MSB Parent, USA

At the beginning of the school year there was some sort of glitch that took a few weeks and many phone calls between my school district, myself & the company to straighten out. It would not allow me to add my student. Once she was added, I’ve found the app wonderfully convenient. I love the notification when balance is getting low. Could do without the additional charge for using a credit card though.

Mechanically the app itself is great. Easy to use, interface is simple, and payments reflect immediately at my child's school as soon as I make them. However something is wrong with the service itself in that autopay DOES NOT WORK at all. I've had it set up since first installing the app and not once has the autppayment worked--I am getting calls every time my child's school balance is low. It's very frustrating because not only do I have a fee per transaction, but I have to babysit the balance which defeats the purpose of the app and autopay being convenient At this point I am debating if the "convenience" is worth it; sending a check in person is cheaper in the long run and I'm having to manually monitor it -anyway because the autopay doesn't work. Tl;Dr app is great, service itself needs to get their act together.

Every time I try to add money to my kids accounts, the app closes on me multiple times before I can complete the transaction. Even though I have Face ID enabled, it will make me enter a password again sometimes. Very frustrating. I do like that I can see what they’re buying, but the description could be better. It’d be nice to see what TYPE of lunch they’re buying (like salad, chicken nuggets, etc.) and also the names of the snacks and drinks are confusing. I have never heard of half of the item brands, so it’s would be nice to have a description like “Scooby Snack (cookies)”. The fee to put money on their account is ridiculous. I’d rather give them cash to avoid it, but we’re FORCED to use this app and pay the fee. You shouldn’t be charged a fee if you literally have no other options, especially if you’re putting over a certain amount on the account.

It should not take 20 minutes to add money to my child’s meal account. I get an error message EVERY step of the way and have to refresh the app at least five times before I can get it to work. Open the app, all the ads have to load, so I have to sit and wait. Add meal money, error message. Refresh. Add meal money, add payment method, error, refresh. Add payment method first, add meal money, error, refresh. Add meal money, select payment method, error, refresh. Add meal money, select payment method, checkout, error, refresh. Then maybe it will finally work if you’re lucky. And for some reason, when you’re typing in the name and address for payment information, every time you need to put in a space, you have to hit the space button twice. This is literally the worst app I have ever experienced. Do better.

The app itself is very helpful in many ways. It allows you to see what your child is purchasing and how much and always makes it easy to load money. I gave it a lower rating because it’s absolutely offensive to add such a high fee for using it. When parents are already struggling and kids are on discounted lunch programs it’s a gut punch to fork over nearly $3 additional dollars for a “fee” it adds up! Some parents do not have the luxury of loading up an acct and just paying a one time fee. So when you load as you can that $3 adds up which could be money spent on feeding the kids. Putting five dollars in but only $2 go towards feeding the child. Do better.

Buttons that take a while to load and only have one function that you will probably never use. Transfers are not completed immediately. Incredibly slow and way to many clicks. U can use other apps in a fraction of a second to move money. Get a publicly ran institution involved and they find the worst most expensive product with a horrible user experience and that is what they go with. If you have ever used the one app you are forced to use to buy Highschool sporting events ticket you know what I’m talking about. It is like the government gets paid per click and by how much time they take from you. Started reading the reviews to see if I am way off base here. There are a lot of paid for adds in this review book. Gg school district, you have been fooled again.

Super glitchy site. Couldn’t add checking account or credit card…debit card after 30 minutes finally added payment method..when trying to pay with the account it says can’t verify but places a $0 hold on the account. I have about 20 of those. They have MAJOR IT problems and bugs. Even tried using the website. Same thing. Called customer service. They said everything seems to be fine can I delete my payment method and start again. 2 hours now trying to add money to my kids account. Autopay doesn’t work. Recheck doesn’t work. Called my school lunch director, he says debit cards have problems and there’s IT problems all the time with this company. Everyone should just go back to cash. This ain’t it.

What should be easier through an app (and of course a little more expensive because why shouldn't you have to pay a $2 convenience fee to buy school lunch?) is actually ten times a bigger headache. No transaction mediated my MSB goes smoothly. Sometimes the app just doesn't support its "add to cart" button anymore. Sometimes your kid's school doesn't populate. Sometimes your kid doesn't populate. But this doesn't mean that [lunch/field trip/uniforms/instrument fees/tickets] don't need to be purchased. It just means that now you can't, and the teachers have no way to accept cash. I hate MSB. I hate this app. It gets 2 stars because I think it accomplishes some of what it was meant to do. Just not well.

