MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:USAT), a leader of wireless, cashless payment and M2M/IoT solutions for small-ticket, self-serve retailing industries, today announced an expanded agreement with Southern Refreshment Services. According to Southern Refreshment Services, it has experienced positive consumer response to USAT's cashless payment options, and is increasing its services with USAT. This includes 1,000 additional vending locations, an upgrade of 500 ePort® EDGE devices to ePort G9s that are NFC-capable, as well as an additional 100+ micro-markets, cafeterias, Office Coffee Service (OCS) and back office billing for catering, bulk orders, and delivery services.
Southern Refreshment Services, has among the largest installed base of micro-markets, vending and office coffee services in the state of Georgia, serving almost half a million people every day. The latest agreement builds on an already successful, 10-year relationship between the two companies. In addition, Southern Refreshment will implement USAT's unique MORE.™ customer engagement and loyalty program in its micro-markets, which are designed to incentivize, reward and retain consumers through pro-active marketing and awareness campaigns.
"We required a proven end-to-end cashless payment solution that would incorporate hardware, software, wireless transaction technology, and carrier services, along with reporting and back-office functionalities," said Jeff Parks, President of Southern Refreshment Services and Vend Food Services of Southern Refreshment Services. "USA Technologies delivers a comprehensive package that is well-suited to our needs, and in turn brings better value to our customers, and increases engagement with our brand."
The marketplace for a traditional vending operator has become more complex. The strategic deployment of USA Technologies' MORE. integrated payment and loyalty platform maximizes the benefits of cashless payments and telemetry, delivering streamlined service, unprecedented reliability and a high level of security for Southern Refreshment. Through MORE. and USAT's one-stop ePort Connect service for self-service, unattended retail, Southern Refreshment is able to achieve stronger efficiencies, reduce cost and heighten consumer experience through an integrated loyalty program.
"Selecting USA Technologies underscores Southern's commitment to providing the best consumer experience possible," said Maeve McKenna Duska, senior vice president of marketing, USA Technologies. "We expect that our cashless vending technology will help improve Southern's ROI by offering solutions that are based on reliability, security and value. By incorporating our technology across their cashless payment stations, we believe Southern will bring more value to their customer base, increase efficiencies and drive additional sales and participation across the board."
Southern's integrated service solution will include traditional vending, using USAT's turnkey ePort® and ePort Connect cashless payment and telemetry products and services to enable acceptance of credit, debit and mobile payments such as Apple Pay, as well as its 365 Retail Micro-Markets and point-of-sale kiosks. In addition, for its office coffee services and direct store deliveries, Southern will use USAT's ePort Mobile™ and ePort Online solutions to integrate payments across business segments.
About USA Technologies:
USA Technologies is a leader of wireless, cashless payment and M2M/IoT telemetry solutions for small-ticket, self-serve retailing industries. ePort Connect® is the company's flagship service platform, a PCI-compliant, end-to-end suite of cashless payment and telemetry services specially tailored to fit the needs of small ticket, self-service retailing industries. USA Technologies also provides a broad line of cashless acceptance technologies including its NFC-ready ePort® G-series, ePort Mobile™ for customers on the go, and QuickConnect, an API Web service for developers. USA Technologies has been granted 87 patents; and has agreements with Verizon, Visa, MasterCard, and customers such as Compass, Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc., and others. Visit the website at www.usatech.com.
About Southern Refreshment Services:
Award-winning Southern Refreshment Services, headquartered in Tucker, Georgia, is the leading provider of self-serve, micro-market, kiosk, vending and office coffee services in the Atlanta market, serving nearly a half million people every day. Southern Refreshment's team of food service experts operates everywhere from offices and convention centers to universities and hospitals. Southern Refreshment Services simply offers the highest quality in service and products. Visit the website at: www.refreshthesouth.com.