USA Technologies Helps Jackson Brothers Of The South Go Cashless

USA Technologies, which provides technology to the self-service retail market, is enabling a Missouri-based food service provider to accept cashless payments on all of its vending machines.

With the upgrades, Jackson Brothers of the South reported in a press release, consumers will be able to use mobile wallet payments – such as Android Pay and Apple Pay – on all of the food service company’s 1,000 vending machines.

Jackson Brothers’ chief executive Darwin Bickford said the company, which already has a relationship with USA, has seen cashless use happening on 37 percent of its machines with the deployment of the technology.

“Today’s consumers are all about cashless and mobile payments, and fewer and fewer are actually carrying cash,” Bickford said in the release. “Upgrading our machines … enables us to streamline efficiencies, better engage with consumers, increase topline sales and capture more revenues.”

In September, USA partnered with another food service provider and Canteen franchise, Kansas-based Premier Food Service. USA upgraded Premier’s machines to its ePort Connect cashless payment system, enabling the tracking of acceptances of cash, credit/debit cards and contactless payments, such as Android Pay and Apple Pay.

Premier is also working with USA to connect more than 300 “vendors exchange” kiosks with a consumer engagement and loyalty program.

USA expanded its unattended retail footprint in November through the acquisition of Cantaloupe Systems, Inc. The company invested a total of $85 million into the deal with Cantaloupe: $65 million in cash and $20 million in stock, USA announced at the time.

Together, the companies are upping their value proposition to offer a turnkey, end-to-end enterprise platform for unattended retail. The companies expect to see decreased operational costs, increased sales and the ability for customers to run their businesses in a more efficient and competitive fashion.

Through Cantaloupe’s Seed Cloud offering, USA will be able to offer cloud and mobile solutions for dynamic route scheduling, automated pre-kitting, responsive merchandising, inventory management, warehouse and accounting management and, of course, cashless vending.