For the past few years, an increasing number of festivals worldwide are adopting cashless payments based on contactless wristbands, no longer accepting traditional paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More instruments such as cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More or cards. The introduction of this payment methodSee Payment instrument. More might at first seem convenient and effective, but it has been demonstrated that it also enables festival organizers to make additional profits by pushing people to consume more, to the detriment of participants.
The cashless concept was introduced for the first time in 2011 by the famous Sziget festival, which takes place annually in Hungary. It has then paved the way to a new trend in music festivals, which consists of using a contactless cards or wristbands provided by the organizers to pay for food and beverages. Participants are required to load moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More on a cashless account before the event or to link it to a credit card. Once at the festival, each participant retrieves his or her personal wristband to be used exclusively at the event. Thereafter, users can demand the remaining money only during a short period following the festival, generally from 1 to 4 weeks. Organizers argue that this payment method offers security to festival-goers as nobody carries cash. In addition, the processing is quick and efficient, enabling them to sell more products within the same timeframe.
Nevertheless, the introduction of such a system comes with a price, which is paid by consumers. Various studies have demonstrated that when people cannot tangibly feel the money , they tend to spend more as paying become a “painless” and “frictionless” action. Indeed, festivals have registered an average increase in returns of 5-10% when switching to cashless, while the implementation of such a system already costs at least USD 10,000. What’s more, the majority of consumers fail to retrieve their leftover money, often because the deadline to do so has passed or because the process is deliberately too complex. Some festivals even refuse to refund consumers, offering them discounts to be used at other events instead.
The few organizers that refuse to implement a cashless systems argue that a festival is a free space, favoring consumer’s freedom of choice and convenience over benefits. What’s more, they remind that such a system allows organizers to follow participants’ consumption real time, thus exploiting personal data without consumers’ agreement. Indeed, privacy and freedom are two concepts that do not seem to be high on cashless festivals’ priorities. On the contrary, they encourage people to over-consume while organizers keep the changeThis is the action by which certain banknotes and/or coins are exchanged for the same amount in banknotes/coins of a different face value, or unit value. See Exchange. More.
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