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Go Vending are a vending machine supplier for the drinks and snacks sector based in Scotland.
(Go Vending’s vending machines in-situ with Vianet’s SmartContact installed)
Vianet’s contactless payment, telemetry, and data insight solution has driven both an increase in sales and a measurable reduction in cost for Go Vending. They continue to receive a positive experience and invaluable service as a Vianet customer.
Find out more by clicking the image below to read our strategic partnership with Go Vending in further detail.
If you’d like to find out more about how our products and services can transform your vending business performance, please check out our Vending Solutions.
Friday 15th October 2021 onwards marked the UK’s limit on a single contactless card transaction to increase from £45 to more than double at £100. As this threshold gradually gets implemented across the country, consumers can expect to enjoy more flexibility with contactless payments.
Announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HM Treasury, convenience was the primary aim. The increased payment limit was brought for the fifth time to date in response to the continued growth in card transaction usages over the years. A study found that 54% of consumers have been using contactless payment much more frequently in comparison to last year according to Mastercard (2021).
The Shift in Consumer Behaviour and Growth of Contactless
First introduced in 2007 as an alternative payment solution, the spending limit without requiring consumers to enter a pin was at £10 (BBC News, 2021). This alternative to carrying small cash was proven to be popular as the contactless limit was consequently raised to £15, £20, £30, and £45 respectively.
The Covid-19 pandemic only accelerated the shift away from cash to help tackle the spread of coronavirus.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, briefed that this latest move would “make it easier than ever to pay safely and securely”.
Where the New Payment Limit will Benefit the Unattended Market
The ability to pay for higher value transactions is important for both consumers and merchants across unattended retail and the self-service sectors. Paying for the weekly grocery shopping or self-service kiosk services such as ticketing, or fuel payments will be quicker and have shorter queuing times due to the ease of use.
Furthermore, from the businesses’ perspective, you can benefit from better operational efficiencies. A convenient payment solution allows for better route planning and time management as merchants don’t need to go and operate the card machines or handle cash as frequently.
End-to-End Contactless Payment and Data Insight Solutions
Contactless payment has become essential as attitudes towards cash change. With our low transaction fees averaging 1.4%, and cash in the bank from 24 hours, this solution is invaluable to businesses looking to improve efficiencies and cashflow.
With Vianet’s end-to-end contactless payment and data insight solution, you can revolutionise your business estate to gather greater transparency of your business as well as combining contactless payment to create convenience and increase sales. Offering our streamlined payment technology together with our telemetry solutions, businesses are able to gather and generate “real-time” insight of their performance in our SmartVend portal.
Vianet’s contactless payment solutions are PCI Level 1 Compliant meaning they are secure payment devices, offering businesses and customers a peace of mind.
The gradual transition from traditional cash payment combined with the demand for contactless and the rise in the payment limit indicates businesses, particularly in the self-service sectors, need to adopt contactless payment to futureproof their estates.
Vianet provides the ultimate solution to drive efficiency, improve cashflow and profits, and give you greater transparency of your business. To find out more about our contactless payment solutions, get in touch with a member of the Vianet team at info@vianetplc.com or visit www.vianetplc.com.
As we navigate our way through the remaining restrictions on hospitality and beyond, our Vianet team attended and exhibited at our first physical event in over 18 months. We are pleased to have caught up with Operators and Supply Members across Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th July 2021. The NIVO’s Business Expo and Networking Golf Event was an important opportunity for us to discuss our products and services prepared this past year.
Established over 30 years ago, NIVO represents National Independent Vending Operators with over 250 operator members and over 90 supply members (NIVO Group, 2021). They provide support and networking opportunities in the vending industries, and acts as the organisers of these events held annually.
VIANET PREPARES FOR EXCITING PRODUCTS RELEASING OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS
During the first day’s expo and seminar, we had the opportunity to showcase our products on the stand with live demo devices and talk to both vending operators and clients. Recently, we revealed our SmartVend roadmap as the functionality expands into new Stock Management Module and SmartVend mobile app in the very near future. Alongside the display of SmartMetrics and our current contactless payment solution SmartContact, we have given a preview of the SmartContact Pro which is coming soon. The brand-new contactless payment reader will offer vending operators both style and functionality suitable for their business needs.
Cole Little, Business Development Manager pictured at Day 1 of NIVO’s Seminar Event.
