Can Your Laundromat Survive Without Quarters?

Quarters used to be the only way to run a laundromat. That is no longer true, and for a growing number of operators, it is not even the preferred way. Customers today expect to pay the same way they pay everywhere else: a tap of their card, a tap of their phone, or a preloaded balance on a Laundry app. Laundromats that cannot meet that expectation are not just inconvenient. They are losing customers to ones that can.

The good news is that going coinless, or even just adding digital payment alongside coin, is more straightforward than most operators expect. This guide walks through the real costs of staying quarter-dependent, what a modern payment setup looks like, and how to make the transition without disrupting your business.

The Quarter Dependency Problem

Laundromats have relied on quarters for decades, but this method comes with hidden costs and operational headaches. Here’s why sticking to quarters could hurt your business:

1. The hidden costs of coin-based operations

Counting coins, bagging them, making bank runs, and reconciling the numbers at the end of the week takes more time than most operators realize until they stop doing it. That time is not free. It is hours every week that could go toward growing the business, maintaining equipment, or simply not working late. Digital payments process and reconcile automatically. The administrative work largely disappears.

2. Maintenance issues with coin mechanisms

Coin mechanisms are one of the most common failure points on laundromat equipment. Jams, wear, and vandalism add up to more service calls and more downtime. Every machine that is out of service is a machine not generating revenue. Moving to digital payment reduces mechanical wear on the coin path and cuts down on the maintenance calls that come with it.

There is also a security dimension. Machines holding physical cash are a target. Break-ins and internal theft are real risks for coin-heavy operations, and the cost goes beyond the cash itself. Vandalized or damaged machines mean lost revenue and repair bills on top of whatever was taken.

3. Customer frustration with quarter-only options

Customers who show up without the right change do not usually go find a coin machine and come back. They go to a different laundromat. That is a lost visit, and depending on how close a competitor is, it can become a lost customer. Convenience is one of the top factors people use when choosing where to do their laundry, and payment friction is one of the fastest ways to lose on that dimension.

Laundroworks Payment Solutions

Laundroworks makes switching to digital payments easy with a complete system that helps modernize laundromats. Here’s why it stands out:

• Comprehensive digital payment ecosystem: Laundroworks integrates with credit/debit cards and mobile payments.
• Hardware and software compatibility: Laundroworks solutions work with both new and existing equipment, making it easy to upgrade without replacing all your machines. The payment hardware is designed without the requirement to drill large creative holes into the front plate of your machines.
• Cloud-based management platform: Track revenue, monitor machine usage, and pull reports in real time from anywhere. No spreadsheets, no manual tallies, no end-of-day reconciliation guesswork. 

Customers want their laundromat visit to be quick and predictable. They want to know which machines are open, pay without friction, and get a notification when their laundry is done. Laundroworks delivers all of that through a single connected system. 

Contactless payments meet customers where they are

Most customers today do not carry cash and rarely have quarters on hand. According to Visa’s Back to Business Study, nearly two-thirds of consumers say they would switch to a business that offers contactless payment options, and nearly half say they would not return to a store where the only option requires contact with a shared device. Offering NFC and card payments is not a perk anymore. It is table stakes.

Loyalty programs that actually build repeat business

A loyalty card does more than replace quarters. It creates a relationship. When a customer loads money onto a card, that balance lives inside your business. It gives them a reason to come back and a reason to stay. According to Laundroworks platform data, operators who display the registration prompt on the kiosk screen are seeing roughly 90 percent of new cardholders sign up, turning anonymous visits into known, contactable customers.

Operators running loyalty card systems also typically hold 5 to 10 percent of annual self-serve revenue in card float at any given time, according to Laundroworks operator data. For a store doing $300,000 a year, that is $15,000 to $30,000 in preloaded balances sitting inside the business, driving return visits.

The LaundryCat app

Through the LaundryCat customer app, customers can start machines, track cycle progress, pay, and receive alerts when their laundry is done. That means fewer interruptions, less time standing around waiting, and a better overall experience that keeps people coming back.

Source: Laundroworks