Cashless Arcade Machines: How Card Payments Can Double Your Revenue

Walk through any bar or shopping mall and count how many people under 30 carry coins. That number is the reason cashless is no longer an option for arcade operators — it is the difference between a machine that earns and a machine that decorates the wall.

The numbers from our own fleet

We operate 2,000 machines ourselves, so we can compare like-for-like. The pattern is consistent: a strength machine doing ~€900 a month on cash only moves to ~€1,800 a month once a card/NFC terminal is installed. Not because people suddenly love boxing twice as much — because everyone who wanted to play can now actually pay.

Why card payments change player behavior

• Impulse play. A tap takes two seconds. Nobody walks to a change machine, breaks a €10 note and comes back — the impulse dies on the way.
• Group dynamics. Strength machines are competition machines. When one person plays, the whole group wants a turn — and with NFC every phone in the group is a wallet.
• Flexible pricing. Cashless lets you charge €2 or €2.50 where a coin slot locks you to coin denominations. A 25% price lift with zero drop in plays is typical.
• No “out of change” lost sales. The most expensive machine state is a willing player who cannot pay.

The operational bonus nobody talks about

Less cash in the machine means fewer collection rounds, less counting, lower break-in risk and cleaner bookkeeping. Modern payment systems also give you online telemetry — you see every play, every euro and every fault remotely, instead of discovering a dead machine two weeks later. Downtime you do not know about is revenue you never get back; pair telemetry with our 24/7 service and 24h parts shipping and the machine practically never stands dark.

Cashless on JAKAR machines

Every machine in the JAKAR catalogue is cashless-ready: we integrate Nayax and other leading payment systems at the factory, alongside classic coin and bill acceptors — you can run both in parallel. Already own JAKAR machines? Retrofitting an existing unit is a straightforward job and usually pays for itself within the first two months.

Want the cashless configuration priced for your venue? Browse the machine catalogue or message us on WhatsApp — we answer within 24 hours.