PAYMENT SYSTEMS Pay attention! No stopping cashless
For decades cash was king and the focus was on coin and banknote validation, but things have changed. Cashless payments are increasing rapidly and are now the fastest growing sector in vending payments.
According to the Card Association there are over 108 million contactless cards in issue in the UK – proof that going cashless is no longer something users accept, but rather what they expect and require to make any kind of purchases including in vending. It’s a trend that gaining so much momentum across the globe that there are countries which will effectively become cashless in a matter of few years. Sweden is one of these where cash payments are down to just 15 per cent of the total number of transactions.
Key players in the vending scene are vigilant about this transition. Refreshment Systems head of marketing Katie Hall says: “We have seen a big shift on the payment landscape from cash to contactless on our vending machines over the last year. “Each month we see the cashless payments
increase and cash transactions decline. This has come hand-in-hand with the adoption of technology across the generations. When time is of the essence it is much quicker to pay with your phone or a contactless card than trying to count out the relevant money.”
Laura Barwell, business development manager at VMC reflects: “It’s becoming clear to us through customer feedback that there’s a definite change in attitude towards contactless payment within the vending community. They are no longer wondering if they need it, but instead planning when to get it.” The benefits to consumers are self- evident – quicker, easier payment and elimination of the need for a pocket full of change. It’s just human nature, the easier something is, the more people will do it and they’ll even be inclined to make more purchases.
But the advantages do not only suit the consumer. Site managers and operators stand to gain greater intelligence on buying trends enabling them to plan for future marketing and promotional activity; the ability to report on sales/vends; sales by category and on maintenance issues. The reports can even go down to the
granular detail of each spiral turn, which enables operators to dynamically plan operative routes, according to Katie Hall. Nick Norris, Suzohapp UK account manager adds that through a link to the outside world, cashless systems can offer full telemetry services. “The data provided by cashless payment systems can easily be integrated in to 3rd party management’s software packages to improve the efficiency of filling and cleaning as well as being used for product analysis across different machines and site types. “Larger vending operators have played a defining role in bringing this technology to vending machines but now all sizes of vending operators are seeing the necessity to roll out cashless payment technology to secure the vend and thus their sales stream.” Managing director of SB Software Simon
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