‍Background

For Jimmy John’s franchises across the U.S., cash has become a burden in recent years. Since most consumers stopped paying in cash, stores found themselves without enough in the till to tip out employees at the end of the day—or to reimburse delivery drivers for mileage. Managers would have to run to the bank just to make change or spend long hours monitoring their cash flow. Some franchises were also still using paper checks, which was a costly and inefficient way to get employees their regular wages.

These outdated, time-consuming processes led to frustrated managers and employees, who were all craving a faster, more seamless payment method.
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Branch Features Used

Enter: Branch. By partnering with PDQ, Jimmy John’s preferred POS system, Branch can now offer automated payouts of drivers’ tips and mileage to all Jimmy John’s franchises.

Owners and managers no longer have to make burdensome trips to procure extra cash or delay tip or mileage payouts due to cash flow problems. Instead, they can instantly pay employees their wages, tips, and mileage—all onto their Branch digital wallet and debit card. 

“Branch has saved us a lot of time and a lot of hassle—we no longer have to run around to stores and bring cash anymore,” says Molly Dobbins, Operations Manager for Fox Companies. “It’s even easier to update information and make quick payouts to workers without delay. Plus, our employees don’t have to carry cash around anymore, it’s all just in one place. It’s been a great partnership and I’m really glad we’ve made this transition.” 

Ted Louis, a managing partner at Jimmy John’s franchise Submasters, also notes that Branch’s integration with PDQ made the switch a seamless transition. 

“Setup was easy and there was no cost to me or my workers,” Louis said. “I tested three vendors to help me manage the amount of cash handling at my restaurants, and Branch was clearly the best option.”
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‍Results: Faster Tips and Mileage, Delivered

Using Branch, franchise owners and managers now enjoy the convenience of instant cashless tip payouts and mileage reimbursements. Managers are less stressed and burdened with administrative tasks, and employees are happier to be getting paid faster. 

It’s also made tracking payouts less of a hassle.“If there’s any issues with something not being entered correctly, we can fix it on the back end rather than relying on someone in the store to do it,” says Dobbins. 

Franchise owner Matt Jensen of Blue Boiler Cats echoes that sentiment. “It’s helped us cut down on any cash handling errors,” he says. 

In addition to faster payouts, Branch also offers Jimmy John’s employees free financial wellness tools like personalized spending insights, instant earned wage access, and a fee-free checking account and Branch debit card. Several franchise owners note that this was also an incentive for choosing Branch. 

“The only thing I wish we would have done is switch to Branch earlier,” says Jensen. 

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Participants were compensated for taking the time to share their testimonies.