Verizon Wireless and USA Technologies (NASDAQ: USAT) today announced a collaboration that the companies believe will accelerate the adoption of small-ticket, wireless, cashless payment services and machine-to-machine applications via USA Technologies' ePort Connect Service.
The USA Technologies solution will now include the Verizon Wireless network for connectivity that enables wireless point-of-sale payments at vending machines via credit and debit cards.
With more than 100,000 M2M (machine-to-machine) connections to their ePort Connect service, USA Technologies is a leading provider of small-ticket, wireless, non-cash transaction services to businesses and industries including kiosks, hospitality, digital imaging and the $43 billion vending machine industry.
Additionally, USA Technologies expects to benefit from Verizon Wireless' Machine to Machine Management Center portal managed through nPhase, a Verizon Wireless - Qualcomm joint venture and pioneer in helping businesses ease deployment and management of M2M applications.
"Our association with Verizon Wireless aligns us with a powerful leading global brand in the wireless communications industry," Stephen P. Herbert, President and COO, USA Technologies said. "In addition to providing our customers with the reputable service that Verizon has built its brand on, we believe that the sales agreement will enable us to increase our sales reach by having our ePort Connect cashless payments service now included in the Verizon sales toolkit. This represents an important milestone for USA Technologies as consumers continue to adapt to using credit or debit cards for small-ticket, wireless point-of-sale transactions."
According to an industry census published by Vending Times, a trade publication that follows the vending industry, vending machines in the U.S. generated almost $43 billion in revenue in 2009.
"USA Technologies is a proven leader in the cashless payment technology space so it made perfect sense that they align themselves with a wireless service provider with unmatched reliability to help power that technology," said Mario Turco, Regional President for Verizon Wireless in Philadelphia. "We look forward to working with them to offer a cost-effective, turnkey solution to B2B customers looking to improve efficiencies and grow sales by leveraging M2M applications that capitalize on the rapidly expanding market for non-cash payment services."