I wonder how people who have to purchase the gift cards to use inside the ground can collect their remaining balances? At the end of your spending spree inside the ground you may be left with £2.34 on your card. Given that the hotdogs are likely to be sold out by half time and you cant afford a pint how do you get your money back?
I can recall spending a fortune at Schalke as i kept on going back to buy more cards to get the rounds in. When i finally came around in the morning i had part used cards all over the show
In all seriousness though, how would those people who rely on cash be able to get their change back? Queue up at the kiosk after the match?
Hear hear. We’re still playing catch up with other clubs that have already implemented these sorts of changes. The club really are dammed if they do and damned if they don’t. I thought Dan’s interview clearly explained the changes and it is clear they have been well considered and with people’s varying circumstances accommodated.
I think it’s a case of suck it and see ,it is a way forward and what we have all been calling for ,and fair play to the club for trying, I just hope it works for us more than against us ,maybe there should be a back up plan for the old ones that don’t like change.I can’t fault for the forward way I thinking ,my judgment was just going by how other modern prem clubs operate , its like Walsall have gone from the Triassic period to the space race within a few months that’s all
I haven’t listened to the update but I presume you can use a bank card? I have hardly used cash over the past 12 months. My corner shop will take a bank card for payment for a newspaper.
For older persons you need to move with times. Its not a difficult concept to grasp. My mom is 86 and does internet banking, amazon the lot. My kids used her to sit at the computer to bag concert tickets as soon as they were released because they were at school.
I think the club have done completely the right thing. With the Covid situation most places are encouraging card payments. Burger King will only accept card as they are handling cash and serving food. From what I was told there are no plans to change this so business can’t have been impacted much. I think most people
Now a days are having money paid into bank accounts so have card anyway. I know there are a few with nationwide account books (my grandad had one and he was more stubborn than anyone about change or having a card account! Trust me) In the end he had to as it made paying his bills easier than going town every week. I think we have to give credit to the club as it sounds like they have tried to think about people who don’t want to pay by card and put an infrastructure in place to accept gift card payments via kiosks. So they haven’t just said card or nothing. Correct me if I’m wrong but that’s how it sounded to me
Yes, it’s card payments.
The gift cards are only there as an option if someone wants to use cash. It means they buy them with cash at the shop but then all other areas of the ground can pay by either bank / credit card or the gift card avoiding having loads of places handling cash.
That’s correct.
Unfortunately some fans have got the wrong end of the stick with some things and then it gets spread round like Chinese whispers causing more confusion.
I don’t have any problems with anything Mole said.
Just want to be able to watch the game hassle free, and get served promptly.
There’s one problem with cashless though, that nobody ever considers, and that’s when the tech goes down - which it will - both individually if your card fails, company wide as has been my experience in supermarkets many times and systemically, in relation to indivdual banks eg. here …
Tech is great when it works, its a disaster when it doesnt and there’s no back-up.
I haven’t used cash for the last 2 years with no problem at all. My credit card bill runs to 3 pages every month and gets paid automatically by direct debit. Never had a problem.
I’ve not got a problem with it however I take my 3 nephews with me who get their 3 quid back and immediately put it towards buying a burger, chips and a drink. The 3 quid isn’t been given back till end of season so my sister who struggles as a working single parent to 4 kids now has to find an extra £9, not a big deal to majority of people but it will be to her. Looks like I’ll be copping for it.
My kids have those go Henry cards so again no big deal to us but there is a monthly charge to use them.
I think it should see queues move quicker if people have contactless cards, sadly anyone stuck behind me won’t be so lucky I have to put my number in lol, can’t say I agree with it but fully understand why the club has done what they’ve done.
Also does this see the end of the 50/50 draw, also how’s the car parking going to work too as it would be hypocritical of the club if the quid coins are allowed to be given out.
I think this is a really important point. When I was younger and used to get £2 back I would use it to buy a drink or food. Whilst it won’t be any good this year, hopefully in future seasons, children might keep the money they get given at the end of the season to use to buy refreshments etc for the following season.
That’s how I heard it too. Debit/credit card payments and contactless and people who don’t have those can buy a card from the shop to put money onto it. Common sense really tells you that. That was like the government giving out clear and simple messages and everyone saying it’s mixed messages the world we live in
You only have to look at the clubs official Facebook and Twitter accounts where fans are commenting and saying stuff that isn’t correct.
I think to some extent the club should be monitoring those and correcting any misinformation.
To be fair some of our fans are correcting fellow fans themselves but it would have more impact coming from the club.
An example is the season tickets going electronic. There was a guy on the clubs Facebook yesterday stating that you had to have a season ticket downloaded to your phone and there was no other options… despite the club clarifying that plastic cards will be available to those not wanting to download to a device.
I’ve been to Edgbaston a couple of times this summer and they had cashless bars, possibly as a response to Covid.
However well before Covid, venues like the NIA and the NEC were also operating cashless bars. Not just for acts who would attract the younger more tech savvy youngsters, but acts that would attract the older folk, like Andrea Bocelli, Strictly etc.
What I’m getting at is that cashless was an inevitability regardless of Covid. It really speeds things up with no waiting for change, and I’m sure it will become second nature to everyone after a few games.
the world we live in