Though the use of cash has been on the decline in recent years, many restaurants still rely on cash for tip payouts. And oftentimes, these restaurants also opt for cash delivery services to help them skip a trip to the bank. 

While these services may be more convenient than asking managers to make constant trips to the bank, using them is still less-than-ideal for a number of reasons. In this article, we’ll uncover four ways using a cash delivery service may be costing your restaurant.

1. Unnecessary Fees

The most obvious way these services cost your business is through monthly fees. Cash delivery services like Brinks or Loomis typically charge high monthly fees that vary depending on the frequency and the amount of security measures you want in place. Spending that amount to have cash delivered seems unnecessary when you think of all the other ways to use that money.

Could you invest more in your employees’ hourly wages? Improve the guest experience with new menu items or decor? Or prioritize new tools to help your team work more efficiently? At the end of the day, money management shouldn’t cost your business money—and if anything, it’s keeping you from using those funds for something that may bring a better ROI for your business.

2. Increased Risk of Theft or Human Error

While having cash brought to your business via a delivery service may be convenient, the risks of having cash on hand are another thing altogether. The primary concern with any cash delivery service is the potential for theft or robbery, either during transit or when the cash is being dropped off at the restaurant. And once the cash arrives at your restaurant, it’s still risky to keep lots of cash on hand because it leaves your business vulnerable to theft.

Dealing with cash also increases the potential for human error or miscounts, leading to additional time spent reconciling employee tip payouts. With cash, there is no clear audit trail to track if and when an employee has been paid. This can lead to servers being tipped out too much or too little, without evidence or a paper trail to prove it. 

3. Additional Admin + Hassle

Once you have cash on hand, you still need to complete the process of tipping out your employees. You may spend hours on till reconciliation or having to stuff envelopes with cash at the end of each shift. These tasks take you away from other things that might have a bigger impact on the business—like spending time training employees or working to improve the customer experience. 

Read this story of a Branch customer who saved hours each week previously spent on these kind of cash-handling hassles.

4. Potential for service interruptions

Managing a restaurant means trying to manage a lot of disparate, unpredictable factors: how busy you’ll be each day, whether an employee will call in sick, what dish will sell out first. The last thing you need is one more unpredictable element in the mix. 

Heavy reliance on cash delivery services creates a dependency on an external provider—and when you’re already working with food vendors and other third-parties, this adds an additional complication. Any disruption in the service provider’s ability to deliver cash could significantly impact your day-to-day operations; and cash delivery services might be subject to potential interruptions due to weather-related incidents or other logistical issues. 

Switch to Seamless Digital Payouts with Branch 

If you’re currently using a cash delivery service to manage tip payouts at your restaurant, there’s a simpler, safer way. Relying on these services—and relying on cash in general—for day-to-day operations can be costly: it can cost you money, make you vulnerable to theft, add additional hassle, and leave you beholden to potential service interruptions.

Instantly send digital tip payouts to your team with Branch and reap these benefits: 

• Fast, secure payments 24/7.  Send digital tip payouts to employees any time you like—nights, weekends, and holidays included. 
• Clear audit trail. Digital payments offer a clear audit trail, allowing you to easily verify if an employee has been paid. Stop spending time stuffing envelopes or reconciling the till. 
• Recruiting + retention tool. Offer the benefit employees want: fast, easy access to their earnings. Pay your people fast with digital tipouts you can send with the push of a button. 

‍Learn more about digital tip payouts through Branch.