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Mobile payments helping US Girl Scouts sell cookies
26 Jun 2012

The image of a Girl Scout using her smartphone to close the deal on the sale of a box of cookies may sound amusing, but that is exactly what is happening in the US where the latest technology has boosted traditional fundraising programme.

In an increasingly cashless society it was becoming harder for Girl Scouts to sell their cookies as local residents would frequently not have any money to pay for the boxes, but mobile payment technology provides a solution to the problem.

Earlier this year over 30 Girl Scout councils formed a partnership with Sage Mobile Payments, allowing more than 40,000 troops to potentially take card payments on a person's doorstep.

Worth $760 million (£487 million) annually, the Girl Scout Cookie Program is the biggest girl-led enterprise in the US, but it now appears set to grow even further.

Since mobile payments became possible, transactions have increased nearly four-fold.

Hezron Gurley, chief financial officer of the Girl Scouts of Central California South in Fresno, said: "As the girls learn about the world of business, they experience first-hand the advantages of evolving technologies like these.

"They enable more spontaneous purchases, and provide a more secure - virtually cash-free - sales environment."