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Self-service payments provider USA Technologies (USAT) announced strong growth driven by increasing popularity of its digital payment offerings, which enable card and mobile wallet acceptance, in its Q1 2016 earnings presentation .
USAT embeds payment services in self-service locations, like vending machines and kiosks, across the US.
The firm’s strong year-over-year (YoY) growth was driven by growth in integrations of ePort Connect, the firm’s cashless payment option. USAT added both clients and locations in Q1 2016. The firm now counts just below 11,000 clients, up 21% YoY. And ePort Connect, the firm’s service that enables card and mobile payment acceptance at self-service terminals, posted a 33% YoY increase in connected locations, growing from 302,000 to 401,000. That growth, enhanced by an acquisition, drove USAT’s overall gains.
91% of the firm’s new location connections came from existing customers. That signifies that the firm’s existing clients are pushing for cashless services, and likely indicates a trend of ongoing ePort Connect growth.
Some of USAT’s largest clients are pushing for ubiquitous cashless service integration. USAT believes this is the direction the industry is headed over the next few years, largely because adding digital payment services boosts business for the merchant. As evidence, USAT CEO Steve Herbert remarked last year that average mobile ticket size at vending machines are 15% higher than card- or cash-based payments, which translates to incremental sales gains. Increased interest is leading USAT to offer programs to clients that simplify the process of scaling up to 100% penetration.
USAT’s efforts to increase digital penetration at self-service stations could lift mobile wallet adoption. USAT’s technology broadens the mobile wallet acceptance network, given that self-service machines are effectively merchant locations. […]
