money upfront. "One of the biggest
struggles in vending and OCS for
years — for both small and large oper-
ators — is creating cash fow," said
Kevin Searcy, president of deORO
Markets and owner of vending/
OCS company Golden Brew Bever-
age. "As operators, we either are put-
ting hundreds of dollars of product
within a machine and waiting for it
to sell or selling a customer items on
invoice that can go to 90 days before
payment. With account balances in
micro markets we are fnally able to
remove some of this burden."
In most cases, operators receive
the pre-paid funds or "foat" money
in their account, which frees up
capital to invest in other markets,
which is another value added for
operators when it comes to pre-paid
micro market cards.
Challenges of pre-paid accounts
Money management, as well as
refunding money, can be a challenge
for operators who are frst dealing
with pre-paid accounts. When opera-
tors hold the pre-paid funds, that foat
money becomes a liability on their
balance sheet. This type of money
management is new for operators, but
it shouldn't deter them from utilizing
customer pre-paid accounts, said Jeff
Leider, president of Tri-R Coffee &
Vending and Avanti Markets opera-
tor. "There is no other way in the
industry to get the money from the
consumer before they buy an item,"
he said. "So right there the beneft
of offering a pre-paid solution out-
weighs the liability." When it comes
to liability, Tri-R takes full responsi-
bility. "If a customer loses their card,
we issue another one with the credit
transferred over to the new card.
Consumers can pre-pay for items by
loading credit/debit or cash into their micro
market account. Pre-paid purchases can
result in loyalty points that lead to rewards.
''
We take full
responsibility for
funds. If a customer
loses their card,
we issue another
one with the credit
transferred over to
the new
card.
''
Jeff Leider, president of
Tri-R Coffee & Vending
August 2015 VendingMarketWatch.com Automatic Merchandiser 19
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