Coins have disappeared from most people’s pockets at work, but not from the vending machine. Anyone without the right change goes without, and someone has to collect the cash and refill the float. A cashless machine solves that. It changes nothing about what is in the machine.
A coin-operated machine takes work nobody sees: collecting the cash, counting it, refilling change and getting a stuck coin removed. For the user it is simpler: no coins, no food.
On top of that, cash in a machine is a reason to break into it, and the coin mechanism is the first thing to fail. Each of those problems is small; together they mean a machine ends up being used less than it could be.
A card reader removes all that. Anyone with a bank card or the app can pay, including the agency worker, the driver or the engineer who happens to be on site. Why that group often falls outside the arrangements is covered in food for agency staff.
| Coin-operated machine | Machine with card reader | Smart fridge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment | Coins | Card or app | Card, app or badge |
| Charging | Per slot, up front | Per slot, up front | After the door closes, per product |
| What it can hold | Dry snacks and drinks | Dry snacks and drinks | Fresh meals and salads too |
| Employer contribution | Difficult | Sometimes | A setting: per product, budget or free |
Anyone looking for a meal at night gets little from a spiral with a better payment module. That is the subject of 24/7 food at work.
In a fitness club with badge access, where reception is unstaffed in the evening, cashless payment makes sales possible during unstaffed hours. Whether there is anything nourishing to buy depends on the machine; how clubs handle that is covered in smart fridge for a gym.
If you as an employer want to contribute, give a budget or make products free, with a smart fridge that is a setting. How it works is in paying at a smart fridge. What such a fridge costs depends on your site; see the price factors.
On many classic machines it can, depending on the model and the supplier. That sorts out payment. What fits in the spirals stays the same.
They can pay with the app, or with their badge if you link access to it. Which combination excludes the fewest people at your site is decided at set-up.
How payments are processed and settled is set out in the proposal for your site. We do not quote a rate here, because it also depends on the route you choose.
Our smart fridges connect over mobile data and do not depend on your network. What happens in the event of a fault is agreed in advance at set-up.
No. There is no coin slot and no cash box. That is exactly the point: nobody has to collect cash, and nobody is stuck in front of a machine without change.
Eight short questions about your site. We tell you whether a card reader will do or whether a fridge with meals would serve you better.
Takes about 90 seconds · no obligation · no contact details until the last step