Festival Payment Trends

June 21, 2022

Festival Payment Trends

2022 is the first year back for many festivals and navigating payments in a world still feeling the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic may seem daunting. So, in an ever-changing world, what trends can we expect to see in payments at festivals?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a wireless system composed of two parts, tags and readers. The reader will have one or more antennas that will emit radio waves, and receive signals back from the associated tags.

RFID wristbands are becoming ever more popular at festivals. Organisers will provide attendees with a wristband with RFID capabilities that they can either preload money onto, or link to their debit or credit card.

Pay by Link

It is becoming commonplace to see QR codes offered as a way to pay for merchandise at physicals stalls, such as those at a festival. This enables consumers to checkout and pay on their smartphone. These QR codes are a form of Pay by Link, a service Cardstream offers Merchants.

With a simple scan of a QR code, a secure hosted payment form with pre-populated product information will open. The hosted payment form will allow the consumer to enter their payment details.

To enable the Pay by Link feature, a Merchant would log onto Cardstream’s Merchant Management System (MMS), and generate a link, pay button, or QR code through the Virtual Terminal. 

The Benefits of Contactless Payments

Besides reducing physical contact and thus decreasing the risk of Covid transmission, contactless payment methods such as RFID and QR codes offer many benefits to businesses.

  1. Added Security – Removing cash or cards from a festival and replacing them with wristbands and password protected phones reduces the opportunity for pickpockets to steal or spend a consumer’s money. This will increase consumer satisfaction as they have added peace of mind.
  2. Increased Revenue – Festivals have reported an increase in returns of up to 10% when they switch to cashless payments.
  3. Reduced Operational Costs – As Merchants aren’t going to be processing cash transactions, operational costs are reduced. You won’t have to move cash around the site, so reconciliation becomes a much simpler task with fewer staff needed.
  4. More Detailed Metrics – Cashless payments allows a Merchant to analyse every transaction in a much wider scope. See what consumers are spending their money on, and when. This provides Merchants the opportunity to incentivise and reward consumers for the purchases they make.

Paying in Instalments

Buying a ticket online in instalments is becoming ever increasing with festival-goers. Instead of paying one lump sum, consumers are setting up repeating payments in order to spread the cost of their ticket. Festivals that offer payment plans sell out nearly twice as fast as festivals of a similar size that do not.

Giving consumers the flexibility to make payments their way increases satisfaction, and a slick repeating payment process will encourage attendees to rebook year after year.

To learn more about how Cardstream can set up Pay by Link, Recurring Transactions, and more, contact us. 

Blog Home

Categories