Skip Cash at Vending Machines, Charge a Soda

July 3, 2006 — -- It used to be it was all about the Benjamins -- all about cash.

But you'll no longer need to scramble for the right change or a crisp dollar bill when technology further sidelines cash at a new batch of vending machines.

This week MasterCard and a Philadelphia Coca-Cola bottler will begin to equip 1,000 vending machines with the means to accept credit and debit cards.

To make that soda purchase even easier, the souped-up machines will also take MasterCard's PayPass, a "contactless" card that consumers place in front of a sensor to process payments.

It's another sign of dollar bills going the way of all things paper as credit and debit cards take over.

In 2003, debit and credit card swipes numbered more than 34 billion in the United States. Experts predict that by 2010, card transactions will surpass those made by cash and checks combined.

While cards were once whipped out mainly for big-ticket purchases like airfares and televisions, now few consumers bat an eye at using a credit card to charge a couple of dollars' worth of tomatoes at the grocery store.

Aarti Reddy, a recent college grad living in New York, uses her credit card for almost everything. "You can charge gum at the deli," she said.

Indeed, cards are welcomed at the most unlikely of places -- the coffee shop, the sports stadium, the fast-food drive-through, and now the vending machine.

MasterCard's new machines in Philadelphia go a step further, employing the contactless technology that uses radio frequencies to transmit payment details wirelessly between card and sensor. There's no signing or swiping -- just tap or wave the card over the sensor and the transaction is recorded.

Cardmakers hope "contactless" will become the wave of the future. It's as secure as traditional credit and debit cards but faster and more convenient. Both Visa and American Express have contactless cards similar to MasterCard's PayPass.