Automatic Merchandiser serves the business management, marketing, technology and product information needs of its readers including vending operators, coffee service operators, product brokers, and product and equipment distributors in print.
Issue link: http://automaticmerchandiser.epubxp.com/i/435776
other technologies present a better approach to mobile payments. Lori Salow Marshall, founder and CEO of BYNDL, Inc., sees consumer data, customer support and engage- ment as the real benefts of mobile payments, and these are typically not available with NFC, specifcally payment via NFC tap. Marshall talks about a phone to machine connection in one of two ways. "One party is the tag and the other party is the tag reader," she said. In the case of NFC, the smart- phone is the tag and the tag reader is hardware attached to the front of the vending machine. Readers tend to cost more compared to tags ($300 vs. $10 to $90). A less expensive option is using a QR code with a BLE device in the machine as the tag and the consumer's smartphone as the "tag" reader. This format also has the advantage of allowing consumer data to be recorded, which isn't available with most NFC systems. "NFC tap typically runs on the payment rails - meaning merchants usually can't see usage data trends by consumer," said Marshall. "[Using QR codes or BLE], consumer purchase and profle data are captured and can be shared with merchants, as long as the consumer has 'opted-in,'" explained Marshall. The lower cost of mobile payment options that use BLE technology could also help increase the number installed on machines - driving usage by the consumer up further, argues Paresh Patel, creator of PayRange. "Our system allows operators to get cashless payment into all machines rather than just the top 5 percent," said Patel "We've seen phenomenal interest," he added. Young people aren't carrying cash, but many have a smartphone. "It doesn't matter how well you drive demand to the machines if, at the end of the day, some people will not be able to pay," he said. Patel believes mobile payment options should be quick and easy for the consumer and cross over to dif- ferent industries in order to create more value to the end user. Future-proofng technology Vending technology needs to be able to handle future innovations, so some companies are "future-proofng" their hardware by allowing both NFC and BLE communication methods at the point-of-sale. For example, USA Technologies (USAT) has a propri- etary mobile application that the consumer can download which uses BLE to connect the end user's mobile device with a vending machine. How- ever, USAT also allows consumers to pay with NFC-enabled mobile wal- lets, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet, that they may already have on their mobile device. "We are working with different companies to integrate features and functionalities into our mobile pay- ment options," said Maeve McKenna- Duska, vice president of marketing at USAT. She believes this is the best way to grow mobile payments."We work together in this space to allow opera- tors to choose their preferred program." Accepting multiple payment options creates value to the cus- tomer, as it lets the end user choose his or her method of payment. Likewise for the vending operator, it means more industry partner- ships and potential around mobile payments solutions. "We don't see ourselves as competitors with other mobile technologies," said Lance Ellsworth, co-founder of AirVend. Instead, Ellsworth sees the con- sumer as the post all manufactur- ers should be working around. "Customers all pay with different mobile apps and our hardware needs to accept every type," he said. It also needs to promote different payment options at the point of sale. "We have the ability to educate the consumer about their payment options," said Ellsworth, which might include dif- ferent types of mobile payment as well as cash. "By partnering with other mobile payment providers, we give the consumer the option of choosing how they want to pay." David Grano, CEO of Vendscreen, believes there needs to be one com- mon application or mobile payment option for customers at the machine. "Consumers don't want to have fve or ten mobile apps on their phone," said Grano. "So we are big believers Pay with social media How valuable is social media? As consumers highly value the opinions of their friends and followers, social media can be a compelling marketing tool, which is why one mobile payment technology provider believes it's better than credit. FanWise uses cellular data and WiFi to create a connection between the user's smartphone and the machine. "FanWise leverages a behavior social media users already practice daily…posting to Facebook or Twitter," said Brett Circe, Fan- Wise president. "It provides the consumer with a cash value for their update that can be used to buy goods instantly at vend- ing machines, driving more sales volume." Demographic information from the social me- dia account can be presented to the operator. Revolution December 2014 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 21 M O B I L E P A Y M E N T