Many of the Girl Scout Councils testing mobile payments for cookie sales saw large revenue gains during 2012. More than 30 Girl Scout councils, representing more than 40,000 troops, allowed mobile payment via credit or debit card as an option for sales of Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints and eight other cookie varieties.

Girl Scout councils are primarily funded through the cookie program and fundraising activities. The $760 million Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business in the country. Some 70 percent of the proceeds from cookie sales is used to fund Girl Scout programming.

“Our troops using Sage Mobile Payments saw their average cookie sale transaction increase almost four-fold, from about $20 in 2011 to nearly $80 this year,” said Hezron Gurley, chief financial officer of Fresno, Calif.-based Girl Scouts of Central California South. “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.”

Girl Scout councils are primarily funded through the cookie program and fundraising activities. The $760 million Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business in the country. Some 70 percent of the proceeds from cookie sales is used to fund Girl Scout programming.

Cookie sales for the troops using mobile payments increased 27 percent and the per-girl-average in those troops increased from 154 boxes to 176 boxes, a 14 percent increase, said John Graves, chief financial officer for Macedonia, Ohio-based Girl Scouts of North East Ohio.

Sales increased 13 percent while overall cookie sales grew by about three percent, said Lisa Rower, controller for Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines in Raleigh, N.C. “Troop leaders especially love that the product sends an email receipt to each customer and daily detailed batch reports to them, and that money goes straight into troops’ bank accounts.”

“Many people don’t carry cash or checks anymore,” added Cathy Ferguson, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Central California South. “Girls today are tech-savvy.”

For 2013, “we’ll make tweaks to our process and do more targeting of the troops who can benefit most from implementing a mobile payments option,” said Rower.