On a $2.45 card sale, the published processing fee runs from $0.12 with PayRange7 (3.95% plus $0.02) to $0.36 on a Vendera smart cooler bought through GeniusVend27 (5.85% plus $0.22). Cantaloupe’s flat 5.95%2 takes $0.15 of the same sale.
$2.45 is the average cashless vending purchase in Cantaloupe’s 2026 Micropayment Trends Report1, which reports 2025 figures. The same report puts the average cash purchase at $1.57 and the average ticket overall at $2.01, with 78% of food and beverage vending sales cashless. The worked examples below use all three prices.
Card readers compared covers hardware and what a month costs on one machine. This page covers the processing: who publishes a rate, what it comes to on each sale, who holds the money, and when it reaches you.
Card reader processors
| Processor | Hardware | Monthly fee | Processing | Contract and minimums |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cantaloupe Engage2 | $329 | $9.95 | 5.95% | Existing Cantaloupe account required; ships after onboarding, which can take up to 3 weeks |
| Cantaloupe Engage, Cantaloupe One plan3 | $0 | $19.95 (Cantaloupe’s order options; its description says $18.95) | 5.95% | 36 months per device; early termination fee is the monthly fee times the months remaining |
| Cantaloupe ePort G114 | $189 telemeter | $9.95 cashless only; $12.95 Cashless Plus | 5.95% | 12 months; early termination fee is the monthly fee times the months remaining |
| Nayax VPOS Touch5 | $399 each for 1–4; $314 for 5–14; $289 for 15–40 | $9.99 | Calculated from your lowest and highest item prices; no percentage shown | Contract terms not published; 12-month limited warranty |
| Nayax, as listed by Kleen-Rite6 (reseller) | — | $7.95 | 5.95%, recommended for sales of $5 and under; or 2.5% + $0.10, recommended over $5 | Not published |
| PayRange7 | Not priced on the pricing page | $0.99, $1.25 or $1.50 per machine per week | 3.95% + $0.02 (US) | $35 activation per new device; 10-machine minimum; Essentials plan capped at 500 machines |
| WeVend8 | Not published | Not published | Not published | Sold through a demo booking |
| Greenlite Pico9, sold by Vendnet | $348.75 to buy (regular price $425); lease price not shown | Not published | Not published | AT&T or Verizon; lease or purchase |
| CPI (MEI)10 | Not published | Not published | Not published | Quote through a sales rep |
Prices were read on October 3, 2026. Vendnet shows the Greenlite purchase price as a sale price.
We run Nayax and WeVend readers, and neither company publishes a processing rate. Nayax’s US shop asks for the cheapest and most expensive item you sell and calculates a processing fee from that range without displaying a percentage (Nayax5). Two third parties publish Nayax rates. Kleen-Rite lists 5.95% per transaction, recommended for sales of $5 and under, or 2.5% plus $0.10, recommended above $5, and a $7.95 monthly fee where Nayax’s own shop shows $9.99 (Kleen-Rite6). VTM Vending, which sells the ReyVend smart cooler, tells its customers that Nayax charges 5.95% plus $0.05 per transaction on those coolers (VTM Vending23).
The only WeVend-linked rate we found is on a smart cooler. Vending.com lists the Spectra Core with a WeVend or Cantaloupe card reader, and gives 5.75% card processing plus a $0.05 “True AI fee” per transaction for the WeVend option (Vending.com21).
Smart cooler platforms that set the processing
On most smart coolers the platform picks the processor, and a per-transaction recognition fee often sits next to the processing rate. What $500 a month costs on 10 smart cooler platforms adds the monthly software fees.
| Platform | Processing | Other per-transaction fee | Who processes | Payouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haha | 5.95% (store FAQ11) | $0.05 “AI fee” per order (Amazon listing13) | “The payment provider”, per the Amazon listing | Withdrawals paid on Wednesdays (Haha12) |
| Micromart | 4% + $0.10 under $8; 4% + $0.15 over $8 (FAQ14) | $0.05 data fee on cellular | Not published | Weekly |
| Byte | 2.5% + $0.20 (pricing15) | — | Byte, as merchant of record | Monthly, 5th business day (Byte16) |
| 365 (PicoCooler Vision, Stockwell) | Not published | Not published | 365 as merchant of record (36517); Heartland in the US (Stockwell FAQ18) | Weekly |
| Cantaloupe CV Vantage | 5.95% (store20) | None; the subscription is “5% per month”, $25 minimum, $199 maximum, without saying 5% of what | Not stated on the store page | Not stated |
| Wittern Spectra Core | 5.75% (Vending.com21) | $0.05 “True AI fee” | WeVend or Cantaloupe reader; the published rate is for WeVend | Not published |
| VMFS USA | Not published | $0.07 AI recognition fee per completed sale (VMFS22) | An outside card reader provider, about $10 a month | Not published |
| ReyVend | 5.95% + $0.05, charged by Nayax (VTM Vending23) | — | Nayax, deducted from each sale | Through Nayax’s settlement |
| Vendera, via D&S, A&M and Atlantic (resellers) | 5.85% (D&S24, A&M25, Atlantic26) | — | Not published | Not published |
| Vendera, via GeniusVend (reseller) | 5.85% + $0.22 (GeniusVend27) | — | Not published | Not published |
Haha’s store FAQ adds that merchants can confirm final rates with their bank during onboarding. Micromart’s FAQ does not say which rate applies to a sale of exactly $8.
