Fewer coins, more control: how to move to card and mobile payments in your laundromat
Emptying coin boxes, counting, going to the bank and reconciling by hand. What you gain by accepting card and mobile, what it really costs and why you shouldn't drop coins overnight.
PAYMMIO TeamPublished on 4 min read
Key points
- Cash has costs that never appear on an invoice: collection and counting time, jams, theft and discrepancies.
- You don't need to remove coins: what works is adding card and mobile and recording every payment in one system.
- Card payments leave a complete trail. Spain's Tax Agency already knows them and in 2026 it announced it wants monthly data on card terminal and mobile payments.
- Card fees are negotiable: on small tickets, look at per-transaction minimums more than the percentage.
- A prepaid balance cuts fees and lets you reward customers who come back.
The hidden cost of cash
Coins look free because they carry no fee. But every euro in cash drags along work nobody writes down:
- Travelling to the store to empty coin boxes and change machines.
- Counting, bagging and taking coins to the bank, which often charges to deposit them.
- Jammed coin acceptors that leave a machine unable to take payments until someone opens them.
- Theft and vandalism: a full change machine is a target.
- Manual counts that never quite match the cycles.
A cashless payment in a laundromat is any card, mobile or prepaid-balance payment that is recorded automatically with its machine, time and amount. There's nothing to collect or count.
A worked example
A 10-machine store with two collections a week. Round, conservative assumptions: replace them with your own.
| Item | Calculation | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Collection, counting and deposit time | 2 times a week × 45 min × 52 weeks × € 20/h | € 1,560 |
| Coin deposit fees | Estimate | € 150 |
| Cycles lost to jammed coin acceptors | 10 jams a year × 6 cycles × € 4.50 | € 270 |
| Total | € 1,980 |
Almost € 2,000 a year in a single store, before any theft. By comparison, the card fee is a figure you can calculate and negotiate.
Don't drop coins overnight
Some of your customers still pay cash: older people, tourists without a local card or anyone who prefers not to use one. Removing the coin acceptor overnight hands those customers to your competitors.
What works is adding methods and unifying the record. Customers choose how to pay and you see every payment together, tied to each machine and cycle. Over time the share of coins falls on its own and you can cut collections.
Which payment methods to offer
| Method | Advantage | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Contactless card | The most widespread; also phone and watch | Per-transaction fee and minimums |
| Prepaid balance or in-app wallet | One fee per top-up; enables loyalty | Clear terms for use and balance refunds |
| B2B card for businesses | Predictable volume and a monthly invoice | Agreed price and quotas |
| Coins | Customers who won't or can't use a card | Collections, jams and recording every payment |
How to look at card fees
In a laundromat the average ticket is small, so a fixed minimum per transaction can weigh more than the percentage. Ask your bank or payment provider for the total cost of a € 4.50 payment and compare offers using that figure.
A prepaid balance helps: if the customer tops up € 20 at once, you pay one fee instead of four or five. And you can reward the top-up with a free wash, which costs you less than the fees you save.
What the Tax Agency sees of your payments
Banks already report card payments every year. On top of that, in its 2026 Annual Tax Control Plan, Spain's Tax Agency announced it wants monthly data on payments collected through card terminals and mobile-linked payments. We summarise it in our news section.
For a business that reports correctly this is good news: electronic payments justify your revenue by themselves. The risk lies in cash without a reliable record, as we explain in the VeriFactu guide for laundromats.
How PAYMMIO solves it
The PAYMMIO kiosk accepts coins, card and mobile, and records each payment with its machine and cycle in a single dashboard. You can create prepaid balances, B2B cards and time-based prices without touching the machines. See it in the TNA kiosk section.
Frequently asked questions
Can I remove the coin acceptor from my laundromat?
You can, but we don't recommend doing it overnight: some customers still pay cash. The most profitable route is adding card and mobile, recording everything in one system and cutting collections as coin use falls.
How much does accepting cards cost a laundromat?
It depends on what you negotiate with your bank or payment provider. On small tickets, look at per-transaction minimums and ask for the total cost of a typical payment in your store.
What is a prepaid balance?
An amount the customer tops up at once, in an app or on a card, and spends wash by wash. It cuts fees and lets you offer top-up bonuses.