Success Stories
Australian International School, Singapore
Established in 1993, the Australian International School (AIS) has gained international recognition as an outstanding educational institution for their 2,500 students. Located at new, modern, state of the art facilities in Singapore, the School is a leader in the use of information technologies and communication technologies.
Consistent with these objectives, AIS implemented a cashless payment solution for their campus and the card is now accepted at 6 touch screen POS devices in 2 cafeteria, and also in their Uniform and stationary shops. The whole process is automated from end to end. The system is synchronized with the schools Synergetic administration system so a Campus account is automatically created whenever new students are added.
Then the Campus card printing solution personalizes preprinted chip cards with photo, student number and library bar code. As each card passes through the Zebra P330i printer, which can print 60 cards per hour, the contactless chip is initialized and securely linked with the students Campus account ready for issuance.
The Campus student card uses MiFare contactless chip technology, a global standard for mass transport and banks contactless payments cards, and is read in milliseconds by placing the card within 5cm of the reader. When the card is read in the Campus solution, a photo ID of the student and their name appears on the screen preventing students from swapping or stealing cards. The information held on the card is encrypted and cannot be tampered with or changed.
Once a Campus account has been setup for each family, parents can topup their account either at the school’s Online Topup webpage using Visa, MasterCard or PayPal, using the self service kiosks located around the school campus, or at the school cashier where it is immediately entered into the Campus Back Office administration system. The funds are then immediately available for use.
Using their internet, parents can preorder lunches for their younger children up to a month in advance, set daily spend limits for the older students e.g. Canteen daily spend limit = $5, Uniform Store = $8 etc., and ban certain items (such as chips or pizza) to ensure their children maintain a healthy diet.
For the preordered meals, the caterer knows exactly what food to buy; they prepare the daily meals for the children and then deliver to the classrooms when the children break for lunch. For older students and staff, they simply tap their contactless smart cards at the touch screen POS to pay for their meals and the payment is completed in only a few seconds, significantly reducing the long queues when only cash was accepted.
The sophisticated cafeteria Campus POS solution maintains a list of all the items sold together with their prices, and touch screen menus are customized for each location. This allows the caterers a simple way to quickly complete each purchase.
The system also records detailed information of purchases for later reporting and analysis to enable the caterers and the school to better plan and manage the cafeteria business.
Damian Ferguson, General Manager, Finance and Administration believes the Campus solution enables the school to better manage their business relationship with the appointed canteen food service provider, ‘The solution has been operational for over 8 years now, and is still delivering excellent service to the school, our caterers, parents and of course the students and staff who use it on a day to day basis. Detailed operational data allows appropriate users improved governance over the management of the independent catering business operations’
From an IT and school administrative perspective, the system makes efficient use of scarce resources. Mark Holland (AIS IT Director) indicated ‘the Campus cashless payments system requires minimal ongoing support by my staff, school administrators, and our caterers. Daily meal orders are downloaded and printed out for meal preparation and attached to each lunchbox for accurate delivery for the younger children. The simple touch screen interfaces allow new cafeteria staff to be quickly trained, and school administrators can easily maintain Campus accounts, print cards and prepare reports using Campus Back Office (CBO)’
Vertical Payment Solutions Pte. Ltd. is a leading provider of Campus Cashless Payments and Automation solutions to International Schools and Colleges in the Asia acific. Campus solution customers include Australian International School, Singapore, Jakarta International School,, International School of Beijing, Taipei American School, Tanglin Trust School of Singapore, International School of Bangkok. Yokohama International School, international School of Beijing, Faith Academy Philippines, and many more.
For further information please visit email sales@mycampuscrd.com
