THE FUTURE OF CASHLESS PAYMENTS
The future is here – many sci-fi films assume this as a premise for a fantastic futuristic adventure. For UKVending the future is cashless payments and there are some amazing technological advancements that are just around the corner and not hidden in some galaxy far, far away.
Now vending machines have been with us, in one form or another, for in excess of one hundred years. The basic concept hasn’t changed much either. You put your money in the slot; you make your selection, your item is then dispensed in the collection tray closely followed by any change. All very simple, all very satisfactory! It’s a design that has worked, and continues to work – but everything, even those pieces of technology that work flawlessly, sometimes need a makeover or even allowed to evolve.
In the seventeenth year of the 21st Century paper and metal money is on its way out replaced by cards and other forms of cashless payments. One of the best places to see how this is starting to transform our lives is with vending machines. They are ideally suited to do away with the need for bulky, cumbersome cash drawers that also pose a security risk from would be thieves wanting to break into the machine.
So with the future almost upon us, let’s take out the UKVending crystal ball and try and imagine the kind of innovations that will soon be making their mark in the vending machine industry. Cashless payments from cards is already here, but taking this technology one step further many futurologists (and yes that is a proper career for someone) have been imagining humans having payment devices implanted under the skin, similar to how we currently microchip our cats and dogs. In the future we might just walk up to the vending machine; it will read our chips and allow us to make a purchase.
In the nearer future biometrics are coming on line. One American company called American Green Machine has a TV screen built into their vending machines as well as biometric reader which scans a customer fingers and registers the pattern of the veins against a list of approved customers. This manufacturers claim that they have used the highest possible security measures in their machine after discussions with the US Military. This is reassuring as American Green Machine will be selling alcohol and guns from their machines!