A system for providing beverages, said system comprising: a vessel comprising a machine-readable medium (904, 904a-904c), wherein the machine-readable medium comprises conductive ink (904, 904a-904c) representing an available balance for a user to obtain beverages, wherein the conductive ink is disposed in a configuration (904a-904c) on the vessel representative of the available balance; and a machine for dispensing beverages, the machine comprising: a. a reader configured to read data representative of the available balance for the user to obtain beverages from the machine from the machine-readable medium, wherein the reader is configured to read the data representative of the available balance by reading an orientation of electrons within the conductive ink; and b. electronics (1206, 1208) configured to: i. receive the data from the machine-readable medium in response to the machine-readable medium being in communication distance of the reader; ii. enable the user to dispense a beverage into the vessel; iii. update the available balance of the machine-readable medium, wherein the electronics are configured to continuously update the available balance by concurrently writing the balance, with dispensing of the beverage, to the machine-readable medium; and iv. prevent the user from dispensing unlimited beverages based on the data representative of the available balance. a vessel comprising a machine-readable medium (904, 904a-904c), wherein the machine-readable medium comprises conductive ink (904, 904a-904c) representing an available balance for a user to obtain beverages, wherein the conductive ink is disposed in a configuration (904a-904c) on the vessel representative of the available balance; and a machine for dispensing beverages, the machine comprising: a. a reader configured to read data representative of the available balance for the user to obtain beverages from the machine from the machine-readable medium, wherein the reader is configured to read the data representative of the available balance by reading an orientation of electrons within the conductive ink; and b. electronics (1206, 1208) configured to: i. receive the data from the machine-readable medium in response to the machine-readable medium being in communication distance of the reader; ii. enable the user to dispense a beverage into the vessel; iii. update the available balance of the machine-readable medium, wherein the electronics are configured to continuously update the available balance by concurrently writing the balance, with dispensing of the beverage, to the machine-readable medium; and iv. prevent the user from dispensing unlimited beverages based on the data representative of the available balance. a. a reader configured to read data representative of the available balance for the user to obtain beverages from the machine from the machine-readable medium, wherein the reader is configured to read the data representative of the available balance by reading an orientation of electrons within the conductive ink; and b. electronics (1206, 1208) configured to: i. receive the data from the machine-readable medium in response to the machine-readable medium being in communication distance of the reader; ii. enable the user to dispense a beverage into the vessel; iii. update the available balance of the machine-readable medium, wherein the electronics are configured to continuously update the available balance by concurrently writing the balance, with dispensing of the beverage, to the machine-readable medium; and iv. prevent the user from dispensing unlimited beverages based on the data representative of the available balance. i. receive the data from the machine-readable medium in response to the machine-readable medium being in communication distance of the reader; ii. enable the user to dispense a beverage into the vessel; iii. update the available balance of the machine-readable medium, wherein the electronics are configured to continuously update the available balance by concurrently writing the balance, with dispensing of the beverage, to the machine-readable medium; and iv. prevent the user from dispensing unlimited beverages based on the data representative of the available balance.