The EVA, made up of 18 national vending associations and 58 companies, is hoping to follow the lead of US counterpart, NAMA, and encourage the introduction of contactless payments at machines. The position paper is aimed at credit card companies and banks and hopes to "break the deadlock" with financial institutions on transaction costs, a major barrier to the introduction of the technology.

1. October 2009
Vending Requirements in a contactless debit/credit
payment solution
About the EVA
The European Vending Association (EVA) represents the vending industry in Europe. It
groups together 19 national vending associations (representing 20 EU Countries) and 58
companies. Member Companies are active in 3 main areas: manufacturing of machines,
parts and peripherals (e.g. payment systems), production and distribution of ingredients
(e.g. hot and cold drinks, snacks, and chocolate bars), as well as operation of the
machines.
Some figures about the industry represented by the EVA: about 3.77 million vending
machines, run by some 10.000 companies, mostly SMEs and a yearly turnover over worth
€13 billion in 2008 and employing 85 507 persons.
The EVA works in close co-operation with its US counterpart, NAMA. The EVA and NAMA
concomitantly share and develop the vending standards EVA-DTS (data transfer),
MDB/ICP (Multi Drop Bus/internal communication protocol) and EVA-CVS (cashless).
Background
In this new era of contactless payment, the EVA’s Cashless Committee has monitored the
various payment solutions available in the US market and the introduction of similar
systems in Europe.
A contactless debit/credit offers a promising improvement to current bank card
solutions. That is, a new payment solution which would extend the existing chip contact
or magnetic stripe cards to contactless payment.
European Vending Association aisbl
Rue Van Eyck, 44 – 1000 Brussels - Tel : +32 2 512 00 75 – Fax : +32 2 502 23 42 1
vending@vending-europe.eu – www.europe-vending.eu

2. For contactless payment, a simple “touch” of the device activates the payment
transaction. This seems to be an ideal payment solution for small amounts (defined as
less than 15€ by the banking industry) and offline transactions.
The Vending Industry has on numerous occasions met and discussed the implications of a
contactless payment in unattended points of sale, with credit card institutions
(MasterCard, Visa, AMEX, JCB). However, a number of technical and commercial
concerns still need to be resolved.
Today, the EVA’s release of the Cashless Vending Specification (CVS) version 1.3 brings
forward some differences as summarised below:
The purpose of the CVS specification is to give guidance to manufacturers and operators
on the design and implementation of cashless payment devices in the vending industry.
Table 1
Banking Industry World of Vending
Transaction charges Typically fixed (debit) and Heavily cash based, typical
percentage charges (credit) transaction values <€2
typically for transactions
>€15
Selection mode Selection First Credit First
First make selection(s), then First give credit to the vending
pay machine, then make selection
(determine payment amount)
The vending industry already uses its own vending standards, which are open and which
the EVA and NAMA jointly produce and maintain. The protocol for internal
communication between the VMC and its peripherals e.g. payment terminal, is the MDB-
ICP version 3.0. Any new communication technology, regardless of its purpose, must
comply with the existing standards.
European Vending Association aisbl
Rue Van Eyck, 44 – 1000 Brussels - Tel : +32 2 512 00 75 – Fax : +32 2 502 23 42 2
vending@vending-europe.eu – www.europe-vending.eu

3. Vending requirements with a contactless debit/credit Payment
The vending industry has considered the following points relevant to a successful
implementation of a cashless system :
- Credit First is the key. First give credit to the vending machine and then make a
selection which determines the payment amount. This is how consumers currently use
vending machines with cash. (ref table 1)
- Speed is crucial. Cashless Transactions should not take longer than cash
transactions. It is estimated that transactions taking greater than 4 seconds will not be
accepted by the consumer.
- Pricing: At current transaction cost, cashless will only have limited application
in vending. For mass adoption, transaction cost will have to go down substantially.
- Technology: The EVA supports the adoption of contactless schemes (such as
cards, NFC e.g. mobile phone enabled payments) and other systems as they are best
suited to the vending environment. Earlier technologies such as chip and pin may require
a receipt printer and a secure keypad, which inflates the hardware costs to an
unacceptable level.
- Horizontal compatibility: systems should operate to common standards so that
the experience for the consumer remains consistent with existing methods of making a
purchase.
- Feedback: there must be some form of communication between the machine
and the consumer to indicate that the transaction has been successful. Systems clearly
communicate what occurs if a vend fails and how the consumer may be
reimbursed.
European Vending Association aisbl
Rue Van Eyck, 44 – 1000 Brussels - Tel : +32 2 512 00 75 – Fax : +32 2 502 23 42 3
vending@vending-europe.eu – www.europe-vending.eu

4. - Simplicity: The user interface should be user-friendly and easy to understand.
Ideally, the consumer should be able to avoid having to present their card for every
selection made.
- Certification: The vending industry requires a simple generic process for (bank)
certification of contactless payment devices in vending machines. The vending operator
cannot be made responsible for the technical integration of payment systems.
- Communication: The banking industry would prefer all machines to have online
capability. This could prove to be a significant barrier to the full adoption of
contactless payment systems.
The EVA welcomes participation from all parties involved and will be very interested in
participating in any forum that will address the contactless debit/credit applications in
vending, be it to describe the vending requirements in greater detail, or to give any
clarification on its existing standards.
Document history
First draft: 10 December 2007
Second draft: 30 January 2008
Third draft: 28 May 2008
Fourth draft: 4 march 2009
Final version: 25 June 2009
European Vending Association aisbl
Rue Van Eyck, 44 – 1000 Brussels - Tel : +32 2 512 00 75 – Fax : +32 2 502 23 42 4
vending@vending-europe.eu – www.europe-vending.eu

5. ANNEX I
A visual aid to the EVA's scope of work
In contactless debit/credit applications in vending
Outline of a Vending Machine
Vending Coin
machine
controller
Bill System
Provider
Contactless Card or
debit/credit device
terminal
MDB/ICP Interface Protocol-
EVA Standards Committee
EVA Cashless
Vending
Specification -
EVA Cashless
Committee
European Vending Association aisbl
Rue Van Eyck, 44 – 1000 Brussels - Tel : +32 2 512 00 75 – Fax : +32 2 502 23 42 5
vending@vending-europe.eu – www.europe-vending.eu