Everytime I go to add funds I get a warning error that’s says we’re sorry, we were unable to add your item to the cart. Please try again Then once I can finally get pass that message the system crashes and no amount gets added. I go to add the funds again and then get duplicate transaction warning saying I was already charged for the amount I’m trying to do again. I call customer service and he tells me nothing is pending and to keep trying to add funds to see if it works. Umm no because it will be my luck I’ll have 5 transactions post to my bank account. You need to figure out what’s wrong with the app. Guess I’ll see if anything comes out of my bank tmrw so I can all again to have money refunded

Transfers funds immediately, easy to manage multiple kids at different schools, and I can see my kid’s purchases. I appreciate that this system gives my kids autonomy to meet their food needs even when I am late on replenishing the fund. When my older kid graduated it was easy to contact the school to transfer his funds to his sister’s account.

The function to add custom amounts of money (not preset amounts) does not function AT ALL and hasn’t for months. I don’t know what’s wrong, but the number pad literally doesn’t acknowledge my input on numbers larger than zero. I know it’s not my device since it only happens in this one app. I have to go log in on my laptop to add more than $50, which defeats the purpose of having the app to me, especially when I have to pay invoices that are much higher than $50. Also annoying if I just want to add a bunch at once not to get charged a fee for small recurring amounts from auto charge. Developers, please fix this issue. I’m running iOS 16.3 on a 13 pro max, so it’s not an old device.

Navigating through this app is so unnecessarily time consuming. The loading time when going from one section to the next is confusing. Like…why should it take that long. On top of that, not being able to move money to different accounts is kind of Stone Age. I moved to a different state, had to create entirely new accounts for my kids (kind of understandable, but should just be able to edit existing ones) AND I couldn’t move their previous funds to the new school accounts. I had to wait for the previous district to send a paper check. I hope a better app comes along or this one realigns the stars to work better. 0/10

I’ve used the website for years and was excited for the additional convenience of an app. Unfortunately it’s unusable, at least for how I manage my kids’ lunch accounts. Since there is a $2 fee per transaction, I make infrequent $100+ deposits instead of the smaller suggested amounts you can choose by tapping a button. But when I select “Other” for the transaction amount, the app won’t let me enter anything but zeros. To be clear, this is with an iPhone that’s less than 2 years old, not some obscure or ancient device. Guess I’m going back to the website!

Read all the 1 and 2 star feedback. It does not allow you to make a custom payment. It also constantly freezes when trying to make any fixed type of payment. Sometimes I give up and just send cash to the school, which defeats the whole purpose of the app. How it has such a high star rating baffles me. Nice idea in theory but you would think someone would have tested the app out before releasing it. I normally don’t write feedback but you can’t fix something if you don’t know about. Hope they actually do some testing and fix the payment issues.

This is my first using this app since switching my child’s school. His last school was free lunch regardless of anything. I was worried I wouldn’t remember his lunch money or the process would confusing but this app is so easy to use and gives you a balance alert. I’m so excited that he can just go to school and not worry about having his lunch money.

I tried downloading this app today, as I thought it would be quicker and easier than always going through the webpage. Our school district also uses PowerSchool, so the accounts are linked. It would not allow me to log in on the app. I would always get a software error. When I talked to chat support, they basically told me to log in on the webpage. They told me I had to go through PowerSchool because the accounts are linked, but I can log in directly from their own website, so that is not true. Kinda defeats the purpose of the app if you can’t even log in.

It’s a $5 fee to load my child’s account which is RIDICULOUS! This app is so godforsaken slow, it loads whenever I go to a different page. Also the inability to transfer is so stupid. I have money in my sons account who graduated but I can’t transfer it to my daughters account who’s in middle school, I have to go to the school. Also I still have money from my kids old school district which can’t be transferred because I have to go to that old school to make the transfer. This app is outdated and charges way to much to load your child’s account.

