Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) is rolling out new cashless payment technology to vending machines in Australia.

The new partnership, with Vending Management Services Limited, is part of a three-month pilot in New South Wales and Victoria, the company said today (30 July).

The machines will accept Visa and Mastercard, as well as coins or notes, and are being piloted in a number of locations, including Sydney Airport and Melbourne's Southern Cross station.

There are currently 150 glass-front cashless vending machines on the market as part of the pilot.

"The pilots are running smoothly, with good consumer take-up," said Gary Meier, general manager for Coke Vending.

"Australian consumers are already big users of cards for immediate purchase transactions, in fact cards account for more than half of these transactions. We can now offer vending machines which give consumers the option to use their cards and make vending even easier and more convenient."

It is anticipated the cashless technology will be rolled out to vending machines across the country later this year. The machines, known as cashless reconciliation engines (CRE), will have the capacity to use cards or cash.

CCA operates around 35,000 vending machines in Australia.