The fee on one sale at three prices
Fee per sale = sale price × percentage + fixed fee per transaction. Each result is rounded to the nearest cent, half a cent up. The $1.57 column is Cantaloupe’s cash average; it stands in for a low-priced item paid by card.
| Published rate | Who publishes it | $2.45 (card average) | $2.01 (overall average) | $1.57 (cash average) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.95% + $0.02 | PayRange | $0.12 | $0.10 | $0.08 |
| 5.85% | Vendera via D&S, A&M, Atlantic | $0.14 | $0.12 | $0.09 |
| 5.95% | Cantaloupe; Haha; Nayax via Kleen-Rite, recommended at $5 and under | $0.15 | $0.12 | $0.09 |
| 2.5% + $0.10 | Nayax via Kleen-Rite, recommended over $5 | $0.16 | $0.15 | $0.14 |
| 5.75% + $0.05 | Spectra on WeVend | $0.19 | $0.17 | $0.14 |
| 4% + $0.10 | Micromart under $8, on Wi-Fi | $0.20 | $0.18 | $0.16 |
| 5.95% + $0.05 | Nayax on ReyVend; Haha’s rate plus its AI fee | $0.20 | $0.17 | $0.14 |
| 4% + $0.15 | Micromart under $8 on cellular (4% + $0.10 plus $0.05 data fee) | $0.25 | $0.23 | $0.21 |
| 2.5% + $0.20 | Byte | $0.26 | $0.25 | $0.24 |
| 5.85% + $0.22 | Vendera via GeniusVend | $0.36 | $0.34 | $0.31 |
Two rows worked in full: 5.95% of $2.45 is $0.145775, which rounds to $0.15. 3.95% of $2.45 is $0.096775; add $0.02 and it is $0.116775, which rounds to $0.12.
A fixed fee per transaction weighs more as the price falls. On a $1.57 sale, Byte’s 2.5% plus $0.20 comes to 15.2% of the price, and GeniusVend’s Vendera rate to 19.9%. A flat percentage takes the same share at any price.
Two break-even points come straight from the published rates:
- PayRange against a flat 5.95%: the fees are equal at $1.00, where 2% of the price equals PayRange’s $0.02. Above $1.00, PayRange costs less per sale.
- Kleen-Rite’s two Nayax structures: 5.95% and 2.5% plus $0.10 are equal at about $2.90 ($0.10 ÷ 3.45% = $2.8986). Below that, the flat rate is cheaper. Kleen-Rite recommends the flat rate up to $5.
Two-tier pricing
When you order an Engage, an Engage on the Cantaloupe One plan, or an ePort G11 from Cantaloupe’s store, the order form asks whether to set up two-tier pricing. Cantaloupe describes it as an option the operator configures to charge an extra ten cents to a customer who pays by card or mobile wallet, and says it could help cover processing costs (Cantaloupe2).
On a $2.45 item, the card buyer pays $2.55. 5.95% of $2.55 is $0.151725, or $0.15 rounded, so you keep $2.40, against $2.30 on the same item without two-tier pricing. Unrounded, you keep $0.09405 of each extra ten cents, because 5.95% of $0.10 is $0.00595.
The Visa rule on estimated and incremental authorizations
A smart cooler, or a reader running multi-vend, does not know the final amount when the card is presented, so it authorizes an estimate first. Section 5.7.2.4 of the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules28, 18 April 2026 edition, lets a merchant submit an Estimated Authorization when the final amount is not known. The merchant must make sure that:
- the amount is a genuine estimate of what the cardholder will spend;
- the cardholder is told the amount and that further authorizations may follow;
- the amount includes nothing to cover potential damage, theft or other delayed charges;
- the request carries Visa’s Estimated Authorization indicator.
Section 5.7.2.5 allows an Incremental Authorization, under the same transaction identifier, when the original estimate no longer covers the final amount. Table 5-14 requires the merchant to reverse the difference within 24 hours of completing the transaction when the final amount is less than the total authorized.
365’s Stockwell FAQ describes this in practice: when a purchase goes over the pre-authorized amount, 365 attempts an incremental authorization on the same card, the outcome depends on the card issuer and payment type, and the operator accepts the risk of a decline (36518). Where a hold is submitted as an Estimated Authorization, Visa’s rule requires it to estimate the purchase and bars adding an amount to cover theft. Pre-authorization holds compares the amounts each platform uses.
Merchant of record and payouts
The merchant of record is the business the card networks treat as the seller. When a platform is the merchant of record, card money goes to the platform first, and it pays you after taking its fees. In the US, a 365 shopper’s card statement shows “365 Markets” or “365 Retail” as the merchant name (PicoCooler Vision FAQ19).
- 365 states it is the merchant of record for all deployments. Operators submit an ACH form, and transaction revenue is disbursed weekly (36517). Its US card processor is Heartland (Stockwell FAQ18).
- Byte states it acts as merchant of record (Byte15). It processes remittances monthly on the 5th business day; payouts or deductions go directly to your bank account and take 2 to 3 business days to arrive (Byte16).
- Nayax transfers funds weekly at the end of each payment term, with the monthly service fee taken out, according to its shop (Nayax5). Kleen-Rite describes the money going to Nayax first and then to you (Kleen-Rite6). On ReyVend coolers, VTM Vending says the processing fee is deducted from each sale, so deposits come in below gross sales (VTM Vending23).
- Haha pays withdrawals on Wednesdays. A withdrawal requested before the Tuesday cutoff is paid that week; one requested on a Wednesday is paid the following Wednesday (Haha12).
- Micromart refers to a weekly payout in its FAQ. Under what it calls its Revenue Protect Program, when it cannot capture a card payment because of a technical issue, or its sensors cannot accurately detect the items taken, Micromart says it covers the transaction costs and shows them in that weekly payout. When a purchase exceeds the shopper’s available funds, it makes multiple attempts to charge the card (Micromart14).
- Cantaloupe’s store pages do not state a payout schedule. PayRange’s plan table lists features called FastFunds and Instant Payout without saying how fast either is (PayRange7).
