KioSoft launched its expansion into several new laundry payment product categories at CLEAN Show 2022.
The Laundry industry was back in full force at this event after a three-year layoff, with exceptionally high traffic and a palpable energy level. We were excited to see new faces in addition to familiar ones and chat about our exciting new CleanStore solutions. The CleanStore suite of products for Unattended Payments in Laundry includes Self-Service Kiosks, Pay-at-the-Machine Readers, Mobile App solutions, Coin Boxes, plus Integration into a wide variety of applications that can augment revenue for Laundromat facility management. Here’s a video of our Retail Laundry GM discussing the revolutionary industry-leading lineup.
The Best of All Laundry Payment Worlds – Pay Digitally or with Coins
With the introduction of Coin Boxes, KioSoft now covers the full spectrum of unattended laundry payments. The Coin Boxes complement our already comprehensive roster of digital payment solutions including, Pay-At-The-Machine Readers, Mobile App Payment, and Add Value Kiosks. The full line of Coin Boxes is available in a variety of sizes that can fit a wide array of laundry machines. KioSoft’s coin boxes are designed for durability, featuring thick stainless steel front plates, galvanized trays, high-security locks, and a polished finish that does not fade over time. We’re thrilled to offer laundry professionals complete, connected payment solutions from end to end.
Soap Stations – a Laundromat Revenue Booster
At KioSoft, we pride ourselves on offering our clients numerous revenue streams for unattended machines in addition to laundry payment tools. With this philosophy in mind, we’re excited to introduce a new line of Soap Stations.
These user-friendly, self-serve kiosks conveniently offer detergent and other laundry essentials. The Soap Station Prime is a free-standing model, and it’s ideal for dispensing products in bottle or box format. It uses a state-of-the-art automatic elevator lift and conveyor belt retrieval system as well as coil slots for versatile product placement.
Alternatively, the wall-mountedSoap Station Lite series offers a scalable set of systems designed to easily stock and sell soap, bleach, or softeners in box packaging at laundromats. These systems are available in capacities of 2 / 4 / 8 Columns – with each Column holding a unique product.
All of KioSoft’s Soap Stations feature the company’s versatile VXT Pro 3.5” touchscreen payment reader for flexible payment acceptance including Credit / Debit Card, Laundry Card, NFC, or Coin.
CleanStore – for the Connected Laundromat
Our CleanStore laundry payment technologies combine the hardware & software tools to deliver a simple, comprehensive, and harmonious solution. The CleanStore offering includes: 1) AVU Series Kiosks, 2) All-in-One Readers, 3) Mobile App Payments, 4) Coin Boxes.
At Clean Show 2022, KioSoft not only launched a new line of Soap Stations, but we also introduced our KioPOS Point-of-Sale system for Laundromats, Air Pump, plus Amusement Integration. KioSoft has established its position as your one-stop-shop for Unattended Laundry Payments and much more!
Charles (Charlie) Lim, M.Eng, P.Eng, MBA, PLD Chief Technology Officer
(Boynton Beach, FL, Friday, July 15, 2022) As a part of our commitment to continuous innovation and in developing our next generation of technology-enabled products and services, KioSoft announces with pleasure the appointment of our new Chief Technology Officer, Charlie Lim.
Mr. Lim is an innovation-focused senior technology leader with >20 years of experience in driving cross-functional global programs, international partnerships, technology investments, and initiatives. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer for KioSoft where he oversees our technology teams and the management of our globally dispersed field devices and infrastructure being used by millions of users all over the world.
Previously, Lim led eSight’s transition from a revolutionary hardware company to an agile, mobile integrated, cloud computing and connected IoT device with an AI backend. Lim held progressive global senior leadership positions with IMAX where he led strategy, technology, and operations during key moments in the company’s rapid global growth in Asia and North America. He’s also acted as a consultant with MaRS Discovery District where he worked closely with technology startups to ensure their success and was a key player in building the MaRS technology innovation ecosystem that is now a large part of the Canadian Innovation Space. Prior to that, Lim was a technical lead engineer and has successfully led engineering teams developing leading edge fiber optic broadcast systems, consumer electronics and aerospace technologies that earned him the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Excellence.
Lim is a registered professional engineer by the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario; holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. Lim is also an Advisory Board Member with Lighthouse Guild in New York as well as the Managing Director of the Veritas PLD Partners group in Hong Kong. Lim lives near Toronto with his wife and two children.
