Go Cashless at Barclaycard Wireless Festival 2012

Barclaycard PayBand offers festival-goers the chance to experience a cashless weekend

Press release

May 15th2012. Barclaycard Wireless Festival 2012 is to be the first music event in the country to be fully contactless-enabled, giving music lovers the ability to enjoy the experience without having to carry cash. All vendors at the festival will accept contactless payments, allowing customers to spend less time queuing and more time listening to music. All forms of contactless will be accepted at the event including Barclaycard PayBand, a specially designed wristband that allows festival-goers to pay for goods quickly and easily using contactless technology.Tom Gregory, Head of Digital Payments at Barclaycard said, “We are immensely proud to be the first to go completely contactless and offer the choice of a cashless experience at London’s largest music festival. We’re really excited by the possibilities Barclaycard PayBand offers as a wearable, secure and easy way to pay when you’re out and about at the festival. Alongside QuickTap and Barclaycard PayTag, we’re exploring the versatility that contactless offers as an alternative to cash.”

Festival-goers can pay for goods and services at the event by simply placing any contactless card, Barclaycard PayTag or Barclaycard PayBand on a reader, without needing to enter a PIN or sign their name. This year’s attendees will be among the first to be able to make contactless payments at the new higher limit of £20, as the limit for contactless transactions increases in June from the current limit of £15. Cards from other banks, as well as cash, will be freely accepted at Barclaycard Wireless Festival 2012.

The lucky festival-goers that receive a Barclaycard PayBand will be able to take advantage of a host of enhanced experiences through exclusive ‘Barclaycard Unwind’ privileges. These include fast track entry, goody packs, the chance to win back stage tours, VIP upgrades and entry to the Barclaycard Unwind perk park with luxury loos and a photo-booth that can instantly upload their photos to Facebook.

Users will be able to top up their Barclaycard PayBand online before the festival, or on site using any Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card. In addition, help points will be positioned throughout the park to top up at any time or check balances.

Once the wristbands are topped up they can be used to pay for everything at the festival, from drinks to t-shirts, as well as to gain access to VIP areas.

Barclaycard PayBands are available to apply for prior to the event, which takes place between 6th – 8th July 2012, at www.barclaycardpayband.com.

Numbers are limited and festival-goers are advised to apply early to receive their pre-festival packs, a £5 incentive for auto-top ups and most importantly, eligibility for onsite benefits. Registration and top-up facilities will also be available at the festival.

Help points and roaming Barclaycard staff will be on hand to help with top ups and to report lost or stolen Barclaycard PayBands. Those paying with Barclaycard PayBand will benefit from the 100 per cent fraud refund guarantee associated with all Barclaycard products.

Barclaycard PayBands will be live only for the festival period and will be deactivated after the festival. Any remaining money on the Barclaycard PayBands will be refunded to the original card shortly after the festival.

To register for a Barclaycard PayBand for use at Barclaycard Wireless Festival 2012 or for further information please go to: www.barclaycardpayband.com.

About Barclaycard

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

About contactless

Contactless payment enables customers to make a purchase of £15 and under – increasing to £20 in June – without the need to sign or enter a pin. Barclays and Barclaycard are leading the way in introducing contactless and there are now over 17 million contactless-enabled Barclaycards and Barclays debit cards, helping retailers reduce queuing and cut the cost of card transactions. In line with its history of providing customers with innovative payment forms, Barclaycard launched the UK’s first contactless mobile payment service, in partnership with Orange, in May 2011.

Barclays and Barclaycard are the leading providers of contactless terminals in the UK. There are currently over 100,000 point-of-sale terminals that accept contactless payments in the UK and by the end of 2012 it is predicted that there will be over 150,000 across the UK, including outlets such as Waitrose, McDonalds, Boots and Tesco. By then London buses will be accepting contactless payments too, followed by the tube and the rest of the transport network in the Capital in 2013.

To find out more about Contactless payment, visit www.barclaycard.co.uk/contactless or www.Barclays.co.uk/contactless

UPDATE: Why can’t we get onto the Barclaycard Payband site today? May 15th 2012.