The Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Festival, a yearly music festival held across the first two weekends in July in Hyde Park, is a unique festival experience in that all merchants, including numerous small and micro businesses, accept card, mobile and contactless transactions – there are no ‘cash only retailers’. Cashless transactions at this year’s 10-day BBST increased sharply compared to last year, including:
- An 81% increase in the number of cashless transactions compared to 2015
- A 70% increase in the amount spent through payment terminals compared to 2015
- A 218% increase in cashless transactions compared to 2015
- 75% of all eligible transactions (those up to £30) were made contactlessly – a 19% year on year increase
Barclaycard recently conducted consumer and small business research which looked at attitudes towards debit and credit card payments. The findings further highlight the growing popularity of these methods of payment and the importance of offering a range of payment options, regardless of the size of the business.
Merchants enjoy numerous benefits by accepting cashless payments at festivals, namely speed, security and increased spending.
The average contactless transaction is 0.5 seconds, compared to three to ten seconds for Chip and PIN, with cash transactions taking even longer, by going cashless there are fewer ques and faster payments – so festival-goers can quickly pay and get back to the fun!
Electronic payments are also safer, more secure and less time consuming for merchants than handling cash. Consumers have certainly caught on to the benefits – one in three (31%) use contactless at least once a week, seeing it as an alternative to cash, particularly when paying for smaller items. This is good news for merchants as well, the findings showed that card payments are more fruitful for businesses; consumers are more likely to splash out larger amounts using their Chip and PIN cards spending an average of £54 a week, compared to only £30 a week using cash. And it’s not just at festivals, on a national scale, Barclaycard data shows that contactless spending leapt 173 per cent by value and 112 per cent by volume in the year to the end of July.
There is no doubt that how we as consumers pay for our services and goods is changing fast.