Further details of our product roadmap were also covered in a 5-minute talk at the ‘Five Minutes of Fame’ seminar event. In addition to our own talks, there were plenty of other presentations and talks held by different businesses within the vending industry including the AVA, Coca Cola and Red Bull.
Our Marketing Manager, Rachel Little had this to say: “This is the first physical event we’ve been able to attend and my first expo with Vianet. It’s been fantastic to be out and finally getting to meet and socialise with some of our clients and contacts in the industry. It’s also been great being able to showcase some of the exciting things Vianet have been working hard on over the last 2 years.”
(RIGHT) James Dickson, Chairman and Mark Parry, Commercial Director pictured at Day 2 of NIVO’s Networking Golf Event.
In the Vianet stand, we also offered customers goodie bags featuring our product leaflets, new brochure and some golf balls for the event the following day.
(LEFT IMAGE) James Dickson, Cole Little, and Mark Parry by our Vianet stand.
In day 2, our Chairman James Dickson, alongside the Vianet team Mark Parry, Paul Land, Paul Sansome and Cole Little had taken some of our clients from the Wilkes Group and Simon Wilkes out on their 4-ball teams. There was perfect weather and opportunities to network with our Vianet team and some great people in the industry throughout the day.
Paul Sansome, Vianet’s Business Development Manager did their team proud by taking home prize for the longest drive at the golf event, hitting a 370 yard monster, landing on the green.
(RIGHT) Paul Sansome with Graham Kingaby – Managing Director at NIVO Group – collecting his prize for the longest drive.
If you’d like to find out more about how our products and services can transform your vending business performance, please contact Vianet through our enquiry form.
With the global pandemic still affecting our society, Autograph decided to partner with Vianet for our truly end-to-end contactless payment solution, after been introduced to us by their coffee and vending machine provider, Liquidline, in order to fulfil their clients’ need for a safe and hygienic payment method.
Data gathered from active vending machines already utilising Vianet’s end to end solution has shown an up to 18% increase in contactless payment since the pandemic began, showing consumers change in buying behaviour regarding payment methods.
With the number of new COVID-19 cases rising, United Kingdom being at the top of the European rankings in terms of infection rate, people are increasingly concerned for their safety, and aware of the necessity to protect themselves from contracting the virus as much as possible.
For those working in public sectors, especially in hospitals and government sites where the risk of virus spread is higher, contactless payment has become an essential way to avoid contact with potentially infected surfaces.
Liquidline and Autograph were aware of the strong need to act quickly and efficiently on a solution and worked with Vianet to install contactless payment devices on their vending machines.
Autograph is a large facility management and catering organisation, with employees worldwide. Autograph’s SmartContact device distributor and installer is Liquidline, a leading supplier of Commercial Coffee, Juice and Water Machines, plus snack & food vending machines.
Liquidline machine with Vianet’s contactless payment device in an Autograph managed healthcare site.
Vianet were pleased to be introduced to the Category Lead from Autograph, Helen Forsythe, by Liquidline’s National Accounts Director, Paul Latimer, to initiate a strong three-way partnership in order to deliver on Autograph’s vending needs and provide them with an efficient and clean payment method.
This is what Helen had to say about the relationship:
“The development of a strong partnership with Liquidline – a forward thinking customer focused business, has been key to the growing success of the vending services supply chain across the organisation.
With this 3-way relationship with Vianet, using their Master MID and with hardware supply from Liquidline, our coffee and vending governance efficiencies have gone to the next level; complementing the latest touchless selection technologies on the vending equipment. During COVID-19 this has been imperative.”
Amongst the main reasons why Autograph chose SmartContact as a payment solution are the low transaction fees (average of 1.4%), the PCI Accreditation. Moreover, by using Vianet’s Master MID/Reconciliation services, the pressure is taken off their Accounts Receivables team. The process goes as following:
All contactless card funds transfer to Vianet and are remitted weekly to the legal entity bank account associated with the installed device (nett of account charges). Site Banking Accounts Receivables then allocate each weekly payment out to each site client contract based on the reconciliation report produced by Vianet.
Additionally, with SmartContact, it takes only 48 hours for money to reach the relevant bank account, with just three secure steps from vending machines to the Visit Sheet.
