EMV payments grew by more than 350% as a share of cashless sales at food and beverage vending machines in the US and Canada in 2022, an analysis of a sample set of almost 675,000 active card readers has found. 

In total, consumers purchased more than US$500m worth of food and beverages from the sampled machines via EMV in the year.

“In January, EMV payments only accounted for 14% of cashless transactions at food and beverage vending machines; by December, that number was over 52% — showing explosive growth in the use and acceptance of EMV payments,” vending machine payments provider Cantaloupe reports.

“Additionally, EMV payments were the main drivers of contactless sales at food and beverage vending machines in 2022, making up more than 52% of contactless transactions by the end of 2022.

“The growth in contactless sales specifically indicates that vending operators are taking note of consumer and industry trends and are upgrading their equipment to provide a safer and faster way to accept credit card payments.”

“It’s no secret the payments landscape is rapidly evolving and shifts in how consumers pay are expected,” Cantaloupe SVP Judith McGuire says. 

“The ‘right’ technology enables success from end-to-end on the payment journey, which is largely driven by consumer demand.

“Contactless card usage has become an increasing part of EMV. This enables a fast, convenient and secure payment option for consumers using cards or mobile devices.”

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