About KioSoft Technologies, LLC
Headquartered in Boynton Beach, FL (USA), with international offices in Toronto (Canada), Qingdao (China), Seoul (Korea), and Mexico City (Mexico), KioSoft has emerged as a global leader in unattended payments. Since 2002, the company has been at the forefront of self-service solutions, kiosks, payments, and integration technology. KioSoft provides clients with a complete systems approach including hardware, software, mobile app, and support tools as a single-source provider, thus ensuring a harmonious solution.
(Boynton Beach, FL, Friday, July 16, 2021) Mobile technology is revolutionizing payments; laundry is no exception. KioSoft is thrilled to announce that their industry leading mobile app for laundry payments, CleanPay Mobile, has surpassed two million users around the globe, and continues to experience rapid expansion. With presence in over 35 countries, KioSoft is a world leader in facilitating the growing trend of cashless & unattended payments. The CleanPay Mobile app is a prime example of contactless alternatives gaining traction in the market, as indicated by end-user adoption levels, customer satisfaction and the company’s market share worldwide.
The popular iOS and Android app has gained significant traction in the wake of the pandemic, in which coin shortages presented new challenges for laundry users. CleanPay Mobile offers the most convenient and simple way to pay for laundry in both residential laundry rooms and retail laundromats, providing an ideal solution that is contactless and clean. KioSoft has been a technology leader in the Electronic Payments space since 2002 and specializing in residential and retail Laundry industry since 2013.
CleanPay Mobile is specifically designed for the laundry industry and delivers heightened functionality at the users’ fingertips. This mobile wallet with stored account balance enables laundromat customers or residents of a multi-housing facility to activate machines via QR Code scan or by simply entering the machine number. Not only does the app enable starting the laundry machine, but it also provides users with full access to:
View machine availability
Alerts when laundry cycle is complete
Purchasing machine credit
Complete purchase history
Ability to initiate refund requests and request support
Customers are not the only ones that substantially benefit from CleanPay Mobile – Operators also reap the benefits, including:
Greater revenue, as laundry users are not limited by cash and run more cycles
Owning their customer data and being able to support their own customers
Accessing KioSoft’s Washboard online portal – providing a cloud-based reporting and management system so that every detail can be tracked in real time
Offline mode & Coin payment reporting
Enhanced mobile management functionality with KioSoft’s full-featured technician application, KioSoft Laundry Manager (KLM)
Opportunity to brand the app
KioSoft prides itself in not being limited to Mobile payments, offering a full range of technology to cover all applications. The company also offers Kiosk technology that allows for payment by Laundry Card, where value can be added at a secure payment station. Additionally, Pay-at-the-Machine Readers present another effective option for accepting various forms of payment via laundry card, tap, swipe, insert and mobile wallet. KioSoft also provides clients with a comprehensive management portal, Washboard, which combines web-based reader configuration, financial reporting, plus KioSoft equipment health & management and reporting. Support tools are a necessity when it comes to operating a Laundry facility, which is why KioSoft created the mobile app, KioSoft Laundry Manager, where technicians can remotely update technology.
With presence in over 35 countries, KioSoft is a world leader in facilitating the growing trend of cashless & unattended payments. Their CleanPay Mobile app saw a dramatic spike in users in the wake of the pandemic, jumping from one to two million in a period of 9 months.
About KioSoft Technologies, LLC:
Headquartered in Boynton Beach, FL (USA), with international offices in Toronto (Canada), Qingdao (China) and Seoul (Korea), KioSoft has emerged as a world leader in unattended payments. Since 2002, the company has been at the forefront of self-service solutions, kiosks, payments, and integration technology. KioSoft provides clients with a complete systems approach including hardware, software, mobile app and support tools as a single-source provider, thus ensuring a harmonious solution
COVID-19 has impacted our world in many profound ways, including payment preference. One of the most widely adapted COVID-19 trends amongst consumers is abandoning cash. With heightened awareness that the virus can be spread via shared surfaces or through human-to-human contact, 80% of Americans prefer payment with a card, and only 26% consumer transactions in the US are paid with cash (spendmenot.com). This new attitude toward cash, as well as many Americans staying home, has caused a coin shortage in the US and Canada, affecting several traditionally coin operated industries like laundry (slates.com 2020). Of course, the world will soon return to normal, but certain behaviors and inherent concerns will remain. Knowing what we now know about transmission of viruses, the consumer mindset is forever changed with regards to cash. Sanitation will remain a greater concern in a post-COVID world, and distancing from unnecessary human-to-human interaction will remain top-of-mind.
