San Francisco, CA – May 29, 2015 – Cantaloupe Systems, the vending industry’s premier provider of cloud-based, mobile technologies that deliver an integrated end-to-end vending solution, today announced seamless support for Android Pay, the new contactless payment capability unveiled by Google that will be pre-installed on virtually all new Android-based handsets coming from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, and it will be backward compatible with most Android handsets in the market (as long as they have Near-Field Communication (NFC) and can support KitKat+). Android Pay will be accepted on all machines running Seed Cashless, the fastest growing card and mobile payments solution for vending. Accepting Android Pay will require no hardware upgrade and no additional cost to vending operators utilizing Seed Cashless.
Google’s Android Pay will replace its current mobile payment offering of Google Wallet and Softcard (whom Google acquired earlier this year), which were also based on NFC technology but involved multiple steps to use. Google Wallet will be re-imagined as a peer-to-peer app for sending cash between friends. Android Pay boasts a more streamlined user experience – simply unlock your phone and tap. In addition to Android Pay, Cantaloupe’s Seed Cashless also accepts traditional credit card payments including Visa Debit and Credit, MasterCard Debit and Credit, American Express and Discover as well as mobile payment options including Apple Pay, Visa Checkout and MasterCard Contactless.
“Seed Cashless was born ready for mobile payments. We’ve always included Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology in every card reader because we predicted that the payments industry would eventually coalesce on NFC and we didn’t want our customers to get stuck with swipe-only hardware that would soon become obsolete. Cantaloupe is committed to supporting as many forms of cashless payment as possible,” said Anant Agrawal, CRO and President, Cantaloupe Systems. “Vending operators who want to accept mobile payments should demand NFC support from their cashless supplier. If there’s no NFC radio in the external card reader or built into the door of newer machines that have a swipe-only card reader, then an expensive upgrade will be needed. Using Seed Cashless ensures that these kinds of expensive upgrades are not required.”
While mobile payments (sometimes referred to as contactless or swipeless payments) are not mainstream yet, a 2014 Forrester report predicts that the mobile payments market will grow from $52 billion in transactions in 2014 to $142 billion by 2019. Another study by Gartner suggests that by 2017 mobile commerce revenue will account for 50 percent of all US digital commerce, currently at just 22 percent.
“Our job is to position vending operators for the future without missing out on what’s widely used right now. Android Pay and Apple Pay and other emerging mobile payment apps are going to be a big deal in the future. But today, almost all cashless payments come from swiped plastic cards,” noted Justin Grant, VP Product Management at Cantaloupe Systems. “This means that any successful cashless solution must
accept card swipes too. We’re years away from a completely swipe-free vending customer base, but as the transition happens, Seed Cashless will help you be ready.”
About Cantaloupe Systems
Cantaloupe Systems is the vending industry’s premier provider of cloud-based, mobile technologies that deliver an integrated end-to-end vending retail solution for cashless vending, dynamic route scheduling, automated pre-kitting and merchandising and inventory management…all accessible by any mobile device. With a combined 100+ years vending experience, Cantaloupe Systems’ expert consultation team can help vending operators modernize their vending business resulting in increased revenue, greater route efficiencies and streamlined back office administration. Hundreds of customers, with hundreds of thousands machines connected, rely on Cantaloupe Systems’ innovative solutions to give them full control and visibility over their operations, their inventory and their people so they can more proactively, predictably and competitively run their business. Learn more about smarter vending at cantaloupesys.com.
Cantaloupe Systems is backed by Global Environment Fund of Chevy Chase, MD., and Foundation Capital of Menlo Park, CA.
