Twelve vending machine providers with an installed base of more than one million vending machines have signed up for Civic Pay, a blockchain-based platform that combines identity and age verification, QR code mobile payments, loyalty and rewards.
The soon-to-be-released Civic Pay app will enable partners to combine identity verification, payment, and rewards into a single transaction. The first Civic Pay partners are at the forefront of the automated retail industry. AAEON, AR Systems, Fastcorp Vending, Global Vending Group, greenbox Robotics, Invenda, IVM, IVS, Retail Automated Concepts, SandenVendo, The-Venders, and Wemp will bring blockchain-powered innovation to the industry with simple access to age-gated products, an improved user experience, and personalized rewards.
Most transactions require some form of identity verification and building identity verification into payment functionality simplifies that process.
„By integrating the Civic Pay app with automated retail solutions and smart vending machines, these partners will introduce the first real-world, Civic Pay use cases, where people can prove identity and pay for a product in a single transaction. Together, these companies represent over one million connected vending machines.”, according to the press release.
Combining identity with payment will further advance Civic partners’ automated retail solutions and expand vending opportunities for a growing market. Currently, there are over 3 million connected vending machines globally, a number expected to grow to 5.4 million by 2022 according to Berg Insight.
„Vending machines make digital identity accessible and give people the ability to experience new technology. In addition, with the Civic Pay app, once users are verified, they are able to use the same verification over and over again, further streamlining the identity and payment process.”, the company said.
“The first step in making digital identity attainable is making it accessible for the everyday consumer,” said Vinny Lingham, Civic CEO and Co-founder. “Vending machines represent an introduction to the mass market, where people can see how digital identity functions in the real world, as well as opening up an entirely new market for automated retail. We’re thrilled to partner with leaders in the automated retail industry, and working together, we look forward to making digital identity available and usable.”
After an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the Civic Pay preview with beer vending machines at SXSW, Civic will be working to connect customers to the vending machine partners that best meet their needs.
“Speaking with Civic, we immediately recognized the vision and how identity verification could help AAEON embark on an entirely new market of vending opportunities. The combination of identity and payment enables a frictionless user experience that allows for a new subset of product offerings,” said Paul Yang, General Manager at AAEON. “We’re excited to be one of Civic’s first vending machine partners, and we look forward to implementing Civic technology to provide a cutting-edge customer experience.”
“With over 800,000 vending machines, we’re always looking for innovative concepts to introduce. The vending machine market is flourishing and being the first to adopt industry-changing technology is critical to providing the best user experience,” Mike Weiser, SandenVendo’s CEO and President. “With combined identity, payment, and rewards solutions, Civic Pay is a perfect fit for our vending fleet, and we’re excited to implement this technology and help make digital identity more accessible.”
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