I have tried two different ways to add funds to two different students but all I get is “sorry, please try again”. I live 3 hrs from these children so I can’t just send money with them in the morning. Ross with tech support had me sign out then sign back in and it worked.

This app is horrendous, it being the only app most school districts use to do online lunch account management. They not only charge a 2.75 fee for every transfer but they offer horrible service quality. App barely works, it sits on loading screens for 20 minutes. This app is only used because districts force you to use it. Simply a horrible app. If you are having to download this app and have no other options, give your child cash instead of using this application. Terrible support, terrible service overall horrible app.

This app is so easy to use. I especially appreciate the reminders to add money to my kids’ accounts. The fact that transactions occur immediately is absolutely critical, since I often wait until the last minute to reload; thankfully, payments are received and balances are credited without disrupting the kids’ lunch.

As a very busy mom, I love how easy it was to set my daughter up on the app and the simple process of adding lunch money. My daughter is in kindergarten so the app is way more convenient than sending in cash or a check and hope it makes it to lunch.

The app does not integrate with iOS features like password managers, two-factor tokens from Messages, pasting (or even viewing the manual entry) of CVV codes… This makes the most typical interaction of refilling a balance more painful than necessary. Links to school menu doesn’t seem to get me anywhere useful. If my school doesn’t provide it (probably the case), then don’t bother offering a link. Fees - I get it that money has to be made. But almost $3 transaction fee is 10% on a $30 refill! It’s basically the same if I use a credit card or back transfer. Something in the 2-3% range for bank transfer or 5% for credit card would be more fair. The fee is probably a negotiated fee between my school and MSB fees, so I’ll give the school the same feedback. For something as simple as buying lunch, this app makes me grumpy every time I interact with it.

I find this app super irritating. The way it renders in my phone doesn’t allow me to select the saved payment method to add funds to my child’s account. I spent all morning messing around until she called me at lunch saying she didn’t have enough for her drink and did I add money. Finally I realized I could just go to the online website and I did it there. The app has no additional features and is not worth the hassle.

The app is exceedingly slow and Wi-Fi and Cellular are not the problem. It is slow on all connections. Additionally, I lost the feature that allowed me to add amounts on two kids’ accounts and check out once. I now have to check out twice, once for each kid. May not seem like a big deal but it was much easier before. I really do not like having to use this app - a necessary evil, I suppose.

I like this program as it makes it easy to add money to my child’s account. It is also helpful to receive the message when her account is getting low!

Initially the app was great. But at this point, the payment method screen is bigger than the display of the phone screen and you cannot select a payment option unless it’s your third option. You can pull the screen down, but the moment you lift your finger it reverts. So now the app is pointless because I have to use the desktop version to actually make a payment.

About the only thing this app is good for is seeing what your child(ren) is/are buying. It’s virtually IMPOSSIBLE to add money to an account. Keeps giving errors about not being able to add to cart, please try again later. And sometimes it just says I don’t have a child attached to my account, which is false. I wish our school would find another app or this app creator would just fix this one.

This app is trash. It FORCES you to update, but then there is no update in the App Store. The ONLY solution is to delete the app, and reinstall. Only to shortly after be FORCED again to update, when there is no update available. SO glad I trusted this company with my money and access to my bank account. You would think the public school system would demand integrity and reliability from such a system. Maybe they should build out their own and put these hacks out of business.

I gave it two stars because it’s more convenient than sending money to school. Aside from that, there is zero to like about this app. Autopay doesn’t work, there’s a ridiculous fee to use debit/credit (which is literally the only convenient part of the app), half the time it logs you out so then you have to do the two step verification process again, and the other half of the time it’s SO slow.

Quite often I’ll try to add money and it’ll say that I need to try again later. Today I tried to add money and I didn’t catch the fact that I used an old card until it declined. So when I tried to repurchase the same amount it says I can’t because I already tried to purchase it and to try again later…. Nothing should be this hard. There’s always problems. Not sure how you got 5 stars because this app is ridiculous to use.

Frequent ‘unable to add item to cart’ error when trying to add money to accounts, which is incredibly frustrating when you are trying to add funds after a low balance notification. Times out, errors processing payments, often unclear if payment went through or not. Wish there was some way to control funds better so kids can’t use them to purchase items other that what they are intended for.

