The Hidden World of Vending Machine Payments | Pay It Forward with Selecta

Ever wondered how a vending machine processes your payment when you buy a pre-flight snack?

Our latest conversation might go some way to revealing the hidden world of vending machine payments.

In this episode of the Pay it Forward podcast with payabl. we spoke to Roland Ludwig, Group CTO at self-service retail giant Selecta, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes at their company.

Founded in Switzerland in 1957, the American owned company is best known for providing coffee and hot drink machines and vending machines to workplaces and public spaces around the world. Whether grabbing a packet of Maltesers before a train journey or a self-service coffee at a convenience store, there are many reasons you might interact with one of their machines in your daily life. They’ve seen profits rise recently and have even been dabbling in cryptocurrency payments, through an integration with Solana Pay, a topic we touch on in this conversation.

With changing customer demands around payments there’s a lot to consider but Ludwig explains their approach and the blockchain technology they’re looking to, to take them into the future.

Addressing customer payment trends

Before delving into the technical side of things, we wanted to know how Ludwig had arrived in this position. He describes his experience of holding multiple C-Suite roles at the company and how as CTO he is now focusing on digitalization and operational efficiency. Of particular note is ​​Selecta’s use of IoT devices to connect over 130,000 machines, improving operations and customer experience.

When discussing payment methods for vending machines and smart fridges, Ludwig emphasizes the importance of offering a variety of options tailored to each market’s preferences and demographics. As with all multinational companies they have to take this into account. Local industry segmentation and consumer behavior influence the choice of payment methods, whether there is a preference for cash, bank cards, mobile payments, and even cryptocurrency.

Ludwig also makes some predictions about what payment methods will become increasingly mainstream as businesses attempt to cater to younger generations. He believes that facial recognition on user devices may be more widely used, allowing them to choose their preferred method, but stresses the need to stay compliant with data privacy regulations while innovating.

As mentioned above, the conversation eventually turns to Selecta’s foray into blockchain and cryptocurrency payments. Ludwig describes a successful trial using the Solana blockchain at an event in Amsterdam, where nearly two-thirds of purchases were made using cryptocurrency. It’s an exciting development and shows off their impressive commitment to innovation. We’ll be interested to see where this goes.

Ludwig admits that the adoption of cryptocurrency payments in vending machines may not be widespread initially but could expand in locations with high international traffic. He emphasizes the importance of aligning innovation with customer demand and highlights the ongoing internal studies to explore further implementation of crypto payments.

It’s a really interesting conversation that unexpectedly reveals some exciting developments that consumers could see in the not too distant future.