Vianet’s Customer Service & Experience Team is there to offer clients all the support they need. With a dedicated support team, no issues are left unresolved and all clients have 24/7 access to installation and troubleshooting guides and tutorials through their helpdesk website.
For more information on SmartContact, you can contact as via email at info@vianetplc.com or via phone at +44 (0) 1642 358 800
At Vianet, we are proud to announce the launch of our very first webinar:
Power Through The Pandemic: The Value of Data Insight in a Global Pandemic
In this event, Vianet and their guest speakers will discuss how data insight is key for businesses to plan and navigate their way through this challenging climate.
The future is more uncertain than ever, and businesses need to be tactical in utilising resources and data insight to power through the on-going global pandemic.
Data is vital to identifying trends, requirements and adapting to change, giving you insight on your business that can make all the difference to running efficiently during unpredictable times. Data Insight gives operators the opportunity to look back at their performance and sales in key periods and see what can be adjusted to maximise profit and minimise loss.
Vianet and special guests look at how Data Insight is the key ingredient in ensuring stability and efficiency in your business moving forward as we navigate this ongoing pandemic for the longer term.
One of this event’s host speakers will be our Managing Director, Rob Little. Our guest speakers from globally recognised brands will be announced shortly, as well.
We would love for you to join us on Tuesday, 8th December for this informative session on data insight in the current times.
To sign up for our webinar, please access the event below:
https://vianet_power_through_the_pandemic.eventbrite.co.uk/
The future is more uncertain than ever, and businesses need to be tactical in utilising resources and data insight to power through the on-going global pandemic.
Vianet have seen the impact the this has had on vending and unattended businesses in various industries, and with the second wave of COVID-19 affecting the UK and Europe, humanity has a long way to go before being able to completely overcome this obstacle. Companies now have no option but adapt with long-term solutions to combat the obstacles raised by the pandemic on both an operational and commercial level.
Vianet have been able to identify key trends from their data insight throughout the pandemic that really highlight the change in payment behaviour in the vending sector. The use of contactless over cash has skyrocketed, and this is likely due to both hygiene and convenience.
In Vianet’s estate, January 2020 saw on average 50% of vending machine transactions were contactless, with up to 30% uplift in overall sales since these operators installed contactless readers on their vending machines.
In 9 months, through to October, these figures continued to rise on vending machines that were still actively being used throughout the pandemic, showing a sharp rise in June with up to 68% of vending transactions coming from contactless payment devices and this continued to stay in the high 60’s right through to October. This accelerated increase of up to 18% since the start of the pandemic really does illustrate the continuous shift in consumer behaviour.
Caffia Coffee Group recently collaborated with Vianet looking for a solution for their customers to assist them in providing a safe and hygienic payment method for their coffee machines, minimising machine contact as much as possible to prevent the spread of the virus.
They were keen to partner with a supplier who could offer them an all-in-one solution, so Vianet were the perfect match offering a dedicated support team, and giving insight into their machine performance with telemetry, as well as a more sustainable contactless payment method.
Data is vital to identifying trends, requirements and adapting to change, giving you insight on your business that can make all the difference to running efficiently during unpredictable times. Data Insight gives operators the opportunity to look back at their performance and sales in key periods and see what can be adjusted to maximise profit and minimise loss.
Tchibo have recently partnered with Vianet to do just this.
“Vianet’s telemetry services allow us to monitor our machine performance to improve our business efficiencies. With the addition of contactless payment providing a fast, hygienic payment option for our customers, these services have been invaluable, especially in the current climate.” David Mackie, Coffee Systems Development Manager at Tchibo & Matthew Algie.
J&K Ross, health and safety clothing specialists, have also been working with Vianet with an interesting approach to vending during the pandemic to control and aid in reducing wastage of PPE distribution for businesses.
“The Vianet telemetry
on our PPE vending machines works for our clients for many reasons. Primarily though, they like that there is control of the PPE being used on site and this can be refined to job specific roles. There is also the benefit of record keeping, and workers have access to PPE 24/7.” Jason Robinson, Key Account Manager, J&K Ross.
In November, Vianet launched their new Data Insight Portal, SmartVend, to existing VendExpert customers, with an enhanced insight platform, giving greater transparency of their business and data.
Vianet host their very own FREE webinar ‘Power Through the Pandemic: The Value of Data Insight in a Global Pandemic’, on Tuesday 8th December at 12pm GMT.
