Modifying meal services for Ilanga Africa Hotel Group

The problem

Ilanga Africa faced the costly, inconvenient, and unsafe process of using cash for meal allowances. Many of their guests work night shifts or odd hours, making it impossible for them to receive meals at conventional times. This cash-based system was not only inefficient but also posed significant security risks.

The solution

Having grown tired of the hassle and additional expenses associated with cash withdrawals, the Ilanga Africa team decided to search for a ‘voucher card’ solution online and discovered the PayCentral offering. After a call with our team, we were able to establish their exact need, and proceeded with the CashCentral card solutions which offer them flexibility, security, and ease of use.

The card solution was quickly implemented, allowing cardholders to use money loaded onto the cards to purchase food wherever they were working.

“It gives us a lot more comfort. You don’t have to have thousands of rands in cash on hand to give to people, you can just load it onto a card.” – Chanelle Strydom

The result

The CashCentral cards drastically improved operations at Ilanga Africa. Guests appreciated the convenience of the cards and the PayCentral mobile app, which allowed them to track spending and view their card balances. Regular guests could reuse their cards which were reloaded with each visit, offering this business added convenience. The use of these cards reduced the administrative workload, saving them significant time and enabling staff members to dedicate their efforts to the core operations of the business – enhancing the business’s growth and development. The streamlined process also enhanced the security and efficiency of their meal allowance disbursement, with only two staff members managing the card portal and distribution.

“Majority of our customers prefer it because we do a lot of business with […] people who work […] strange shifts. So they don’t have time to come eat or they have night shifts, then they just prefer to buy their own food.” – Chanelle Strydom

Additionally, comprehensive reports provided clear insights into meal allowance utilisation, ensuring compliance and facilitating audits.

“It saves us a lot of time and we don’t need so many staff to handle it. As a big business, we have hundreds and hundreds of guests who stay with us [… ] and we save so much time because we just have two people that need to use it.” – Chanelle Strydom

Conclusion

Switching to PayCentral cards for meal allowances has significantly streamlined Ilanga Africa’s operations, enhanced the quality of their service, and ensured greater security and efficiency for the business and its employees. Managing this pain point enabled the business to dedicate more time to its growth. With these improvements, they are confident that they will continue to make use of our services.

“It’s so easy, I love it! I order my cards online, generate my invoice through the portal, pay it and two days later my cards are here, or a day later!” – Chanelle Strydom