COIN & NOTE HANDLING


Cash clings on in vending, but for how long?


With demand for contactless payment surging during the pandemic, is there is still a place for cash in vending and what is the outlook for coin and note handling technology?


T


he demand for contactless/cashless payment has been growing for some several years, that’s no secret. But the arrival of the pandemic accelerated this growth, particularly as contactless payment systems


require fewer points of direct contact. Consumers intent on keeping high hygiene standards have shied away


from using notes and coins – many of us can count the number of times we have used cash in the last 18 months on one hand. This consumer shift towards card, contactless and even phone payment


preferences post-pandemic is undeniable, but before we consign cash to the history books, it’s important to remember just how many UK adults still depend on cash. In 2018, the HM Treasury reported in its ‘Cash & Digital payments in the


new economy’ consultation that 2.7 million adults in the UK still rely entirely on cash. But, if anything, what does this mean for vending? The Vending and Automated Retail Association (AVA), whose 160


members manage the 460,000 vending machines across the UK today, believes that there is still a place for cash in vending, but its importance could diminish in the future. Explaining the AVA position, David Llewellyn, chief executive said: “To


avoid customer exclusion, there should always be a coin payment option in vending and coffee service equipment.” However, he added: “At the start of the global pandemic, the AVA


reaffirmed its high safety standards in response to COVID-19, stating that vending is one of the most hygienic and safest ways for workers to buy food and beverage products when not working from home, mainly due to the option to pay without the handling of coins or notes. “In the recently published AVA 2020 Census, it was found that where


18 | vendinginternational-online.com


credit card or cashless systems are fitted, two thirds of sales were cashless. In addition to being of significantly higher transaction value, this evidences the greater demand for cashless options and in response, the industry has seen a significant growth in cashless-only machines. “Pair this rising trend with the difficulties faced with the new £1 coin, which cost


the industry nearly £72.8m to ensure all vending and coffee machines were amended to fit the new coin in time, the industry itself wouldn’t be to blame for its own bias towards the ongoing development of cashless technologies. “Our prediction is that even after restrictions are lifted across England,


consumers will still continue certain learned behaviours such as choosing to pay with contactless. So even though it is still important for the AVA’s members to provide cash payment option, in a few years’ time they may become redundant,” Mr Llewellyn concluded.


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