As you know, if you have a computer and want to connect it to money handling equipment, such as bill validators, recyclers, coin acceptors and hoppers, then you should have already taken a long, hard look at the Paylink system.

If you are impressed by Paylink and want a cheaper alternative to the standard Paylinks (APCUSBXX00001, APCUSBXX00007 or APCUSBXX00008), and have a simple set up (with less than 4 inputs and outputs and only one cctalk or RS232 connection) then you should look at the Paylink Lite V2.
This is a lower cost implementation of the Paylink System hardware for situations where the required interfaces are limited. It is available to buy now here.

Simply put, you will have no peripheral interface software to write. An ordinary developer with no peripheral experience will be up-and-running with your chosen peripheral set in less than half a day.

In order to use money handling peripherals, the computer is required to implement a serial communications handler, sometimes using RS232, but also proprietary electronic systems such as MDB or cctalk. This handler has to implement a protocol, which is described in a protocol definition document for the particular device, in order to control the peripheral device and monitor what is happening.

Paylink is not just the Milan Lite Interface unit. Although technically it is a simple "level shifter" providing the electronic RS232 or ccTalk interface, it include the entire Paylink library of mature, thoroughly tested protocol handlers which means it offers unparalleled ease of connectivity for peripherals from a wide range of manufacturers.

The Paylink Lite V2 product runs on any PC computer, both Windows systems and any PC based system running a modern Linux distro.

Unfortunately as the software runs on the host machine, the current releases do not include the ability to run on non PC systems apart from the Raspberry Pi. We are however continually enhancing the software, so don't let this put you off contacting us if you have such a requirment.

Milna / Paylink Lite supports many protocols from many manufacturers; the following table will give you an idea of the breadth of the facilities:

But that’s not the full story. If you change manufacturer allegiance, add peripherals or have different build variants, then your application does not need to change at all. Paylink simply accepts the newly connected peripheral set and presents them all to the application through the same high-level, device-independent interface.

And the Paylink code base has now been evolving for a full fifteen years. It is completely stable and reliable and new devices are being supported with every passing year.

You want to upgrade a bill validator to a bill recycler? With Paylink it could not be easier. Simply disconnect your bill validator and connect your recycler. Note dispensing becomes seamlessly added to coin dispensing with no change to your application.

Note that completely apart from the money-handling system, Paylink Lite also provides 4 digital inputs and 4 low power digital outputs.

The standard API provides a very simple interface for programmers writing in C, C++, C#, VB, Java and Delphi. And there is example code included with the SDK in each of those languages. If your team are skilled, high-level programmers, then they are free to concentrate on what they know best, without having to descend into serial communications and low level development.

Full support is already provided for high-security, state-of-the-art peripherals today. As new devices become available, then we provide support for these new devices.

Key benefits of the product include:

• Cost effective and resource efficient integration of money handling peripherals
• Frees up the application programming, development and manufacturing staff to concentrate on core applications
• Product Speed to Market
• Plug and Play
• Designed for use with low-cost, USB-only computers
• Decouples core applications from the monetary peripherals, allowing simple peripheral upgrades
• Multi-protocol availability means no additional communications software to be written
• Comprehensive diagnostics and error logging
• Future proof – state of art peripheral access with new device upgradeability