A London Vending machine launched accepts out-of-circulation bills and a range of coins
A self-service vending machine developed by two British-based, South African entrepreneurs converts currencies from as many as 150 countries into dollars pounds, or euros. The company, Fourex, led by the entrepreneurs has planned to introduce the machines next month at busy locations such as shopping centers and transport hubs across London which shall include Canary Wharf tube station. The vending machine is uniquely different from existing automated teller machines since it accepts out-of-circulation bills from the past 30 years, including old European currencies. The developers are looking to create an impact on the retail foreign exchange business which includes majors such as Thomas Cook & Travelex.
The machine which is planned by the company to expansible to up to around 400 high-traffic locations across Britain in the next couple of year, offers promising prospects to travelers across the world. They may be able to get themselves clear of collection of coins which are rendered useless over time and bills in various foreign currencies including old Deutsche marks.
According to Oliver Du Toit, who is a co-founder of the money exchange technology firm stressing on the versatile applications of the machine said “Everyone has a drawer of money that is essentially worthless. We have a machine that recognizes almost any coin or banknote in the world.”
The vending machines could accept even the smallest denominations, covering a vast range of currencies with no implicit fees or any sort of commissions. Technologically, it functions by capturing high-resolution of so called “digital fingerprints” of as many as 200 currencies, which includes as many as the variants of 4,000 coins.
Self-services technology which majorly covers ATMs, vending machine & kiosk serve a range of functions and the market would get traction owing the rising adoption of these machines by consumer goods & services sector industries such as healthcare, banking, retail, and F&B. There are many reports in the market which offer an insight into the current market dynamics & future growth opportunities of the self-services technology. Recently, Big Market Research has added a report titled “Global Self Services Technologies Market (ATM Machines, Kiosk Machines, Vending Machines, Geography)”. The report offers in-depth insight into key drivers and restraints, market profile of key market players along with the strategies adopted by them to consolidate their presence in the market. As per the report North America is the major market for self–service technology, followed European and APAC region.