Gone are the days when every customer came to your car wash prepared with a pocket full of quarters or dollar bills. If you need a new payment option for your car wash business, take a look at everything you need to know about cashless or cashless-option (combination credit/debit and cash) systems.

Cashless Is Popular

According to the 2019 Federal Reserve Payments Study, the number of cashless payments reached a grand total of 174.2 billion in 2018. This is a 30.6 billion increase from 2015 in the overall number of credit card, debit, check, and ACH payments. The dollar amount change represents an increase of $10.25 trillion between the years 2015 and 2018.

The use-number and dollar amount increase of cashless payments is a 6.7-percent change. This includes the near-doubling of credit and debit card payments from 2015 to 2018. The uptick in cashless payments points to the growing popularity of debit and credit card use in America.

You want to grow your customer base. This means catering to the needs of the people who want to wash their cars. Given the growing popularity of cashless payment methods, a self-pay credit card/debit system can help you to cash in on this trend and provide customers with the convenience they want.

Cashless Is Convenient

Why are cashless payment methods popular? Convenience is one of the primary factors behind the popularity of credit card and debit use. In the past, car wash customers had to come ready with a baggie of quarters or crisp dollar bills to pay with. The more modern emphasis on cashless payments means fewer people walk around with change or paper money in their pockets and purses.

If someone relies on credit or debit cards, forcing them to use cash isn’t convenient. They would have to stop at a bank and withdraw rolls of quarters or stacks of dollar bills before they drive to the car wash. If a car wash only accepts cash payments and the customer forgets to bring extra coins and dollars, they will have to leave—and may not return to your business.

Give your customers the added convenience of a cashless payment option with a self-pay credit card and debit system. This investment may pay off in new customers or an increase in customers who return for this feature (versus other similar businesses in the area that don’t offer a cashless self-pay option).

Cashless Is Clean

The pandemic brought disease transmission to the forefront of almost everyone’s mind. Unlike a credit card or debit card that stays with the customer, paper money goes from hand to hand to hand. The ability of paper money to transmit disease makes it a fomite—the technical term for an inanimate object can pass pathogens from person to person. This means the use of money could potentially increase the risk of disease.

Your customers come to you because they want a clean car. If they have concerns about dirty, germ-coated money, they’ll appreciate the cleanliness of a cashless, self-pay system. Instead of dollar bills or coins, they will only need to use their own clean credit card.

The self-pay aspect of this type of system adds an extra layer of cleanliness to the process. Instead of handing their clean credit card or debit card to a cashier (turning the plastic card into a fomite), they’ll complete the entire payment without having to interact with another person.

Are you a car wash owner or future car wash owner who wants to learn more about cashless and self-pay machine options? Contact Advance Car Wash Solutions for more information on improvements you can make.