USA Technologies' Vending Machine Survey Confirms Consumers Spend on Average 50% More When Paying with Credit/Debit Cards
MALVERN, Pa, March 21, 2006 -- USA Technologies (OTC Bulletin Board: USAT) announced today that consumers spend 50% more on average at vending machines when they can make purchases using their credit or debit cards.
The 50% increase in average ticket is similar to the increase seen at quick serve restaurants when card transactions were introduced two years ago, driving an almost overnight acceptance of cashless transactions by the fast food industry.
The survey was conducted by USAT from the analysis of 633,120 cashless transactions totaling $1.2 million in value through 500 mainstream vending machines equipped with the e-Port® cashless transaction readers. Click to view one sample of the survey results.
"This is the most important confirmation we have that when people use credit and debit cards when purchasing from vending machines, they buy more," said Jim Turner, VP & Channel Manager Intelligent Vending® at USA Technologies.
Card purchases at airports, train terminals and roadside rest areas saw a 52% increase over cash, with the average ticket price for a card purchase rising to $2.33, compared with $1.53 for cash.
Card purchases at theme parks, zoos, museums, and theatres generated an additional 82% in average ticket, with cardholders spending $3.29 per purchase, compared with $1.81 for cash.
Vending machines located in office buildings saw a 28% increase in average ticket, and for the first time the average ticket price rose above $1.00.
"The goal of every vending machine operator is to increase what consumers spend in their vending locations, driving greater revenue and profit, and this survey demonstrates that people will buy more when credit/debit is an option for payment," said Mr. Turner.
The survey validates why card companies like MasterCard, Visa and American Express are investing heavily to break into the micro-payments market.
"Card companies see the 8 million placements in the $40 billion U.S. vending industry as one of the last remaining major opportunities to convert to card transactions. They know consumers will buy more from vending machines when using cards just as they know more and more consumers are prepared to use their cards to make micro-transactions of $1.00-$5.00," said Mr. Turner.
What is at stake is no secret.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that micro-transactions generated $25 billion in revenue for the card industry in 2005, and that card associations, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express -- saw micro-payments as a way to generate significant growth in card acceptance in the future from businesses that historically have not accepted cards. Click to read a PDF of Robin Sidel's article "Credit-Card Firms Go for Small".
MasterCard and the other card companies have acknowledged USAT's leadership in cashless micro-transaction technology, and its breakthrough e-Port® radio frequency identification (RFID) solution for its contactless card payment system which targets micro-transactions.
"The cashless marketplace is here and now, and consumers want the ability and convenience to pay with whatever is 'top of their wallet'. Vending operators who don't change with the latest payment trends will lose valuable accounts to more progressive and responsive competitors, and the card companies are now helping to drive the trend," Mr. Turner said.
With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including but not limited to product acceptance, the ability to continually obtained increased orders of its products, the ability to meet installation goals, economic, competitive, governmental impacts, whether its pending patents will be granted or defendable; validity of intellectual property and patents of USA, the ability of USA to license its patents, the ability of USA to commercialize its developmental products, technological and/or other factors, which could cause actual results or revenues to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements.