Red’s Savoy Fixes Cash Management Headache with Kickfin

Meet Reed.

Reed Daniels is the CEO of Red’s Savoy, a Minnesota-based pizza chain known for its ‘sota-style pizza pies. The restaurant typically offers a small dining room experience with takeout and delivery service options. Catering is also a big piece of their business in normal times.

While catering orders have dropped off and the dining rooms have been closed to the public since early March in light of the pandemic, takeout and delivery is still busy.

“One of the big things we’re seeing in contactless curbside pickup is a significant increase in credit card transactions,” says Reed. “We were already running 80-90% of transactions on credit card, but now it is nearing 95%.”

As a result, maintaining cash on premises had become a huge pain compounded by:

• Frequent bank runs requiring Reed to get managers individually authorized to withdraw on the business account or to make the trip to the bank himself. “There was even a day when the bank still would not allow one of my managers to withdraw cash from the account. That manager had to open a savings account in her own name, transfer funds, and then make the cash withdrawal. I’m proud of this employee for making it work, but she should never have had to deal with a situation like this.”
• Human errors resulting in a cash count that was regularly off.
• General liability of keeping cash on hand.

Red’s Savoy introduces contactless tip outs

Red’s Savoy implemented Kickfin’s instant tip payment platform and found the system simple to set up and use.

“With Kickfin, it’s easier to balance from an accounting standpoint. The cash you bring in goes directly to the bank and it makes tipping out very simple with less chance for error. You become fool proof.”

The industry-wide trend of people moving more to electronic payments and digital cash options makes sense right now given the focus on global health and hygiene. However, Reed believes this consumer behavior is a long-term play that is not going to reverse direction even when the pandemic winds down.

Cashless options like Kickfin are invaluable because it makes business operations and cash management “easier for a staff who is already stretched thin.”