Intel IoT Smart Vending Machines Integrate Payments

As the Internet of Things continues to evolve, Intel has debuted technology designed for “smart” vending machines – the first gateway specifically geared to that industry.

The IoT Retail Gateway Reference Design for Intelligent Vending will, among other things, manage payment processing, the company noted in a news release Monday (May 4). The gateway combines software, hardware and security to enable computing across several workloads onto a single PC-based platform. The technology will help retrofit machines.

“By consolidating multiple workloads onto a single vending platform, manufacturers can free up time to focus on meeting the increasing expectations of today’s tech-savvy consumers,” said Jose Avalos, worldwide director of visual retail at Intel, in the announcement. “For example, customers can integrate new natural user interfaces, social media capabilities, loyalty programs and nutritional information – all of which will have a positive impact on the consumer’s vending experience.”

Consulting firm Frost and Sullivan estimate that global shipments of intelligent vending machines should reach 2 million units by 2016, which includes both new and retrofit markets.

Recently, Ingenico and Intel partnered to build mobile payment capabilities into a wide array of connected devices for the I0T market— including intelligent vending machines, kiosks and digital signage. Under the deal, Ingenico will provide the payment acceptance capabilities, based on its long experience with point-of-sale devices. Intel’s contributions will be CPU technology, along with the Intel Data Protection Technology for Transactions system that the chipmaker unveiled last fall.

Right now, Intel’s transaction-protection technology detects rogue payment devices on a network by checking device IDs and serial numbers against an approved list. That means it should work with payment devices from any vendor, although Ingenico could have an inside track for using Intel’s platform to manage support for features like tokenization to its POS devices.