USA Technologies, Inc. is demonstrate an expanded ePort Connect® suite of services that would build on its market-leading cashless solutions and the latest trends in mobile, digital media and prepaid and loyalty programs at the 2012 NAMA OneShow in Las Vegas on April 25-27, 2012.
USA Technologies, known for providing turn-key cashless and contactless payment and telemetry services to the small-ticket, self service retail industries through its ePort Connect service, demonstrated to customers the ability to offer and manage a Prepaid and Loyalty Program and add interactive media services to their vending machines, kiosks and other unattended terminals.
The prepaid and loyalty program from USA Technologies is designed to encourage return consumers and increased participation at the associated locations. Under the prepaid and loyalty program, USA Technologies’ customers will be able to offer consumers a reloadable prepaid card and loyalty account that could be used to offer incentives for additional purchases and cash-back bonuses for loyal patrons. Consumers could manage their rewards and add funds to their account online or via a mobile application, as well as receive alerts about special promotions via email or their Facebook account.
USA Technologies new Interactive Media Service would enable customers to equip their self-service terminals with wireless, networked digital signage that would provide streaming dynamic content that could include nutritional information, advertisements, videos and more out to consumers at the point of sale. USAT believes that the Interactive Media Service would enable operators to offer the same consumer engagement experience seen on many of the more expensive, interactive vending machines,
but as a retrofit that could easily be mounted onto the machine, or near the machine and managed and updated remotely.
“USA Technologies ePort Connect solution was built on the premise of a flexible, one-stop shop,” said Maeve Duska, vice oresident of marketing for USA Technologies in a prepared statement. “We want customers to be able to select the hardware and services that best suit their business needs, and to offer and support those services. Whether they require cashless payments, telemetry, or prepaid and loyalty and interactive media, our customers could add on to their existing service plan as their business objectives change and not be concerned with managing several different service providers. It’s central to our one-stop philosophy that we continue to enhance the value of a USA Technologies connection and keep customers on the leading edge of new technology opportunities.”
USA Technologies recently announced an upgrade of its ePort Connect service technology platform designed, in part, to make it possible to handle the increased data flow and scalability required to support a prepaid and loyalty program and interactive media. The upgrade also improved the system’s interoperability with third-party devices, improved the consumer experience through faster authentication times, and enhanced USA Technologies’ customer reporting system, USALive®.
Over the coming weeks USA Technologies will solicit feedback from customer test groups regarding the prepaid and loyalty program and interactive media services in order to finalize features, pricing and availability. These new services would be separately priced, add-on modules to USAT’s core ePort Connect cashless and contactless payments and telemetry service modules that currently includes cashless and contactless payment processing services (including wireless connectivity, online sales reporting through USALive, settlement, over-the-air updates), remote DEX data management, machine
health alerts and two-tier pricing.
