Swipe, Sip, Chill: Pepsi Without Cash

N eed a cold soft drink but don't have any change rattling around in your pocket or any dollar bills tucked away in your wallet? If your credit card is handy, you can still get a Pepsi from a new line of vending machines.

Pepsi-Cola North America has implemented a wireless technology system in vending machines allowing consumers to pay for Pepsi soft drinks with credit cards. The card payment technology will operate alongside existing coin and bill payment slots, giving consumers three ways to quench their thirsts.

The vending machines utilize U.S. Wireless Data Inc.'s Synapse, a new card-payment and telemetric system. The transactions will be simple, fast and convenient for consumers.

"Our belief is that this will be very popular with consumers because of the simplicity and speed of paying with a credit card," said Todd Piatnik, Pepsi's Director of Innovation. "People will be able to buy the Pepsi soft drink of their choice without concern for having the right amount of change and enjoying the speed of two-second wireless card authorizations."

The Synapse technology also transmits up-to-the-minute inventory information from the vending machines to Pepsi bottlers and distributors via a Web browser. Drivers will know exactly how much product they will need for their daily delivery routes, eliminating guesswork, carrying excess inventory and making unnecessary trips to full machines. Vending machines will be stocked and functioning at peak levels.

U.S. Wireless Data's wireless and landline technologies provide transport, data translation, electronic card payment and value-added processing. USWD handles more than 500 million transactions each year through its centralized computer center and nationwide network. Pepsi-Cola America brands include Pepsi drinks, Mug Root Beer, Sierra Mist, Aquafina and SoBe, and it has joint ventures to make and market teas and coffees with Lipton and Starbucks.