At St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium, home to English soccer side Birmingham City FC, a cashless payment system has been introduced meaning fans will no longer have to carry physical money to pay for food and beverages and merchandise.
From the beginning of the 2018-19 season queues and serving times could be a lot shorter at kiosks at the venue with the new technology enabling supporters to pay using Blues Fastpay – a system enabling supporters to pre-load cash onto their season tickets and pay at separate queues at all of the venue’s 93 kiosks.
The club partnered with tappit, a technology platform provider for the cashless solution, following supporter feedback requesting improved speed of service for food and beverages.
“Slow queueing times is an issue that the majority of football clubs face, especially during the half-time rush. Blues Fastpay looks to address this by providing a dedicated fast-payment line, without the need for staff to handle money. Our insight shows that it could reduce queue times by up to 15%,” said Ian Dutton, head of commercial at Birmingham City Football Club.
As well as offering the potential for faster service, the system will help prevent fraud and theft as it will be possible to spend only the pre-loaded cash on the card. It will also enable the club to track purchases with the aim to improve its services in the future.
“Blues Fastpay is one of the ways that we are bringing the best experience possible to Birmingham City supporters inside St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium,” said Dutton.
“The technology will also allow the club to track concession and retail purchases in real time. This insight is pivotal as it will allow us to provide targeted incentives and competitions to improve supporter engagement.”
June 27, 2018
