Many Bangkok employees are able to use their employer-issued ID cards to purchase drinks from vending machines on company property thanks to contactless technology. Sun108, a Thailand company, is so far handling about 2,000 vending machines located in manufacturing plants and about 1,000 machines in hospitals and other offices. According to The Nation, a Bangkok […]

An upgraded ID and verification process and “Ozzie Bucks,” a pre-paid flexible spending account, are among the new services that will be rolled out to students, faculty and staff at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville when it kicks off its new ID card program this fall. Known as the Osprey 1card and developed […]

Gonzaga University trials phone-based payments on campus and around town By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor College students can be ideal test subjects for new technology, particularly if it’s “cool.” While programs testing near field communication are cropping up worldwide, until now the use of cell phones as a payment mechanism has rarely included colleges. Even […]

Loyola College, a 3,500 student strong institution in Maryland, wanted off-campus benefits for its students, the same that two nearby schools–-Johns Hopkins University and Goucher College-–were offering. It had even become an issue during the college’s 2007 student body presidential race. But as with any off-campus program, particularly one enabling students to dine at nearby […]

U.S. Bank customers in Colorado, Utah, Missouri, and California will now be issued debit cards with the Visa payWave contactless payment feature. Visa payWave technology enables customers to make a purchase by simply holding their card within two inches of a secure reader instead of swiping it. U.S. Bank customers in Denver and Salt Lake […]

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Hong Kong-based Octopus Cards Limited ought to be feeling pretty good about itself. Not only has it revolutionized transit payments at home-Hong Kong-but its arms are starting to spread to other parts of the world. In 2003, Octopus successfully exported its […]

Imagine: You’re in a hotel. Room service is closed. You have no cash. But you really need a Fudgesicle. This common problem will soon be solved, thanks to cStar Technologies Inc., a producer of wireless self serve solutions, and Fastcorp LLC, a frozen vending solutions provider. The companies have interfaced cStar’s Vending Genie Hospitality cashless […]

On Track Innovations Ltd., Fort Lee, N.J., will provide the Transport Department of the City of Warsaw with additional public transportation and street parking contactless e-tickets. The contract was awarded through OTI’s Poland-based subsidiary ASEC S.A. OTI has already provided more than a million cards to the program. The additional deliveries are expected to be […]

Residents of Middletown, Pennsylvania will soon have the ability to purchase wine from vending machines. The machines will be protected by biometrics so that no one under the age of 21 will have access. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is looking for a company that can provide a machine capable for dispensing 10-15 varieties […]

More community colleges are joining the campus card ranks, not only to give students more services, but to increase security. Grand Rapids Community College, with its 15,000 students and 1,600 liberal arts and occupational courses, is bigger than many universities. And with more than a third of its enrollees commuting to campus, controlling campus access […]