USA Technologies Expands Cashless, Self-Service Footprint

Self-service retail market payment provider USA Technologies (USAT) is expanding its relationship with Rawls Distributing Company to ensure all of the vending machines the firm operates are fully connected and can accept a variety of payment methods, including cashless.

USAT announced the agreement on Tuesday (March 8), explaining that it will provide the cashless and telemetry services that will enable all of the machines under Rawls Distributing Co.’s Canteen franchise to accept cash and also enable and track credit/debit cards and mobile wallet payments, such as Android Pay and Apple Pay, through its NFC-capable ePort Connect cashless payment system.

“For more than thirty years, we have built our company name not only on providing outstanding customer service but on leveraging the latest technology in order to improve efficiency, productivity and competitiveness in the marketplace. With more consumers demanding card and mobile payment technology, it only makes sense that we complete our transition to cashless on every one of our machines,” Robin Rawls, president of Rawls Distributing Company, said in a statement.

“By amplifying our longstanding partnership with USA Technologies through the Premier Services program, we are ensuring that the deployment occurs in the smartest, fastest way, with maximum return. At only 50 percent deployment, cashless usage is already up to 33 percent, and we see greater volume and higher profit margins, which we feel are due to the new ePort deployments and upgrades,” Rawls continued.

With the decision to deploy USAT’s ePort Connect on 100 percent of its machines, Rawls Distributing Company is not only committing to a fully connected operation but also marking the expansion and enhancement to their cashless program.

“Rawls is one of the industry’s most forward-thinking and well-respected operators. Their move toward offering cashless payments at every machine truly underscores the industry’s steady march toward cashless and mobile payments in self-serve retail,” said Jim Turner, VP of deployment services at USA Technologies. “We believe that, fueled by large-scale installations like this one, smart machine technology like ours, which implements telemetry, cashless and NFC, are changing the face of the unattended retail marketplace through streamlined processes, increased efficiencies and greater consumer engagement.”