Credit cards 'ideal way to pay for children's dinners'

Credit cards are proving an effective way for parents to pay for their kids' school lunch, it has been suggested.

Parents are increasingly using their credit cards to pay for their children's school dinners, it has been revealed.

In a number of systems currently being trialled across New South Wales, mums and dads visit an online bank account to order food for their little ones, using their cards to charge their child's account with credit, the Daily Telegraph reports.

And when it comes to lining up in the school canteen queue, the Aussie credit system means that children do not have to keep physical money on them, something that can reduce the chances of them being targeted by school bullies, as well as losing their cash.

Commenting on the Munch Monitor programme at the Holy Cross Primary School in Sydney, parent Harry Inns claims: "It's another step towards the cashless society. The idea of not having to put the exact money into brown paper bags works really well."

"The prepaid system reminds you when you need to bump up your credit," he states, as the father of three goes on to add that his children have total freedom in selecting what they want to eat.

Another electronic payment system currently in operation in the state is FlexiSchools. Here, mums and dads set up a prepaid online account for their children and transfer money in to it using their credit card or through Bpay. Parents are also able to impose spending limits and can point out if their child has any allergies. Children make their lunch selections over the internet which is then sent to school kitchen.

In addition, the publication notes the Australian banking programme has seen some children receive special cards to swipe through at the point of buying their lunch, with each purchase seeing the balance on their card deducted.

The benefits of using credit card technology was also highlighted by Luke Baylis, managing director of fast food outlet Sumo Salad, who claimed that trials of contactless payments has helped to reduce the amount of time customers have to queue for their food.

"It's easy to use and very convenient," he tells the Australian.