Eight schools in the Australian suburb of Bacchus Marsh are part of what's being called the world's first pilot program to pay for school lunches with mobile phones. The Herald-Sun reports that the QkR system lets parents pay for their children's school meals up to two weeks in advance, and also pay for things such as field trips and swimming lessons.

Ian Wren, principal of Bacchus Marsh Primary School, which has been part of the pilot since August, told the newspaper that about 40 percent of parents have ordered lunches through the system, and take-up has continued growing.

"We have had some parents saying it's the best thing we have ever done," he told the paper. "It's very much the future — our kids are very tech-savvy."

The technology was developed by MasterCard Labs, the paper said, and will likely be implemented at other schools if it the pilot is successful.

A manager for a company that provides online food ordering said cash still has a place because many parents still want to teach their children about the value of money. The story did not mention how students without smartphones might pay under such a program.

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