Plans for the new 5p and 10p coins were announced last year. Instead of using the current cupronickel alloy, the new coins will use steel with a nickel coating and be magnetic for the first time. Although there will not appear to be a lot of difference, there will be an increase in thickness with the new coins measuring 1.9mm, rather than 1.7mm.

At the end of 2009, the AVA began lobbying government when it heard that the UK vending industry may soon have to cope with the introduction of a new £1 coin due to an increasing number of counterfeits. With the Royal Mint and the Treasury under increasing pressure to improve services and cut costs, the issue of coinage has hit the headlines again. Vending International investigates…

This year NRI focuses on the currenza c2 airport, a coin changer with integrated SMS alarm functionality providing alarm messages like power down or exact change situation – in order to react quickly which increases machine uptimes. Due to the integrated GSM module it’s just Plug & Play at the vending machine. No fixed monthly cost and free back office software makes the system an extremely cost efficient solution.

In 2008 the European Vending Association staged a well-attended, one day conference in Brussels to look at the development of payment systems now and in the future. Markus Eggar, Group Technology Manager, Selecta, Switzerland, spoke about an operator’s experience with mobile and credit card payment, suggesting that cashless systems could increase business from anything between one and ten per cent, with the potential to be profitable in low-value transactions.

Jofemar UK, wholly owned subsidiary of Spanish vending machine and coin mechanisms manufacturer Jofemar SA has announced a new version of its best-selling J2000 changegiver. This new version works on Executive protocol, but crucially, will also support MDB peripherals, such as card and note readers, giving the J2000 a greater versatility and means that it will support a broader range of products, allowing operators a wider choice over the peripherals they use and reducing their spares stockholding.