Coin-operated equipment has a built-in maintenance problem: coin mechanisms jam, coins get stolen out of collection boxes, and machines that only take exact change turn away customers who don't happen to be carrying quarters. Prepaid card systems sidestep all three issues by moving the transaction off the coin drop entirely.
How a prepaid card system works
Instead of feeding coins into each machine, the customer buys a prepaid card once — from an auto-dispensing unit like XCP's 5001, 5002, or 5004 Series, or a closed-loop RFID card from the VendaCard line — and taps that same card at every machine going forward. The dispenser and the card system share the same underlying payment logic as XCP's coin-mechanism retrofits: a payment pulse triggers the vend, whether that pulse comes from a coin, a bill, or a card tap.
What operators get out of it
- No coin handling. Nothing to jam, and no cash sitting in a collection box overnight.
- Repeat visits without a cash register. A customer loads value once and taps in on every visit after that, with no attendant needed for the transaction itself.
- RFID reliability. XCP's VendaCard terminals use 13.56MHz "tap and go" RFID, the same technology that replaced magnetic stripe cards for durability — a swiped mag-stripe card wears out; a tapped RFID card doesn't.
Where it's showing up
Laundromats issuing prepaid wash cards instead of quarters, card and ticket dispensers at transit stops and recreation facilities, and closed-loop prepaid systems for anywhere a facility wants repeat customers tapping in rather than digging for change — all running on the same underlying dispenser and RFID hardware.
It's not a new idea — transit systems have used prepaid fare cards for years — but the same hardware that made it practical for a subway system now scales down to a single laundromat or vending location.
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