USA Technologies, Inc. and Setomatic Systems recently announced a new, mutually exclusive agreement that targets the move toward cashless payment adoption in the nearly $5 billion self-service laundry market. The agreement joins two leading solutions — Setomatic's SpyderWash® technology and USAT's comprehensive ePort Connect® service platform — to bring the best in cashless payment value to laundry operators as consumers increasingly opt to use their credit/debit card or mobile phone to pay for laundry services.
Under the terms of the three-year agreement, USAT, through its ePort Connect service, will act as the exclusive service provider for all credit/debit card processing for Setomatic's SpyderWash system. Conversely, USAT will market its ePort Connect service in the U.S. laundry market exclusively through Setomatic. In addition, over the next few weeks, the two companies will begin the transition of several thousand of Setomatic's existing cashless connections to USAT.
Beyond the initial transition of Setomatic's existing cashless connections, both companies will be joining forces to increase cashless payment adoption in the largely untapped coin-operated commercial laundry and multi-housing laundry markets. According to the Coin Laundry Association, the U.S. commercial laundry industry is comprised of 30,000-35,000 laundromats that Setomatic estimates translates to roughly 2.5 million commercial washers and dryers. Additionally, an industry participant indicates there are approximately 3.4 million machines in the multi-housing market. While no revenue figures are available for the multi-housing market, the Coin Laundry Association estimates gross revenue in the laundromat market at nearly $5 billion annually.
"We believe the laundry market is still at the early stages of credit/debit card adoption, so this is a great time to join forces with USAT in order to bring SpyderWash customers the most value as they transition their machines to cashless payment," said Setomatic's President, Michael Schantz, in a prepared statement. "Our historical information already shows us that cashless helps build incremental revenue for laundry operators. By aligning with USAT, we are taking this even further.
Schantz continued, "USAT has done a great job of making it easy for our customers to accept credit/debit cards and their streamlined and improved rate structure was extremely important to us. In addition, we were attracted to the scalability of the ePort Connect platform and USAT's commitment to new services such as loyalty programs. We want to be able to pass on the benefits of those programs to our customers. We are looking forward to getting started on the initial transition and to working with USAT in the years ahead to transition the laundry market to credit/debit and mobile payments."
Setomatic's SpyderWash System is an advanced, wireless payment system that accommodates credit, debit, loyalty cards and NFC enabled mobile payment, as well as coin. The Coin Laundry Association's magazine, Planet Laundry, selected Setomatic as their Industry Leader in the August 2012 issue stating that Setomatic's SpyderWash system has changed the face of the self-serve laundry industry.
USAT's ePort Connect service is a comprehensive suite of payment services specifically tailored for the needs of the unattended, small-ticket market. Designed to meet the unique needs of customers in the unattended, small-ticket market, ePort Connect provides cashless and contactless payment acceptance and processing via a simple and competitive blended transaction rate, 24-hour customer service, web-based reporting, and new consumer engagement services such as loyalty programs.
"We are looking forward to welcoming Setomatic's existing cashless customers and working with Setomatic to target substantially more cashless connections over the three year agreement period," said USAT's Chief Executive Officer, Stephen P. Herbert. "This new relationship is one example of the work we have had underway to leverage our leadership in vending to expand and diversify our ePort Connect service base. The SpyderWash platform aligns extremely well with our service, and by joining forces, we believe we can increase cashless payment adoption in the laundry market with greater speed and efficiency."
