Release Details

USAT Vending Sales Analysis Finds Consumers Using ePort Cashless System Spend More Per Transaction

August 16, 2011

USAT Believes Increasing Consumer Participation and Better Returns for Operators is Driving Increased Eport Adoption

MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAT), a leader of wireless, cashless payment and M2M telemetry solutions for small-ticket, self-serve retailing industries, today announced that based on its July 2011 survey of over 10,000 traditional vending machines utilizing its ePort cashless payment system, consumers, on average, spent one-third more when making a cashless purchase than a cash purchase. In addition, cashless purchases made up approximately 26% of all sales at these vending machines.

These findings are based on the latest sales analysis completed for the month of July 2011, encompassing over 9 million cash and cashless transactions on over 10,000 traditional vending machines selling snacks, beverages, food and coffee, fitted with a USA Technologies ePort cashless payment system.

Combined with USA Technologies' JumpStart program, which the Company believes offers operators the industry's lowest total cost of ownership for cashless/telemetry solutions, the Company estimates that these positive trends result in increased returns for USAT's customers on machines where the ePort cashless payment system is installed.

Highlights of this study include:

  • Consumers spent 33% more, or $0.37 more per transaction, when they used a card versus cash on a machine equipped with an ePort, increasing the average transaction from $1.13 to $1.50
  • Cashless usage was approximately 26% of total sales on machines equipped with an ePort—up 73% from 15% usage in a similar study conducted just three years ago

Jim Turner, VP Deployment Planning Services, USA Technologies, said, "The results of our recent analysis indicate that consumers are spending more at cashless payment systems on self-service retail terminals like vending machines. We believe that this is helping to improve sales and returns for our customers in an industry battling rising product and labor costs, while also struggling to increase prices due to the limitations of a cash payment environment. Using USAT's knowledgebase, the industry's most extensive database of cashless intelligence for this market, our team of deployment professionals can help ensure success for our customers who implement our ePort solutions within their business, by leveraging real world performance data to guide them to the best locations within their base of accounts in order to maximize their investment."

USA Technologies believes that the increase in average spend per transaction, increased consumer usage and positive results for ePort customers have driven accelerating adoption of its ePort cashless payments technology. This is evidenced by the fact that the number of customers on the ePort Connect Service has risen from approximately 1,000 at June 30, 2010 to approximately 2,000 at June 30, 2011, or 100%, and connections on the service have risen from approximately 82,000 to approximately 119,000, or a 45% increase over the past year.

Maeve McKenna Duska, VP Marketing, USA Technologies, concurred, "We believe that increasing consumer adoption of cashless payment technology and the opportunity for better returns for vending operators may signal that our industry has reached an inflection point. USA Technologies has been at the forefront of this industry evolution with its easy to implement, scalable, turn-key hardware and software solutions. And we continue to strengthen our value proposition, from the appealing economics of our JumpStart program to the profit-maximizing strategies of our propriety Business Deployment Planning Program. In addition to positively impacting our customers' business, this powerful combination is contributing to USA Technologies own year-over-year growth in customers and connections."

Owners and operators of vending machines and other unattended retail terminals interested in understanding the latest data/trends outlined in this release and/or would like more information on how USA Technologies' ePort cashless payment system can positively impact their business are encouraged to contact USA Technologies at 800-633-0340. Visit us online at www.usatech.com. Learn more about the JumpStart program at http://www.usatech.com/eport/eport_jumpstart.php

About USA Technologies:

USA Technologies is a leader in the networking of wireless non-cash transactions, associated financial/network services and energy management. USA Technologies provides networked credit card and other non-cash systems in the vending, commercial laundry, hospitality and digital imaging industries. The Company has been granted 79 patents and has strategic agreements with Verizon, Visa, Crane, Compass and others. Visit our website at www.usatech.com.

Forward-looking Statements:

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including without limitation the financial position, anticipated connections to our network, business strategy and the plans and objectives of the Company's management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this release, words such as "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the Company's management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to, business, financial market and economic conditions, including but not limited to, the ability of the Company to retain key customers from whom a significant portion of its revenues is derived; whether the Company's customers continue to utilize the Company's transaction processing and related services, as our customer agreements are generally cancelable by the customer on thirty to sixty days notice; whether the Company's customers continue to operate or commence operating ePorts received under the JumpStart program or otherwise at levels currently anticipated by the Company; the ability of the Company to compete with its competitors to obtain market share; the ability of the Company to obtain widespread commercial acceptance of it products; and whether the Company's existing or anticipated customers purchase ePort devices in the future at levels currently anticipated by the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release speaks only as of the date of this release. Unless required by law, the Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Gregory FCA
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Joe Hassett, 610-228-2110
Senior Vice President
joeh@gregcomm.com
or
Press:
Katie Nicolai, 610-228-2128
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katien@gregcomm.com

Source: USA Technologies, Inc.

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