Guide
How does QR or NFC payment work on a vending machine with an MDB bus?
The customer scans a QR code or taps their phone (NFC), buys in the browser with no app to download, and uNobo Connect tells the machine to dispense over the MDB bus. The sale is only closed when the machine confirms it dispensed.
uNobo Connect is an automated 24-hour retail operating system: it joins payment, machine and operator panel in one unattended business and leaves a clear trail of every sale.
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| Point | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which machine works | Any machine with an MDB bus, with two levels of control. We review your installation before promising anything. |
| How the customer gets in | They scan a QR code or tap the phone (NFC). The machine’s store opens in the browser; nothing to install. |
| How they pay | By card and the payment methods you enable. What is available depends on your setup, the machine and the country. |
| What the MDB bus provides | Sale, payment and transaction data. It is the common level, without deep access to the board. |
| What an Android screen of its own adds | Deep board control: prices, planogram, temperature alerts and error diagnostics, after we review the model. |
| When the sale is closed | When the payment is approved and the machine confirms it dispensed. An approved payment on its own is not a closed sale. |
| What it costs | Contactless (NFC) payment is in the START level, €0 with no fee. Zero commission on your sales; your payment provider’s fee depends on your contract with them. |
A purchase, step by step
- The customer scans the machine’s QR code or taps the phone on the NFC reader.
- That machine’s store opens in the browser, with catalogue, search and cart. They can also type the product number.
- If the cart has an age-restricted product, age verification is asked for first.
- The customer pays.
- The system prepares the order; the machine picks it up and dispenses.
- The machine returns the result: stock and ticket are updated and the panel records the sale.
What your machine needs
The essential piece is an MDB bus, the standard communication bus that payment devices use on vending machines. It carries the common level: sale, payment and transaction data.
The machine also needs a connection to talk to the system, and that communication runs in cycles, so there can be a short wait between payment and delivery. If the machine has an Android screen of its own, control goes deeper. We review it model by model.
What happens if something fails
An approved payment does not prove the product came out. That is why uNobo Connect follows each order to its physical result and keeps states such as pending, timeout or late response, with their ticket.
Where the payment method and the machine allow it, there is a refund route when the product does not come out. We do not promise zero failures: we promise a trail of every sale.
Frequently asked questions
Does the customer have to download an app?
No. They buy in their phone’s browser, from a QR code or by tapping the phone (NFC). A native app exists as an extra option, never as a requirement.
Will my vending machine work?
Any machine with an MDB bus can connect, with two levels of control: deep board control on equipment with its own Android screen (TCN) and, on the rest, sale, payment and transaction data over the MDB bus. We review it with you before promising anything.
Which payment methods are supported?
Card and the methods you enable in your setup. Availability depends on the machine, the country and your payments contract: not every method is on every machine.
What if the payment is approved but the product does not come out?
The sale is not treated as closed: the system records the order’s state and its ticket, and where it is supported there is a refund route. An approved payment is not the same as a dispensed product.
Does uNobo Connect take a percentage of my sales?
No. Zero commission on your sales: you pay the public tariff per level and per machine, + VAT, with no lock-in. The payment provider you contract charges its own fee, under your contract. See the tariff
Tell us which machines you have
We review the model and tell you which level of control applies.
Tell us your case