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Entry ticket, contactless payments and auto top-up facilities provided on one wristband

Entry ticket, contactless payments and auto top-up facilities provided on one wristband

 

More than 10,000 attendees at last month’s Isle of Wight Festival used new radio frequency technology (RFID) wristbands to make cashless transactions for food and drink throughout the site.

 

The festival was the first multi-day event in the UK to enable revellers to make cashless payments with the same wristband used to gain entry into the festival.

 

Ticket holders could also automatically load between £10 and £50 up to three times per day to a maximum of £500 onto a wristband, when its balance dropped below £20. Any unspent funds were refunded at the end of the event (May/June Retail Technology magazine, p38 Innovations).

 

Faster transaction throughput

 

“The transactions are faster than paying by cash or traditional chip and PIN,” said Andy Gratton, one of the Isle of Wight Festival’s food traders.

 

“People now have their ticket entry, festival ID and their wallet all in their wristband, it’s really convenient and I can see it becoming more and more popular,” he added.

 

Prior to the festival, general ticket holders were given the chance to upgrade their standard wristband to an RFID one, which when activated, was linked to their debit or credit card.

 

A number of top-up points were dotted around the site and some vendors accepting the cashless payments were able to tell punters how much credit they had left on their wristband.

 

Wide acceptance boosts adoption

 

All of the main bars throughout the site and a number of catering outlets accepted the RFID wristbands, provided by manufacturer ID&C, across the weekend.

 

Visitors using the wristbands could spend up to £20 in a single transaction and after the festival, any unused credit would be automatically refunded to their card.

 

ID&C’s operations director Steve Daly said, “Last year the wristbands were trialled successfully amongst a limited number of VIPs. This year, it’s been great to see the technology rolled out to a wider festival audience.“

 

ID&C, MasterCard UK, Vodafone, Central Catering and technology company, IVS partnered with organisers of the Isle of Wight Festival to offer the new RFID wristbands to its fans.