PHOENIX (Dec. 15, 2025) – Banner Health is implementing a cashless payment system across its facilities, a systemwide initiative that will increase efficiency, enhance security and reduce operational costs while maintaining convenient payment options for patients and visitors.
Banner Health conducted a comprehensive assessment and determined that cashless operations would significantly reduce the high costs and security risks associated with traditional cash management and exchange. Findings show these costs were more than a third of the value of the cash collected. As a nonprofit health system, Banner Health reinvests all savings directly into community programs and patient care services. By transitioning to cashless pay and removing the costs associated with cash collection, these savings will be redirected to support expanded access to care, advanced medical technology and vital community health initiatives.
"As stewards of community resources, we have a responsibility to operate as efficiently as possible and invest where it matters most," said Staci Dickerson, Banner Health chief financial officer.
The health system has rolled out the cashless initiative across much of Arizona and will implement it in phases across the system over the coming months. All Banner facilities will complete the transition by March 2026. The change will align these service lines with Banner Imaging sites, which already operate as cashless facilities.
"This initiative represents our commitment to creating a safer, more efficient environment for our team members while ensuring patients and visitors have convenient payment options," said Brenda Schaefer, Banner Health treasurer and chief investment officer. "The transition to cashless operations reduces security risks associated with cash handling, protects our employees from potential theft and fraud, and eliminates issues with counterfeit currency. Most importantly, it allows our staff to focus more on patient care rather than cash management."
Banner Health accepts credit cards, debit cards, and other electronic payment methods like Apple Pay and Google Pay across all facilities. Cash-to-card kiosks are installed at hospitals with on-site pharmacies to ensure continued accessibility for all patients and visitors. The kiosks accept cash and provide a Mastercard-branded prepaid card that customers can use anywhere Mastercard is accepted, including throughout Banner Health facilities. The kiosks provide a convenient solution for visitors whose primary form of payment is cash.
Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country and a leader in provider-sponsored health insurance serving 3.5 million people annually across six states. With 33 hospitals and more than 450 additional care sites, Banner’s array of services includes a health insurance division, employed physician groups, outpatient surgery centers, urgent care locations, home care and hospice services, retail pharmacies, stand-alone imaging centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation, behavioral health services, a research division, and a nursing registry. Through its longstanding, innovative relationship with the University of Arizona, Banner’s academic medicine division provides ground-breaking clinical discoveries, advanced life-saving care and educates 1,300 physicians annually. Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, a partnership with one of the world’s leading cancer programs, MD Anderson Cancer Center treats more than 103,000 patients a year. Banner Plans and Networks offers Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial health coverage to more than 1.2 million members. In 2024, Banner Health provided $1 billion worth of community benefits to assist those in need through a range of programs. Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health also has locations in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com.
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