With special guest speakers from the industry, the webinar will cover how Data Insight can help you to operate your unattended business as efficiently as possible. Please check Vianet’s social channels to register and find out more.
The impact the global pandemic had on our lives is one of the reasons why cash is in decline while contactless payment has a continuous growth in popularity. A survey done by VISA Consulting Analytics in partnership with The Strawhecker Group shows that 26% of their respondents expect a decrease in the use of cash post-pandemic. Our own data shows that since the beginning of the year, contactless payment has seen an up to 18% increase in comparison to cash sales on active machines.
But even before the events from 2020, specialists were anticipating that card and contactless payment will take over cash in the future. People’s needs change, their lifestyles change, and society must adapt to that. Nowadays nine out of the top ten card issuers offer contactless cards, and during this year’s first half VISA added 80 million contactless cards.
Contactless payment has several benefits, both for consumers and businesses, that made it become not just a commodity, but an integral part of our lives. It presents certain advantages both for businesses and consumers. Thus, we put together a list including the most relevant benefits to show you why it became essential in our current society:
For Vending operators and businesses:
1. No more cash handling losses.
For every transaction, the money goes straight to your bank account through a secure system which will eliminate the risk of miscalculation, cash loss or stealing. Because it uses encrypted data, contactless payment is considered to be the safest way to pay, highly minimising the risk of frauds.
2. Saving extra costs and labour time.
Without having cash to count, your business avoids extra expenses and your employees don’t have to do the manual work of reconciling cash amounts. This saves your company money and your employees valuable time.
3. Competitive differentiation.
Card transactions and contactless transactions increased in popularity considerably in the last years, and after the recent events, contactless cards became even more frequently used. A researched done by MasterCard showed that 74% of participants will continue to use contactless payment post pandemic. The previously mentioned survey performed by VISA concluded that 41% of respondents have a contactless card of which 60% use it for at least half of their transactions. Giving your customers the option to pay contactless by having a device implemented will give them another reason to prefer your business over others.
4. Speed and efficiency in transactions.
This is a benefit for both businesses and consumers. From a company’s point of view, faster transactions mean more clients. Nowadays, people are always on the move, and don’t have time to wait in long queues if they can make do without the product. Long lines are a cause of customer loss. Card payments save the customers from counting their money and waiting for change, thus, transactions are taking less time and those interminable queues become a thing of the past. Plus, contactless payment takes on average 15 seconds less than other card transactions which increases even more the number of transactions that can be done during a day.
For your customers:
1. Better security.
A stolen card can be easily cancelled and with the possibility to track your transactions, you’re bank may offer added protection of having the fraudulent transaction refunded.
2. Convenience.
Due to the latest innovations in contactless technology, consumers can now pay just by using their smartphones or even smartwatches through mobile pay apps. 34% of the consumers surveyed by VISA answered that they will use mobile/digital wallet more often in the future. Not only does this make the transactions faster, but it also increases your accounts security because, in order to use either of these devices to pay, a form of identification is required.
3. The possibility to track all your transactions.
Being able to see all the payments you have made over a certain time period allows you to analyse your buying habits and take according actions. Lately, most apps give you a complete report of your transactions which helps you draw more accurate conclusions.
4. It’s a more hygienic way.
According to a MasterCard survey, 82% of respondents worldwide consider contactless as the cleaner way to pay. 
VISA came with a similar result with 60% of participants being more confident in contactless payment to be safer in terms of the spread of COVID-19. This payment method protects both the consumers and the employees from potentially infected surfaces, therefore diminishing the risk of contracting any viruses. This year has shown us how important it is to take into consideration any surface contact such as payment methods in order to protect our health.
5. It facilitates the currency exchange.
Probably the most stressful aspect of travelling to a foreign country on your holiday is the money exchange. Wasting time at the bank in order to change currency, only to realise a few days later, while doing sightseeing, that you ran out of cash and instead of enjoying the scenery, you have to search for a convenient currency exchange location. With card payment, it adds even more convenience to modern day travelling as you can make payments in any currency, at any time, anywhere.
With cash declining and card and contactless payments rising, make sure to take advantage of all the benefits we have presented to you by implementing Vianet’s contactless payment device to fulfil your customers’ needs and bring a new asset to your business.
For more information regarding our contactless payment device, please have a look on our website page or speak to us today.