Consumers who consider fishing for change, or even a credit card, too cumbersome a price to pay for a vending machine treat will love Mastercard Inc.’s newest mobile payments partner.
Starting this week, users of the PayRange mobile app can use Mastercard’s online payment service, Masterpass, to pay for snacks and soda from around 10,000 vending machines across Canada, Mastercard representatives told ITBusiness.ca.
Greater Toronto-based readers, for example, can currently use their mobile devices to access compatible machines at the Toronto General Hospital, Michael Garron Hospital (formerly the Toronto East General Hospital), and the RCC Institute of Technology.
In an April 19 press release Betty DeVita, chief commercial officer of Mastercard’s digital payments and labs division, called the company’s support for the PayRange platform “an obvious answer to a pain point that has existed for decades.”
“Convenience is as important to consumers as personalization and customization,” she said. “Whether it’s a physical card or a tap of a phone, as mobile usage becomes a way of life, consumers will expect all retail touchpoints to be as mobile-friendly as possible and all commerce experiences to be frictionless.”
PayRange Inc. founder and CEO Paresh Patel, meanwhile, praised the partnership for giving millions of consumers a new way to purchase items from his company’s network of mobile payment-enabled vending machines, which can be accessed using the PayRange app on Android and iOS.
“Gone are the days of digging for loose change or coin jams,” Patel said. “With a swipe up on their phone, we’re making everyday payments simple for everyone.”
Masterpass invites users to store all payment information, including credit card details, shipping information, and payment preferences on Mastercard’s servers, while its integration with PayRange allows users to select the snack or drink they want to buy using the app before using Masterpass to securely pay for their chosen item or items.
The Masterpass integration was released on the PayRange mobile app in both the U.S. and Canada on May 1.