The old vending machines accepts mobile payments using a different aproach: „why to connect a machine when the user is already connected”

In just six months since shipping its first devices, PayRange has sold to more than 680 operators who manage one million vending machines across all 50 states and Canada. PayRange, which makes a small device that plugs into vending machines that enables customers to pay with credit cards, said that it has raised $12 million in venture financing.

The company produces a device that plugs into vending machines that interacts with an app. It uses Bluetooth to connect to the app, wherein customers can make a purchase. The device works with basically any vending machine.

How PayRange Works
PayRange uses a small device which plugs into the back of the machine and a customer-side mobile app to enable any vending machine to accept all forms of payment in less than 30 seconds. The PayRange device leverages BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), which enables customers to connect directly to it through the PayRange app (available in the Apple App and Google Play stores). Customers simply launch the app, select a payment instrument, and choose a nearby machine. The selected machine will instantly show their balance, and customers can make their purchases.
No personal information is sent to the machine, and credit card numbers are managed securely by a PCI compliant processor. The result is an incredibly fast, simple and secure purchasing experience for a fraction of the cost of adding even the most basic card reader to a machine.

Enabling Apple Pay and Android Pay in Vending
Additionally, PayRange supports Apple Pay and has planned support for Android Pay, solving the challenge of the last mile connection to machines through a proprietary Bluetooth platform. To date, neither Apple Pay nor Android Pay could work directly on a machine without a network connection, of which only 5% of vending machines currently have. Far fewer have the required NFC reader. Using the PayRange App, however, users can fund their accounts through these digital payment methods and instantly send payment to their designated machines. PayRange delivers the seamless user experience Apple and Google have envisioned to the vending market.

By enabling digital payments, PayRange also provides operators with the first smart vending platform delivering real-time inventory and user purchasing data.

General Partner, Jared Fliesler, a former Square executive, will join PayRange’s board of directors: „A quarter of Americans make purchases at vending machines every day, whether it’s at the office, on campus, or at the mall, and yet the vending machine has hardly changed since it was introduced,” said Mr. Fliesler. „PayRange applies sophisticated technology in an elegant, affordable way to remove all payment friction from the vending experience. In doing so, it generates happier customers and more revenue for operators. It also provides the potential to sell a wider range of products at varying price points and the tools to operate these machines as mini retail centers. We’ve just started and already operators are seeing a double-digit lift in sales when they add PayRange.”

Founder and CEO, Paresh Patel, announced a series of new products and performs a live demo during NAMA 2015 in Las Vegas