Payment Technology
EPS v2 (Electronic Payment Specification): Contactless payment standard for vending machines
Term from the vending glossary
EPS v2 (Electronic Payment Specification Version 2) is an open interface standard of the European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA) that defines communication between machine control systems and cashless payment terminals for contactless EMV transactions. Certified terminals to this standard are vendor-neutral and interchangeable without requiring machine control modifications.
How EPS v2 is structured
EPS v2 operates at the application layer above the physical MDB bus connection. The protocol defines all transaction phases: initialization, amount transmission, authorization request, vend release, receipt, and abort handling. All status codes and error conditions are standardized, enabling terminals from different vendors to address the same machine profile without requiring vendor-specific modifications.
Contactless as an extension versus EPS v1
With Version 2 (EVA release 2020), EMV Level 2 support for NFC transactions was introduced. Mastercard Contactless, Visa Contactless, Girocard NFC, and mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay) are now available through a single interface without requiring separate terminal logic for each card brand. This substantially reduces integration and certification effort compared to proprietary point solutions.
Costs and retrofit
The acquisition cost for an EVA EPS v2 certified cashless payment terminal is not publicly standardized and should be requested from the integrator; acquirer transaction fees additionally vary depending on processor and transaction volume. MDB 1.8-compatible control systems connect the terminal directly via the existing bus. Legacy control systems without MDB 1.8 require a gateway module, which several cashless payment terminal manufacturers offer as an accessory. Without EPS v2 support, proprietary cashless solutions are possible but not interoperable, which results in re-integration costs when changing providers.