Campus ID News
Card, mobile credential, payment and security
FEATURED
PARTNERS
slider ParlevelReader 1

Cashless key to boosting vending spend

Survey indicates rise in net sales, average spend with addition of cashless systems

Andrew Hudson   ||   Jan 27, 2017  ||   

Vending is a core component of virtually every campus card program and for all the talk of how student IDs have evolved over time, vending has come a long way, too.

The shift to cashless vending in particular has brought a new wave of convenience and utility to users, and removing the need for cash or coin has been a boon to the industry. As reported by the Vending Times, a new survey conducted by Texas-based Parlevel Systems reveals that some 51% of American adults under the age of 30 prefer non-cash means of payment so much that 51% use credit or debit cards for purchases even for transactions under $5 -- the prime vending price range.

Parlevel conducted the survey based on its vending operator customers who now use the company's namesake pay system. Along with the results from the survey, the company pooled existing data from the Web to create an infographic detailing the advantages of cashless readers.

"We know that accepting cashless payments is a must to appeal to younger Americans, but what are the tangible benefits of installing a vending card reader?" said Christopher Blomquist, Parlevel's marketing content manager said in an interview with Vending Times.

Part of the increase in spending with cashless could be the result of patrons not feeling the same "pain" when using a card as parting with cash tender.

In a study of machines equipped with Parlevel Pay cashless readers in San Antonio, average machine sales per service cycle increased 42% when a vending card reader was installed, Blomquist explains. Of that, cashless payments accounted for 32%, while 10% of the increase was attributed to higher cash sales.

Average transaction value was also found to have increased with the addition of cashless capabilities. The average cashless vending sale was $1.60, compared to $1.21 average for cash transactions.

The survey also indicated that net sales increase with the addition of cashless with an average machine collection of $128 per month, an increase of nearly $40 over cash-only machines.

Understandably, younger user bases are the more likely to leverage cashless options at the vending machine. "It's important to prioritize which machines would benefit from cashless the most, in order to speed up return on investment," Blomquist said. "Locations that are frequented by younger consumers and transient areas are the best bets for rapid cashless success."

As mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Android Pay grow in popularity, Blomquist also stresses the importance for cashless readers to expand cashless capabilities further still by accepting more than just credit and debit cards.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

RECENT ARTICLES

Amy Surprenant, HID Global
Jun 26, 25 / ,

Effective project management key to GWU mobile credential launch

In a recent interview, HID Global’s Amy Surprenant discusses the project management component of the mobile credential launch at George Washington University (GWU). With 26,000 faculty, staff, and students, the project marked a significant milestone for the institution and its partners, including HID, CBORD, and various on-campus departments and vendors. The deployment of HID Mobile […]
replace allegion reader module
Jun 26, 25 / ,

FIT and Denison both go mobile, but with very different starting points

Denison University and Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) rolled out mobile credentials to students and staff across their campuses. The projects were very different, however, because of the existing reader infrastructure on the two campuses. Each partnered with Allegion and Transact + CBORD to deliver the new digital IDs – stored in Apple Wallet or […]
Jessica Bender, Palm Beach State College
Jun 19, 25 / , ,

Palm Beach State decides mobile credentials are not right for their campus

Palm Beach State College’s campus card office has opted to forego mobile credentials and stick with their longtime magstripe cards. While the decision may seem unusual to some, Jessica Bender, the college’s auxiliary services manager, explains to CampusIDNews the rationale and the research that went into it. With a student population of 40,000, the college […]
CIDN logo reversed
The only publication dedicated to the use of campus cards, mobile credentials, identity and security technology in the education market. CampusIDNews – formerly CR80News – has served more than 6,500 subscribers for more than two decades.
Twitter

Attn: friends in the biometrics space. Nominations close Friday for the annual Women in Biometrics Awards. Take five minutes to recognize a colleague or even yourself. http://WomenInBiometrics.com

Feb. 1 webinar explores how mobile ordering enhanced campus life, increased sales at UVA and Central Washington @Grubhub @CBORD

Load More...
Contact
CampusIDNews is published by AVISIAN Publishing
315 E. Georgia St.
Tallahassee, FL 32301
www.AVISIAN.com[email protected]
Use our contact form to submit tips, corrections, or questions to our team.
©2025 CampusIDNews. All rights reserved.