Credit cards accepted in vending machines
Some vending machines now accept plastic, but for the companies there’s a major profit issue to be resolved. And for the consumer, there’s a warning.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Just off the ice at the StarCenter, Jenafir Chant held a credit card against a vending machine. A second later, a bottle of Diet Dr Pepper tumbled into view.
The machine takes plastic.
“We were all excited when these went in last week,” said Chant, who leads a team of young women who resurface the ice between periods at Dallas Stars hockey games. “I was scrounging around for $2…. Now I don’t have to scrounge.”
The machine at the arena is one of 750 that Cadbury Schweppes and MasterCard Inc. are testing in the Dallas area, New York and Chicago to answer a key question: Will people spend more at vending machines if they can use plastic?
The early answer is, yes.
Some of the machines were installed in January and have seen sales increases of 5% to 35% without any change in prices, said Mark Jackson, a vice president with Cadbury’s U.S. beverages subsidiary, which markets Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7UP and other drinks.
Cadbury’s experience fits with sales increases that other companies have reported when they shift from cash to plastic.
Possible explanations vary from people not wanting to carry change, to ATMs that dispense only $20 bills, which can’t be used in most vending machines.
Cadbury is retrofitting machines in Dallas, New York and Chicago to take all major credit cards and debit cards. They still accept cash, too.
[...]Credit card vending machines are also [used to] sell DVDs, and Sony has a few that dispense digital cameras and other gadgets. But inexpensive items present a special challenge because transaction costs of even a few cents can wipe out profit on a soda that sells for $1.25.
[...]
- Source: Credit cards find $46-billion-a-year world to conquer, AP, via the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 26, 2007
Easier to Get Nickled-and-Dimed
The report says that some machines have seen sales increases of 5% to 35% without any change in prices. Part of that increase may be due to the fact that it is easier to spend money if you feel you’ve got enough.
It is one thing to buy a coke with small change you carried in your pocket or found in your car. Use a credit card and you may subconsciously feel you’ve got more than enough to buy something extra.
While that may indeed be true, keep in mind that small change does tend to add up.
Try this for a week: keep a running tab of everything you spend your small change (or other ‘funny money’) on.
If you don’t want to keep track of what you spent your small change on, try this alternative approach: at the end of the day deposit your change and other funny money in a box or jar.
At the end of the week, more likely than not you’ll be amazed at the amount of money you spent — or saved.
If you have a tendency to spent more when you buy on credit than you would if you had to pay cash, don’t swipe your plastic in lieu of small change.
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