If it wasn’t for this being the only way to add to my children’s lunch accounts, I would have deleted LONG ago. CONSTANTLY logs me out, even in the middle of adding money. Will also say my password is wrong, so then I am forced to reset my password trying to use the password it is telling me is not my password, all for it to say I can’t use a password that’s already been used!

My first and second payments went through just fine. Every time after it refused to process my payment saying it was unverified. I’ve done everything exactly the same as before with the very same card. My grandson was denied lunch because this refused to work. If I go to the actual website and NOT the app, my payment goes through just fine. The app is worthless.

There’s a reason why the MSP app used by the schools and administration is rated a 2.9 stars. The parents version is no better, and probably worse. Every year it’s gotten more glitchy to the point you now can’t even add funds to your child’s meal plan. You can log into your account through the browser and it works fine (still an unorganized mess of a software program, but at least usable). The app on the other hand is useless.

I always get an error message when trying to add funds to cart. Then when trying to pay, it spins and spins, then says unable process purchase. Then….check my email and it actually did process. This app is worthless and 9 out of 10 times I just use the website on my computer to add money to student accounts. The app is really only useful for checking account balances and seeing purchase transactions.

I love the idea of this app and when it works, it’s great. It glitches a lot and it often kicks me out and tells me I can’t sign back in. I have had to uninstall and install several times just to try to log back in. I hope they figure out all the issues. Overall I like the convenience of it.

Easy to manage. Easy to add money, if you don’t mind $2.75 fee. You can avoid it if you write check or give cash to your child . You can see what your child buys at cafeteria.

I absolutely love this App. Because children forget to tell you that their account is low and I don’t have to wait until I get a letter from the school. So this is AWESOME for me to check myself and add money easily.

The app is buggy. I’m getting errors adding bucks to the cart, followed by a random crash. I use the app once every 3 months or so during the school year and experience a bug every other use. The user interface has improved but the app’s QA needs to be improved.

I get updates that my son’s account is low but cannot setup auto pay. All required information is added but cannot add the payment method. You also have to click the space bar twice to add one space. If you click backspace too many times, the app totally locks up. Definitely needs more work and testing.

I can’t say in the past 4 years I’ve had an easy experience with this app. Before, it was the lagging and crashing. Now, it’s the ultra delayed lagging on each page and function I select, and never an accurate updated balance. One thing I have NOT done is give feedback to our school district, there has to be a better alternative! I can’t wait to be done with this app forever in 6 wks.

I like this app, very easy to use. Convenient to add funds and monitor what they are spending per day. I don’t get though why it costs so much to cover a single transaction. If I add $10 to my kids account I pay 2.95 to process. With lunches costing 2.70 a day and most people living paycheck to paycheck, there should be a small monthly fee instead of charging every transaction. Similar to the GreenLight App.

I love the convenience and ease of adding money to my kids lunch accounts. I can see what they’ve been buying and how often they spend. This app is really really helpful. Did I mention, I love it?

Entered all the information for registration multiple times and the next button remains greyed-out. Tried to contact support and it’s a bot so it doesn’t understand and keeps directing me to the same registration page in the app. If I could just pay the school directly I would, but no this random company has to take their cut. This is why we need free school lunch for every child in the US.

This is the first year I’ve used this app and oh my goodness!! Hands down the EASIEST way to add lunch money to both of my kids lunch accounts, not to mention they are at different schools!! Thank you for this convenience!

It’s convenient! Except for the fact that I spent $200 in the last three weeks because he keeps getting hijacked by other kids at the school who spent money on the vending machines. My kid keeps getting different codes, but it still doesn’t work or someone’s finding them in spending our money won’t use this app again.

Convenient, user-friendly, easier to use than the website .!! … All contact numbers are listed

As a single father, this app allows me to show my kids that they’re both being provided for, even when I can’t physically be there. Thank you so much!

This app NEVER works. It lets me login but never loads after that. So many schools all over use this app and being charged for every transaction makes me think they should have enough money to hire someone that knows how to make an app that actually works at least occasionally. Maybe it should be fixed or they should just have the website and not even offer an app.

The amount paid towards meals shows up in my child’s balance almost immediately , easy to use but the auto pay has never worked . Hopefully they sort it out before the next school year begins