ParentPay

Anyone give me a ballpark figure of parentpay costs, i.e, initial start-up, hosting, maintenance, transaction costs, etc.

many thanks

this is off there website, it an offer from tsb ParentPay - News but give you an idea of £200 plus £1 per pupil per year plus transaction charges.

For a example secondary school £200 plus £1600 = £1800 per year not including transaction charges.

I don't know if this includes cash top up machines (for student who don't have internet access) etc

Penfold99 is correct about the annual fees for ParentPay (£200 + £1 per pupil on roll) in addition to this there is a one of set-up fee of £100 (includes all maintenance, hosting, upgrades etc) I actually work for ParentPay and can advise you that transaction charges are 30p for all types of debit card and 1.5% + 10p for credit cards. There is also an option to collect cash over the counter in local shops using the PayPoint network. if you are interested in receiving an official proposal or a demo contact sales@parentpay.com

Speaking purely from a parent's point of view: my daughter's school uses ParentPay for trips, lunch cards, uniform, etc and it is so useful!

My son's school sadly does not have it, but are now considering the move... yippee!

We are considering it as part of our cashless catering roll out. Thanks for the posts so far - really useful!

I have just got the quote in for ParentPay - does anybody have any pro's / con's in using the system?

We currently have a CRB cashless catering system and the people at ParentPay say within the next couple of months parents will be able to gain access to see what their son / daughter has had for dinner and how much they have spent etc which I think will be very useful.

The big pro has to be ease of use... the school doesn't have loads of envelopes with cash and cheques floating round. Money is tied to a particular transaction and child. The downside is that I don't know what proportion of parents tick the 'Pay by ParentPay' box on forms and then don't, leaving the school chasing them for payment.

From a parent's point of view:
- I can pay with whichever debit/credit card suits me.
- The card details are not remembered by parent pay, so I you could regard this as more secure (?)
- The school has to make sure that parent pay keeps up with the letters sent home... it's annoying to get a slip about a trip and then discover they've forgotten to put it on parent pay (although a quick call to the offfice resolves this!)
- I can pay for more than everything in one go - one big transaction for £10 for a trip and £15 for PE kit... and while I remember, £20 on the lunch card.
- When teenager forgets they have no money on the lunch card, a text to Mum resolves the situation before lunchtime!

... and the cons could be about debts. This may encourage parents to put more stuff onto their credit cards than they can afford. Whilst I realise that this is not strictly a concern for the school is it a social responsibility to the school community?

Yes it may cut down on the envelopes coming into the school office, but it is unlikely to eradicate them entirely. How easy is it to reconcile between cash, cheques and ParentPay credits?

May I say I'm not against the concept only that I like a balance of arguments in a debate:-)

Thanks for the useful posts.

Advertising removed

Hate to be a fly in the ointment, but our school hasn't got ParentPay, whilst my daughter's has. My daughter's school provides about 150 meals each day, but the cost is now £2.05 daily, whereas my own school costs £1.85. Over a week, thats £1 per child, 150 children equates to £150 per week, just short of £6000 a year! or £40 per child. School also pays costs mentioned in previous threads. For one school, that's a nice little earner for ParentPay, given number of schools they must have on board! Have parents Really worked out the costs of convenience for themselves? Perhaps it should be called ParentPenniless