Coca-Cola vending machines accept bitcoin to reduce contact during COVID-19

By Rachel Arthur

- Last updated on GMT

Using bitcoin can help consumers reduce the number of contacts during the coronavirus pandemic. pic:getty/ijeab
Using bitcoin can help consumers reduce the number of contacts during the coronavirus pandemic. pic:getty/ijeab
Coca-Cola Amatil has signed agreements with Centrapay, a digital asset integrator, to allow Australians and New Zealanders to pay for vending machine items using cryptocurrency.

Transacting with digital assets will help reduce how much people need to touch the vending machine, a major concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers will be able to use their Sylo Smart Wallet – a digital wallet available via Apple App and Google Play – to pay for items.

One touch

As the largest bottler and distributor in Asia Pacific, Coca-Cola Amatil supports 140 brands and serves 270 million consumers. Amatil’s customers can use their Sylo Smart Wallet at any one of Coca-Cola’s 2000+ vending machines with a QR code payment sticker.

These are located across New Zealand and Australia and will accept payments in cryptocurrency or other digital assets with a scan of the phone’s camera when Sylo Smart Wallet is installed.

People only need to touch the vending machine once to take their purchase.

Centrapay says that, up to now, integration complexity and poor user experiences are barriers to adoption of Web 3 technology, such as digital identity and assets.

“We have solved both these issues,”​ says Centrapay CEO Jerome Faury. “Centrapay is pioneering the way to enable this new internet of value and bring its benefits to both consumers and merchants. And it comes with the added benefit of reducing physical contact and addressing the hygiene concerns we’ve all become acutely aware of due to COVID-19.”

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