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Payments in Vending

The payments landscape in vending has rapidly evolved from traditional coins and notes to a wide ecosystem of digital and contactless solutions. Modern vending operators increasingly rely on flexible, secure, and fast payment technologies to improve customer convenience, increase sales, and streamline operations.

Traditional vending machines use a common protocol called MDB, which stands for Multi-Drop-Bus. It was created by the National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) to ensure that different vending components can communicate between themselves regardless of manufacturer.

Benefits

  • Retrofit capable

    Adding cashless payment solutions to existing machines is simple

  • Meet consumer expectations

    Consumers now expect fast, frictionless, tap‑and‑go experiences

  • Increase sales

    Customers not restricted to the amount of coins on hand

  • Reduce cash handling

    Fewer cash collections and reduced counting/processing time

  • Remote monitoring

    Real time transaction reporting and telemetry services

  • Higher security

    Less cash stored in machines reduces risk of theft

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Common FAQs

Talk to our team
  • Can I retrofit a card reader to my vending machine?

    Yes, the card reader uses the same 6-pin Molex as all common vending machine payment components (coin changer, bank note validator…) and can be connected to the machine controller directly or by daisy chaining to an existing MDB cable.

  • Do vending machines need an internet connection for cashless payments?

    Yes, our cashless solutions all perform online authorisation therefore an internet connection is required. Typically, the card reader will use an onboard 4G modem with SIM card or a wired ethernet connection. Some newer generation card readers also support WiFi.

  • Why do I sometimes see a £1.00 (or small) pending transaction?

    Some payment terminals perform a small pre authorisation to verify your card before allowing selection, once the selection has been made the transaction is finalised.

  • Are there telemetry solutions if the card reader doesn’t support it?

    Yes, there are many options for adding telemetry services to your vending machine. This is typically in the form a physical telemetry board being plugged in between your card reader and machine host.