In Europe music festivals have been trying to do away with paper tickets and even a need to carry a wallet or credit card. They want attendees to wear wristbands that are linked to their credit cards/payment systems so they can pay at kiosks quickly.
This August, Lollapalooza will become the first music festival in the country to implement paying for food and drinks with a chip-enabled wristband. The annual music festival is introducing “Lolla Cashless”, a new plan where attendees will no longer need to worry about carrying cash or heading to the ATM every time they want a drink. Instead, they’ll pay for goods with the wristband they are already wearing.
The wristband has an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip where entrants can store credit card info for whatever account they want to pay with. Those who purchased passes are being sent the wristbands ahead of time, so they can enter in their info...
2018
Festival Fintech: Are Tomorrowland’s Bracelets The Future Of Cashless Payments?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhvimavadiya/2018/06/24/festival-fintech-tomorrowland-cashless-payments/#259a2f2e1a3a
Festivals are not cashless. Most music festivals still require attendees to bring cash with them or be charged for taking money out from ATMs on the festival site to then be forced to exchange these funds for tokens, that are sold in bulk and cannot be refunded if not used. The fintech industry can and should be profiting from this gap in the market.
However, some festivals, like Tomorrowland in Boom, Belgium, which is held over two weekends every July, introduced cashless payment bracelets in 2013. These accessories were first used as a way for festival-goers to interact with others and a few years on, attendees were also able to use them to purchase food, drinks and more.
Tomorrowland works with Intellitix, the Global Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) specialist, to produce these bracelets and the innovation company announced its mission to transform the music festival industry with access to cashless payments back in 2016...