Summary
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Cashless payments have become a familiar sight at many of Europe’s largest festivals, but what exactly is a closed-loop payment system, and why are more UK organisers starting to adopt it?
In the latest Event Industry News Podcast, Jess Gould, Lead Project Manager at Weezevent, joined host James Dixon to discuss how cashless technology has evolved, how it works in practice, and why integrating payments with ticketing and access control can simplify event operations.
What is a closed-loop payment system?
Jess explains that while the technology has been established for years across Europe, it is still growing within the UK market.
“Closed loop’s probably been around ten years, but we see it more and more in the large-scale European festivals than we have done in the UK. I think it’s still an emerging technology for the majority of UK festivals.”
Unlike traditional card payments, a closed-loop system allows attendees to pay using an NFC wristband or card that can be linked to their ticket.
Before arriving, visitors can top up their balance online. Once their ticket is scanned on arrival, that balance is automatically linked to their wristband, allowing them to start purchasing immediately. For organisers, pre-event top-ups also generate cashflow before the event even begins.
“Customers can top up in advance using their ticket barcode number. When they arrive, their ticket’s scanned and paired with a wristband, so their money’s automatically on their wrist. You don’t even need to top up when you’re on site.”
While topping up before arriving offers the quickest start to the event, it’s certainly not the only option. Visitors can also add credit at on-site top-up stations or simply scan the QR code on their wristband to top up from their phone in less than 20 seconds, before continuing to enjoy the event.
Why offline payments matter
One of the biggest advantages Jess highlights is that closed-loop payments continue to work without an internet connection.
Because transactions are processed directly on the NFC chip rather than relying on a bank server, organisers can continue serving visitors even if connectivity is lost.
“We’ve had that very recently at a large-scale event where the internet went out for a couple of hours. If you’re relying on card payments, that’s a huge chunk of your revenue. But because we were totally offline, I don’t think customers even noticed. They just carried on buying their drinks and food as normal.”
More than just paying for food and drinks
During the conversation, Jess explains that the same NFC technology can also support crew catering, artist credit and accreditation. Rather than issuing paper vouchers or multiple credentials, permissions and credit can all be written onto the same NFC chip.
“When you’re putting your artists or your crew into the accreditation platform, you can also put the meals that they’re going to have, and that can also go onto their wristbands.”
The same principle applies to access control.
Instead of relying on different coloured wristbands, organisers can simply tap attendees into different areas across the event.
“Everyone can just have the same wristband, and it’s all just done on whatever’s written inside of that.”
Bringing event technology together
Weezevent combines ticketing, access control, accreditation and on-site payments within one platform.
For Jess, one of the biggest advantages is being able to connect information from different parts of the event rather than managing separate systems.
“We’re seeing event organisers utilising data sets from all kinds of areas, pulling them together to really understand the customer journey. To have Weezevent be able to do all of those things just joins up all of those dots nicely.”
That also creates opportunities to better understand visitor behaviour.
“We can now do spend per head by ticket type, by arrival day. You can really look at those data sets and understand your audience and your community a little bit more.”
Live reporting during an event
The conversation also explores how organisers can use live reporting while an event is taking place. Rather than waiting until the event has finished, teams can react to what is happening on site.
“It’s live reporting where you can really see, ‘That bar was busy last night, we need to send more stock over there.’ Or, ‘That trader is really doing well, we need to get the waste management team over there now.’ You can react very quickly to what’s happening on the ground.”
Looking ahead
Towards the end of the discussion, Jess talks about the growing importance of data and AI for event organisers.
While Weezevent does not currently have its own internal AI, the platform already integrates with AI-powered systems that help organisers analyse information gathered across ticketing, payments and access control.
As organisers continue looking for better ways to understand their audiences and manage operations, bringing these technologies together is becoming an increasingly important part of the conversation.
Watch the full Event Industry News Podcast above to hear Jess Gould discuss cashless payments, NFC technology and the future of event operations in more detail.
