Coke to deploy Visa NFC vending machines for Olympics?

Coke is in talks with Visa and may deploy NFC vending machines for the London Olympics

You may already know that Coca-Cola is already a sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games and you may already know that the city of London is making a concerted effort to go contactless with NFC payments running up to and during the games. It appears Coke wants in on some of the contactless action too and is reputedly speaking with Visa about how that can happen in the form of NFC vending machines.

Sanjay Guha, marketing and Olympics director, Coca-Cola Northwest Europe and Nordics (NWEN), said Coke was looking at an “execution” with Visa and the “opportunity to create cashless payments on vending machines” during the Olympics. Considering that Samsung is producing the official NFC phone for the games this seems to be a natural progression for Coke that would allow NFC vending machines to earn an ROI long after the games are over and potentially get a boost that could pay for the new NFC point-of-sale equipment during the games.

Coke NFC vending machines could be spattered across London for the Olympics

James Eadie, head of Olympics, Coca-Cola GB, commented that “The technology is already available today and we are in conversation with Visa over the Olympic park and how it would work.”

MarketingMagazine reports that “Coca-Cola started the introduction of contactless payment vending machines in Belgium and Luxembourg at the end of last year, partnering with technology company PingPing to implement the system. Using NFC, consumers can hold a “tag” – a sticker on the back of their mobile phone – in front of a reader to pay for purchases.”

Tied with NFC based loyalty programs, NFC vending is expected to become a major growth area as consumers no longer carry around the cash required for impulse purchases and Coke is a brand who could benefit grandly from the Olympics if they can get the deal worked out with Visa who are already working on the Olympic games with Lloyds TSB.