6 Benefits of Alternative Payment Systems For Your Apartment’s On-Site Laundry Room

We’ve talked before about how to make your apartment’s shared laundry area stand out to renters, but we wanted to dive in a little further. While working with landlords and property managers across Illinois and Indiana, we’ve found that many of our multi-housing customers (and their residents) don’t like dealing with coins. They’re cumbersome, bulky, and inconvenient, especially now that prices have risen and you may need 10+ quarters just for one wash cycle. With that in mind, offering alternative payment methods — such as credit/debit cards, smart cards, or even app/mobile payments — is a great way to take your laundry room to the next level. Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits of coinless laundry payment systems for both you as the property manager/landlord and your residents. 

1. Residents love the convenience. How many of us have plenty of quarters around whenever we need them? Probably not many. Residents will appreciate the convenience of being able to pay with whatever they have on hand — whether that’s a credit card or their smartphone — rather than having to make an extra stop at the bank or save up quarters. Convenience ties directly into increased resident satisfaction, which in turn leads to decreased turnover and fewer empty units for property owners and managers. Convenience also connects to increased spending, which ties directly to our next point. 

2. Tenants will likely spend more when they’re not paying in cash. Once your residents run out of quarters, they have to be done with laundry — even if they have more clothes or linens to wash. On the flip side, using a coinless payment method in your laundry room allows them to easily adjust funds and continue spending. There have been numerous studies that show people spend more when they’re not using cash.

3. It’s a selling point for your property. On-site laundry consistently ranks as a top amenity that renters are looking for, so it only makes sense that potential renters will pay close attention to the quality of the laundry area. While it may not be a deciding factor, offering convenient cashless payment methods is just one more check in the pro category that helps you stand out from competitors and attract qualified, responsible tenants.  

4. You’ll save time on coin collection. Whether you lease your laundry room or manage it yourself, there’s no denying that coin collection takes time and can be a pain. Credit/debit or app-based payments minimize coin collection and saves everyone a lot of time. Not only that, but it can make bookkeeping and tracking profits easier and minimize the reimbursements due to coins getting jammed/stuck in the machine — all of which can take up a lot of time and energy. 

5. Increased security. Fewer coins and increased tracking/accountability with credit/debit cards means the on-site laundry room in your apartment building will be safer for you, your residents, and your commercial laundry equipment investment. By having minimal cash on-site, there’s less chance of theft and vandalism. 

6. More customization with pricing. With coin-operated machines, you’re generally stuck with 25-cent increments. With alternative payment methods, you’re not bound to that. You can easily adjust pricing as you see fit or as makes sense. In the end, this may help you increase revenue AND resident satisfaction, which can have a positive impact on your bottom line. 

If you think that updating your apartment laundry room’s payment system is right for you, we’d love to help. We’ve been helping property managers at apartments, condominiums, and other multi-housing facilities around the Midwest meet their laundry needs for almost 100 years with top-notch service and high-quality commercial laundry equipment from Speed Queen. Contact us today to get started.