Thanks to a Center-invest Bank pilot project, since 1 September, several dozen schools have been able to accept cashless payments for school meals. Over 25,000 pupils are participating in the project.

Axiom, a free innovative platform for the automation of school payments, is our partner for this project. At the beginning of December, 37 schools and lycées in the Rostov region, Krasnodar krai and the Republic of Adygea were able to accept cashless payments.

Pupils can pay by card in the school canteen, and parents can use the Axiom app to order hot meals for their children. Parents can also monitor their child’s spending, and set limits, should they so wish.

The system is simple: pupils set up a personal account, and cards are topped up via Center-invest Bank’s online banking system or self-service terminals, or on the Axiom website. Card balances can be viewed online.

“One of the advantages of using a cashless payment system in school canteens is that it significantly reduces the workload involved in providing school meals, for school staff and education departments,” said the project manager, Anzor Tlostnakov, head of Retail Products Analytics and Development at Center-invest Bank. “Importantly, paying by card also meets today’s hygiene requirements. Pupils have responded well to the bright, youthful design of the cards and enjoy using them!”

Center-invest Bank has supplied all of the participating schools with payment terminals. It has also installed additional self-service terminals near several schools, for convenient topping up of card balances. School staff, pupils and parents have been shown how to use the system.