Contactless payments may migrate to more vending machines
Micro-transactions (valued at less than $5) accounted for $1.32 trillion in consumer spending in 2003, representing more than 400 billion transactions. This fact is pushing the card associations to consider ways to play a part in smaller and smaller dollar value transactions. Vending seems a likely step. According to an article in Automatic Merchandiser, “Incentives for vending operators can be found in recently reduced credit card interchange rates and transaction fees being offered by electronic payment providers. It is no coincidence that these new rates and fees, focused on generating significant increased volume in small dollar transactions, are being introduced at the same time as contactless credit and debit cards.” ![[end]](/resources/bullet/cr80news-4.gif)
