More than 350,000 Australians collectively serve the needs of our 1.3 million elderly population who are receiving home care or residential care services.
This includes nurses and care workers, allied health professionals, hospitality teams, drivers, cleaners, volunteers, lifestyle officers, administration staff and many, many others.
There has never been a more challenging time than now to keep our elderly and vulnerable communities safe and protected. With many parts of Australia facing lockdowns and restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic, aged care workers are faced with additional duties and pressures – extra rostered shifts, extra patients to care for, and adhering to health and safety precautions.
As essential workers who are working in the community in a time where we are urged to limit our footprints, prepaid cards are a great solution that will can make aged care workers and administrators’ lives easier.
Manage daily work-related expenses
With stay at home orders in place for many parts of Australia, aged care workers may be tasked with supporting the elderly by shopping for their groceries and picking up other essential goods like medicine.
That’s where prepaid cards can be used to assist aged care workers in their day-to-day work, such as:
- Making purchases on behalf of the elderly, such as groceries or medicine.
- Paying for petty cash expenses, such as travel, without having to spend from their own pocket.
- Providing a safer, contactless way to ‘tap and pay’ rather than handling cash. Prepaid cards also track how the money is being spent, which is much more transparent than using cash.
- Eliminating filling out and processing reimbursements, allowing aged care workers and administrators to focus on more important matters.
Reward carers with a thank you gift or bonus
Prepaid cards are a fantastic way to reward and incentivise aged care workers who go above and beyond their duty of care. Recognised as the preferred method of reward by employees, it’s a simple way to acknowledge their hard work that also goes a long way.
What is a Prepaid Card and how does it work?
A prepaid card is a card you can use to pay for things online or in-store. Unlike credit and debit cards, prepaid cards are not linked to bank accounts. When you use a prepaid card, you are spending money that you have already loaded onto the card.
Just like credit and debit cards, prepaid cards require a payment gateway partner such as Visa for it to work. Visa Prepaid Cards are accepted in 40 million locations around the world – in-store, online and ATMs.
For aged care employees, prepaid cards can be used as an expense management solution that is secure and convenient.
Benefits
- Safer and more traceable than cash
- Many shops these days prefer or only accept contactless payments
- Cardholders can track spending and balance via a mobile app or online
- Administrators can manage cards easily through an online portal, such as ordering new cards, topping up cards with funds, download transactions report or block cards from use.
Our Vasco Pay prepaid card and expense management solution can help you ease the administration and operational tasks for your aged care workers, so speak to us today to get started.
