Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the leisure and forecourt solutions sectors, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Vianet has secured a contract with Visa Europe to provide contactless payment technology for the vending machines located at its European headquarters in Paddington and its offices in Reading and Basingstoke.
Visa Europe is the driving force behind the growth of contactless payments inEurope. The growth of contactless-enabled cards in circulation in the UK has been substantial, and the figure of 17 million contactless-enabled cards currently in circulation is expected to exceed 30 million by the end of 2012 (source: Visa Europe).
The Vianet project, which has seen its cutting-edge contactless acceptance solution, Touch&Pay™, installed on a dozen vending machines across Visa Europe’s threeUKoffices, has been met with a positive response from Visa staff and visitors. More than 10,000 contactless transactions have been processed in just six months.
The results of the project demonstrate the potential for contactless payments in the vending industry. Contactless technology allows customers to pay for low-value items by presenting their bank card or NFC-enabled mobile phone to a special reader fitted on the front of the vending machine, helping reduce the time it takes to pay.
Mark Austin, Head of Contactless at Visa Europe commented: “We have been working with Vianet since summer last year and they have quickly delivered a reliable and efficient solution. Having gone live with our project in the spring, we didn’t expect the 10,000th contactless transaction milestone to pass so quickly.
“We believe that there is a significant opportunity for contactless in the vending industry and we look forward to seeing wider deployment of contactless technology.”
James Dickson, CEO of Brulines, said: “The Board is pleased to have secured a contract with such a well-known name as Visa; contactless payment is extremely well-suited to the vending sector given the transaction value of purchases, and we are excited that Vianet is at the forefront of this sector. The pilot with Visa has shown very encouraging results, and we look forward to a longstanding partnership with them.”