Contactless payment options can eliminate those fears as consumers do not have to touch payment readers or even interact with other people. At KioSoft, we saw an increase of 78% within 5 months (August 2020 to February 2021) in our CleanPay Mobile payment app users, jumping to 1.6 million. CleanPay Mobile allows users to top up their balance on their phone and start their laundry cycles via QR code scan, so the payment process is completely contactless. Not only has the number of mobile payment app users increased significantly, but we have also seen heightened demand from laundry operators for our new contactless payment readers which offer flexible payment options including tap, swipe, Google Pay & Apple Pay and CleanPay Mobile. This is largely because consumers are trending away from cash/coin and migrating toward contactless and mobile payments.
Advantages of Contactless & Unattended Payments
As the name implies, contactless payments eliminate all forms of contact in the payment process. There is no human-to-human contact, entering PIN codes, swipe, insert or cash/coin. Unattended payments do not require the presence of a store attendant. This self-serve concept is paving the future of the payments industry not just at gas stations and ATMs but also grocery stores, parking garages, public transit, vending machines and more. Not only do contactless unattended payments lower the risk of germ transmission, there are also many more benefits such as lowered overhead costs, transaction speed, reduced labor costs, increased customer satisfaction and the competitive advantage of Grab and Go(globalpaymentsinc.com 2019).
Overhead costs can be significantly lowered by implementing an unattended payment solution. Expand outside of brick-and-mortar locations with unattended payment kiosks and benefit from extended hours, a reduced footprint and managed overflow. By partnering with KioSoft, these unattended payment devices require no upkeep and can be both weatherproof and vandal proof for outdoor application. With unattended payment solutions, the entire consumer experience is self-serve, so the presence of a staff member is not required, thus saving on labor costs. In today’s fast-paced world, consumers are used to having everything at their fingertips and are always looking for convenient options when it comes to purchasing an item or service. Unattended payments have become a huge competitive advantage as consumers can essentially grab & go quickly and safely, instead of having to line up in stores and wait for the store attendant to serve them. Furthermore, unattended systems are accurate as there is no potential for human error or verbal miscommunication.
The Importance of Connectivity & Reporting
With a presence in over 35 countries, KioSoft is a world leader in facilitating the growing trend of cashless & unattended payments. Major cities in China, for example, are almost completely free of cash purchases as approximately 92% of citizens have switched to the mobile apps WeChat and Alipay for payment (daxueconsulting.com 2020). This trend, though slowly adopted in North America over the last 5 years, has grown exponentially since the pandemic hit. Some of the key components in operating a business with cashless payments are connectivity and reporting.
Unattended payment devices require a wireless connectivity infrastructure. The key elements are routers with combined Wi-Fi and cellular network connectivity. KioSoft offers complete wireless connectivity solutions that are crucial to the success of your business, making sure you are always up-and-running.
Reporting plays a large role in managing finances and consumer purchasing trends at your locations. With unattended payments, instead of counting coins at the end of the day, business owners can simply log on to their portal and see all the purchases made that day. KioSoft understands the need for unattended systems management via an intuitive portal interface. We provide our clients with secure enterprise portal access where not only can they view real-time financial data, but they can also view the machine status and troubleshoot any issues. Settings (such as pricing) can be configured remotely, across multiple locations. Our mobile applications provide customers payment capability, but also give them access to important information. They can easily view their purchase history, real-time machine status as well as request a refund or report an issue with a machine. Meanwhile, facility managers can view daily activity through the convenience of our industry-specific management apps. We recognize the importance of continuously improving, adapting, and developing technology to meet clients’ demands while offering ease-of-use to end-users
Bottom Line
The world has changed tremendously over the last year. Some of these changes, such as the migration to digital currency and unattended payments, are here to stay. With safety being of the utmost importance for today’s consumers, they are choosing to ditch cash and are transitioning towards contactless payments like tap or mobile wallet. Additionally, there is a growing demand for unattended payment systems that eliminate the need for potentially risky human interaction. Adoption will garner trust from your customers as a business that looks out for their wellbeing and caters to their needs.
You don’t have to make this change alone – consider KioSoft your one-stop shop partner for the successful Integration of all things Unattended. We provide hardware, software, and support tools that are customizable to your environment. Access and control over your communication portfolio is vital. KioSoft also provides the tools and flexibility you need to properly manage your Wireless, and we have the vision to bring you more. No matter what your unattended application may be, KioSoft will provide you with a complete solution with more flexibility, better uptime, and instant access to vital information. Our powerful, unattended payment solutions include:
EMV, Chip, NFC, Mobile Wallet, and mag stripe payment acceptance (model dependent)
Branded mobile app payment solutions
Wireless connectivity for seamless transactions and telemetry to our reporting system
Focus on solutions that provide efficiency and cost effectiveness
