The 3G switch-off is coming, what does this mean for card payments?

Welcome to the June edition of Coffee Break. I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about something you may or may not be aware of, the impending switch off of 3G.

You may have seen in the news that the 3G network is planned to be switched off by the end of 2025, the truth is the switch-off is already underway. For most of us the switch-off will have minimal impact as our mobile phones are already running on 4 or 5G. However, for Coinadrink  it is posing quite the challenge and also a unique opportunity.

Since 2020 we have been on a real mission to fit card payment systems onto all of our vending machines, to provide our customers with the best methods of being able to make a payment through one of our machines.

There is no doubt that cashless transactions now far outweigh cash.

Our challenge is that 80% of the card readers we have in the field are running on 3G, and when the switch off happens, if we do nothing, they will attempt to use 2G, which will simply be too slow to provide a good service.

For the past 6 months we have been busily evaluating the market place, with the mission being to find a new provider that can not only ensure our customers can continue to make payments simply and quickly, but to also find a partner that improves the service we can provide you through the use of live data.

We have identified an opportunity that will transform the way we service machines, becoming data led with live views of stock levels in our machines, meaning we have an even deeper understanding than we do now of when we need to attend to replenish.

This in turn will elevate the service we provide.

We always look at a challenge positively with the solution creating further opportunities for our service provision.

We are anticipating roll out to start in September this year and it will be a 12 month project in total, with our IT and Engineering teams currently working closely with the shortlisted providers carrying out field testing.

It is a very exciting project for us and one we hope you will be excited by too.

We have always been right at the edge of innovation in our industry and it is always with the sole intention of giving our customers the best possible service.