Anuj Nayar, Senior Director of Global Initiatives, PayPal
Lately, however, I’ve also been fascinated by the evolution of the music festival.
The evolution of music festivals since the 1960s has been pretty spectacular, especially over the last two to three years as technology has become more and more a part of our everyday lives.
In the US, PayPal has been spending the summer at music festivals. We helped festival-goers go cashless at Governors Ball and Bonnaroo, and now we’re gearing up for Outside Lands, right in our back yard, in two weeks.
Through all of these experiences, we’ve been able to implement PayPal technology with various vendors to make paying for food and your favorite band t-shirt the last thing you have to worry about when all you want to do is enjoy the music. It was great to see festival-goers get excited over the fact that they could buy everything from Momokufu treats at Governors Ball to BLT sandwiches at Bonnaroo’s Baconland – all with their phones!
But what if you could pay without your phone?
That’s what we are testing at the Low Festival in Benidorm this weekend.
With the help of special RFID bracelets synched to festival-goers’ PayPal accounts, people in the VIP sections of the Low Festival will be truly cashless – all you have to do is tap your RFID bracelet on the register and presto: payment complete!
One of the places you can use the bracelet to pay is the VIP pool area, not somewhere you want to be flashing your smartphone around. Accidents do happen and my phone is far from waterproof.
As I ponder how technology will continue to impact not only how people consume music, but how it enhances everyday life, I’m always struck by the idea of “cashless” experiences. I doubt cash will ever become completely extinct, but it’s clear that “cashless” is not just something people want– it’s becoming the norm.
I’m just sorry that I couldn’t make it to Benidorm this weekend, to experience the pool party myself!