PayRange, the world’s simplest payment solution for vending, announced that it has signed a strategic distribution agreement with Vistar. As part of the agreement, Vistar’s nationwide staff will focus on the representation and sales of the PayRange technology. “We see this as an incredible partnership,” Paresh Patel, CEO and Founder of PayRange, told VendingMarketWatch. “Vistar has a vested interest in the vending industry, as nearly all operators buy from the company, and now Vistar can help operators increase their sales by accepting mobile payment on the machines.”
PayRange developed a small Bluetooth dongle that plugs into existing machines in seconds and a mobile app to send payment. PayRange’s technology re-imagines machine payments in the mobile age transforming it into a super convenient experience when paying parking meters, luggage carts, transit ticketing, laundromats, amusement games, kiosks, and more.
Vending operators will have the opportunity to work with Vistar sales representatives to include PayRange technology in their weekly or monthly orders. There will be no additional shipping cost for operators adding the PayRange technology to their Vistar orders and prices will remain at $49 each.
“This will allow operators the opportunity to install technology easily without making huge commitments up front and deploy at a pace that makes sense for their business,” said Patel. “We truly believe it is the best thing for the industry.”
Operators will still have the opportunity to order PayRange devices through the PayRange Website; however, Vistar staff will additionally be trained to support operators.
The PayRange system, which was tested by 200 operators in 20 states, will begin its national roll-out, initially distributing its device to vending machine operators with other vertical industries to follow.
Top Investor Backing
PayRange also revealed today funding and distribution news that could modernize machine payments. Following on the heels of a $2.75M funding round, PayRange disclosed a list of notable investors: Nyca Partners (which includes Osama Bedier, former head of Google Payments; Hans Morris, former president of Visa; and Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal); Anil Aggarwal and Jonathan Weiner, founders of Money 20/20 conference; Barbara Corcoran; Google Ventures; Jared Leto; and Phil Nadel.
Investors are attracted to PayRange’s vision for a remarkably simple solution for the trillion dollar, mostly-cash, automated retailing industry.
Over a hundred million people pay a machine every day in the United States alone. “There is a huge market for mobile payments on machines,” noted Osama Bedier, who joined the PayRange Board on behalf of Nyca. “This space is still 95 percent cash-based and has yet to be solved in an elegant way. I am a huge supporter of big ideas applied to hard problems, and PayRange has the most impressive solution I’ve seen to address it so far.”
PayRange has ten patents pending covering a range of technologies that reflect its advances in this space including a hands-free approach to machine payments. Patel said, “While mobile payments is an incredibly hot field, mobile payments on machines have yet to be tackled, and we see this as the last frontier. We are providing people with an intuitive way to use any self-service machine without first having to worry about how to make payment.”
“There are currently thirty-eight million merchants that already accept credit card payments,” said Hans Morris. “One of the best strategies in payments is to compete with cash. Because of the game-changing technology that Paresh has developed, there are another ten million machines that can come online over the next few years significantly increasing the number of merchant locations. PayRange is, without a doubt, on the verge of transforming the way machines accept payment.”
For more information, please visit: http://payrange.com.
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About PayRange:
PayRange was founded in 2013 by Paresh Patel to provide operators and consumers with the simplest, most accessible mobile payment solution possible. The company is distributing its product to operators nationwide via a mobile app for iPhone and Android users. The PayRange app enables consumers to make their transactions at unattended points of sale—vending machines, parking meters, transit-ticket kiosks and more—quicker and easier. Find out more at www.payrange.com.
