Washington DC - Vagabond (vgbnd.co), a leading vending and convenience services technology platform provider, and Apriva (apriva.com), a leading payment platform provider in the self-service industry, are proud to announce a technology partnership that will bring exciting new payment options in the unattended retail space. More specifically, college students will be able to utilize their virtual campus cards on Vagabond’s vīv mobile payments app via Apriva’s network, reducing equipment costs for campuses and operators. This partnership is on the leading edge of turning virtual student IDs into a form of payment as the campus card industry moves away from physical cards.
Apriva is excited to work with a recognized thought leader and key innovator in the $20B+ vending & convenience services industry. Vagabond’s combination of ERP, communications network and vīv payments technologies have enabled Vagabond’s unique touchless vending solution since early 2017. The touchless vending experience migrates consumer interactions with vending machines from the physical machine to consumers’ personal phones away from the machine. Consumers are able to remotely view product and nutrition information, link their preferred payment method and enable the vend of the product they desire without touching the machine.
Operators benefit from the savings resulting from nearly no service calls required when cash payment peripherals, that are rarely used at higher education campuses, are removed from the machines. Operators are also able to provide better service by taking advantage of vīv’s instant sales data delivered to operators’ ERP systems. Brands are able to influence consumer buying behavior in live time as vīv links a known user with a known product at a particular location. President of Apriva, David Riddiford, stated “Vagabond’s vīv mobile application is the kind of cutting-edge technology and convenience students of this generation demand. Apriva is very excited to partner with Vagabond to further penetrate the higher education market.”
Students will be able to use their campus cards on vīv at campus vending machines and micro markets. Vagabond seeks to deploy vīv throughout college campuses to offer students, faculty, and visitors an easier, robust and more secure payment method.
Vagabond chose to work with Apriva because of their expertise in unattended retail and unique connections to industry specific closed-loop payment systems. Vagabond CTO John Powell said, “Apriva is a proven payments leader in the self-service space and has fostered positive relationships with many innovative and forward-thinking campuses and campus card providers. We’re happy to work with them on providing innovative solutions to campus card users.” Operators will never miss a sale through vīv’s campus card support and can expand their offerings to education campus by offering corporate employee ID and payroll dedication payment options through the vīv mobile application. Apriva’s internal research has shown that accepting campus card payments at machines at campus facilities increase sales by up to 25%.
The Apriva platform integrates with all major North American campus card systems to provide a seamless and secure stored value purchasing experience. The partnership is
a natural fit for both organizations as Apriva offers a robust platform that provides both traditional and non-traditional payment integrations. The integration also opens the door for future integration with any other campus card processors. NAMA Show 2019 attendees can visit Apriva in booth 1761 and Vagabond in booth 1361 April 24-26 at the Las Vegas Convention Center to learn more about the partnership.
About Apriva
Formed in 2003, Apriva is a technology company providing an adaptive platform for omnichannel payments and secure mobile communications. The company’s mobile-first technologies meet the exacting security and reliability requirements of financial services providers, commercial enterprises, government entities, public service sectors, and independent sales organizations. Through its two operating groups, Apriva Payments and Apriva Mobile Security, the company offers fully-managed, end-to-end security solutions supporting commerce and communications. For more information, please visit www.Apriva.com.
About Vagabond
Vagabond (vgbnd.co) makes technology that enables commerce in workplace communities. Its operations, communications and payments technologies serve the convenience services industry -- businesses that provide vending, food service and related provisions to workplaces. Operators use Vagabond's ERP platform for inventory management, product merchandising, service scheduling, truck routing, and financial reconciliation. Vagabond’s IoT network delivers real-time business intelligence to operating teams in the field so they can maximize operating profits. Vagabond’s workplace payments application, called vīv, enables mobile pay at vending machines and convenience markets; order-ahead and delivery at cafeterias and restaurants; and the ordering and fulfillment of office, breakroom and janitorial supplies in the workplace. This comprehensive commerce platform allows Vagabond to provide data-driven services to consumer packaged goods companies enabling promotion of particular products to individuals in real-time depending on their buying habits. Vagabond powers the convenience services industry by maximizing sales through merchandising, minimizing cost through operational efficiency, establishing new revenue streams for operators, and providing consumers a convenient payment experience.
