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Marconi Online and USA Technologies Form Strategic Alliance to Launch New Era of Intelligent Vending
The alliance creates the most comprehensive end-to-end technology solution for the vending industry by bringing together Marconi Online's Intelligent Vending(TM) service with USA Technologies' cashless payment and interactive multimedia capabilities delivered through their revolutionary e-Port(TM) technology.
The combined Marconi Online and USA Technologies product offering, targeted at the entire vending industry, will allow vending machines to be seen as machines that do more than just dispense beverages, snacks and packaged goods. They can become intelligent, wireless networked machines, handling many forms of cashless payments, communicating with other pervasive computing devices, enabled to conduct e-commerce and m-commerce transactions and opening up new opportunities in advertising and promotions through interactive media services.
''This partnership is significant for vending operators and consumers as they will both benefit from the dramatically improved convenience that our solution offers the industry today,'' said Brian Quarendon, president of Marconi Online. ''We are fundamentally changing the way that people use vending machines and anticipate that consumers will welcome the increased buying power and value-added services.''
Marconi's Intelligent Vending service provides remote monitoring capabilities for vending machines. The service delivers marketing, management and maintenance reports overnight straight to the vending operations' office. Inventory, cash and damage information is securely transmitted over a wireless network and helps vending operators increase revenue through machines that always are cleaned, filled and working.
USA Technologies' e-Port technology provides consumers the ability to make vending purchases with the swipe of a major credit card or bank debit card. USA Technologies specializes in processing transactions under $10, which results in a more cost-effective cashless payment operation. The service enables purchases for as low as $1 and is delivered through USA Technologies' revolutionary e-Port device. The interactive media services provide these same consumers with access to headline news, sports and weather, local and national advertisements and promotions.
In 2000, Marconi Online became the exclusive provider of intelligent vending technology to the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO - news), making it the first customer for the Marconi Online - USA Technologies alliance. Coca-Cola bottlers have nearly 70,000 vending machines online in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Through the alliance, Coca-Cola bottlers can add cashless payment capabilities and interactive media services to their vending machines with USA Technologies' e-Port technology and associated network and financial services.
''USA Technologies and Marconi Online share the same vision - a world of networked, cashless, intelligent vending machines, also capable of delivering Internet content and services anytime, anywhere - dramatically enhancing the consumer buying experience,'' said George Jensen, chairman and CEO of USA Technologies. ''By combining our technologies, we bring the ability to significantly change the face of the vending industry.''
The joint offering will be demonstrated at the upcoming Spring NAMA Show, March 29-31, 2001, in Las Vegas. In addition to the work with the Coca-Cola Company, the alliance is presently in negotiations with other global vending customers, independent vending operators, vending distributors and vending machine manufacturers to begin distribution of the joint offering.
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