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Article: Credit card options increase for vending operators: a major credit card player has invested in the vending market. In addition, a host of new system providers have entered the fray, all bringing new opportunities to vending operators.(CASHLESS VENDING)
- Article from:
- Automatic Merchandiser
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Cygnus Business Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The concept of installing credit/debit card systems in vending machines seems fairly straightforward, but the reality is that these systems have seen very limited deployment in the vending industry. There are several million vending machines in the U.S., yet my research suggests that less than 10,000 of them are equipped to handle credit and debit cards.
My candid assessment is that in the past, technical problems (covered in last month's article) and poor return on investment (because of network and processing fees) have hindered adoption. The good news is that most of the technical problems have been addressed and there is big money trying to make credit cards ...