“They take money from people who need it the most.”

Rebecca Wood, a single mother, regarding the $2.49 “program fee” that charged each time she loaded money into her daughter’s school lunch account. Wood noted that the nearly $2.50 fee was the same price as the school lunch. As more and more schools turn to a cashless system, processing companies will charge as much as $3.25 or 4 to 5 percent per transaction, which often disproportionately impacts lower-income families. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported that 87 percent of sampled districts contract with payment processors. (Associated Press — Sept. 11, 2024)