewing may not reflect the current day transactions.

On-site

At the canteen stand – simply ask the staff and tap your card on the reader device located at the till. Staff will let the cardholder know how much is left on the card.

Note: Throughout the year, whenever the account balance reaches or is below €10.00, you will receive an email notifying you of the current balance.

What happens if my child forgets to bring his/her cashless card to school?

In the event of a student forgetting their card they must notify a member of the canteen staff at beginning of the day. In good faith we will take note of the details and the following day process the transaction for the day that the card was forgotten.

CARD REPLACEMENT
What happens if the card is lost?

You can report the missing card in the following ways:

A. Online – via your account:

Once the card is reported lost on the account, the card will be immediately deactivated and rendered unusable. A new card will then automatically be assigned to the cardholder on this account and made available for collection the next school day. Balance is transferred to the new card.

A charge of €2.00 will be applied to the card balance.

B. On-site:

Students can report their lost card directly to the Cashier on site. On receipt of notification TFW will deactivate the card at the earliest practicable opportunity and the same process as above will be followed.

C. By email:

By sending an email to cashless at tfwfoodservices.ie On receipt of the notification TFW will deactivate the card at the earliest practicable opportunity and the same process as above will be followed.

What happens if my child finds a cashless card at school?

Please report / bring the card to the Canteen Staff or School admin.

What happens if my child does not have enough money on the card to pay for the lunch?

Every card will have an overdraft facility. This will allow for a student to go up to €5.00 overdrawn, should their balance be insufficient to pay for their lunch.

Parents will be notified of the card balance. If sufficient funds are not available to complete a transaction no transaction will be possible at the canteen stand.

Contact

Bernie Walsh, Managing Director

Declan Walsh, Managing Director

info at tfwfoodservices.ie