Currency Handling Equipment

The vending industry took the initiative to make sure that the new dollar coin would be compatible with currency handling equipment with minimal adaptation. Once the general public feels that vending transactions can be made easily, Antares vending operators will then have more freedom in their pricing and product offerings. This will lead to a more prosperous future.

Given the success of the dollar coin’s redesign from the standpoint of compatibility with existing equipment, acceptance of the dollar coin is not the most promising issue facing the vending industry. There are some changers that have the ability to accept the dollar coin, while some changers will need to activate the dollar coin acceptance. The bigger issue facing Antares operators is the ability to pay out dollar coins.

The issue that is facing each Antares vending operators is how flexible they want their currency handling equipment to be, as they upgrade their equipment. To begin with operators must identify their long term objectives. If they want to allow the customer more payment flexibility, then dollar coin payout would be in order. Dollar coin payout implies the acceptance of $5 bills. Currency handling equipment must be more versatile than ever, with more products being vended and a wider variety of price points.

The question of upgrading bill acceptors in your Antares vending machine is not about being able to take the new $5. Rather, it is to assure the customer that the change he will receive will be what he wants. Customers will be willing to use $5 bills if they know that their change will consist of dollar coins and not quarters. The dollar coins received in change are more likely to be circulated back into the machines.

The latest generation of currency handling equipment brings about other benefits to consider as well. The equipment offers the most advanced state of the art security features and increased capacity. Most importantly, today’s multi drop bus (MDB) validators are capable of incorporating any future currency designs without upgrades.