More and more events are moving away from (plastic) tokens and/or physical money. Whether you run a music festival, club night, food truck park or sports event, going cashless is quickly becoming the new standard. And whereas cashless payments can help speed up service at the bar and reduce queues, the real power lies in real-time insights, easy reconciliation, collecting spend data, reducing fraud, and delivering a better visitor experience.
Cashless payment systems allow visitors to pay for food, drinks, merchandise, or services without using physical money. Instead of cash or tokens, guests use digital methods such as wristbands, event cards, bank cards or their phones (Apple or Google Pay) to complete transactions: no more cash handling, fewer errors, and faster lines.
For visitors, the experience feels easier and more secure. For organisers, it means more reliable payments, real-time oversight, and valuable insight into how and where people are spending their money.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the technology behind cashless and the real benefits it can bring to your event.
Event organisers are always looking for ways to give their visitors the best possible experience whilst simultaneously maximising revenue. In our experience, these are the themes that leading organisers are currently working on improving:
Encourage digital adoption and enhance the customer journey: The goal here is to improve the overall User Experience (UX) and foster deeper fan engagement, not only during the event but throughout the year.
Increase food & beverage (F&B) consumption: The objective is to maximise revenue by speeding up service at bars and concession stands, thereby reducing the time it takes to complete a sale.
Develop sponsorship revenues: By creating more valuable and measurable partnership offers for your sponsors.
Working with data for sustainable growth: The goal is to analyse and utilise data to increase or maintain ticket sales efficiently while minimising costs.
A cashless system can positively influence nearly all of these critical themes. Here are the eight most compelling arguments for events and festivals to transition from plastic tokens to a modern cashless solution (whether that's an open-loop or closed-loop system):
Organisers gain the critical ability to monitor revenue streams in real time as the event unfolds. Knowing precisely what is selling best, at which location, and at what time allows for immediate and proactive operational adjustments. Using these insights, you can respond quickly by moving team members to high-demand areas, managing stock by identifying fast-depleting inventory and triggering immediate restocking, and boosting promotion by launching on-the-fly offers for slow-moving items.
Manually counting and reconciling cash and tokens across multiple shops and bars is a labour-intensive task that can be eliminated entirely with a cashless system. Cashless systems provide immediate, accurate financial reports, offering a clear and comprehensive view of the event’s results and key revenue drivers with minimal administrative hassle.
Cashless systems are proven to drive higher spending per attendee. The disappearance of the psychological spending barrier means attendees using cashless methods are often inclined to top up or spend more freely because the cognitive ‘pain’ of handing over physical money is removed. Pre-event revenue generation is also enabled through features such as mandatory pre-loading, top-up incentives, and special pre-sale packages. Furthermore, the quick processing of payments, especially crucial for large or multi-item orders, maximises sales opportunities during peak hours.
Cashless solutions drastically increase security and traceability. All transactions are digitally recorded, making payments traceable and inherently more secure than cash or physical tokens. Cash handling risks are eliminated, as staff no longer need to manage cash change or token inventory, thereby eliminating the associated risks of storage, transport, and miscalculation. Cashless systems also make it difficult to commit internal fraud, often associated with tokens, such as volunteers selling tokens, stealing discarded tokens, or giving away free items.
It is well known that a minority of visitors often accounts for the majority of F&B revenue: in our experience, 1/3rd of visitors are responsible for 2/3rds of the revenue. Closed-loop cashless systems, in particular, allow organisers to create detailed visitor profiles by tracking individual spending patterns and preferences. This data can then inform targeted marketing, allowing you to segment audiences and create highly effective follow-up campaigns for future events.
The frustrating queues for purchasing or topping up tokens can significantly affect visitors’ experiences. With modern cashless and contactless systems, attendees can conveniently top up their accounts online before the event or pay directly at the point of sale using their preferred bank account, card, or digital wallet.
Physical tokens severely limit the organiser’s ability to price menus accurately or introduce diverse product offerings. For events with high F&B revenue potential or a large variety of food options, this restriction can be a major financial drawback. Cashless enables granular, flexible pricing for every item. The system can also support dynamic pricing, enabling price changes to accommodate happy hours at cocktail bars, for instance, which can help maximise revenue.
In certain key markets, regulations are being introduced that will prohibit the use of plastic tokens entirely, with proposed changes expected in some regions as of 2026. Proactively adopting a cashless solution now means you’ll be prepared for future compliance and can help avoid a rushed, costly transition later on.
When you go cashless, you’ll need to decide between two system types: Open Loop and Closed Loop. Both have their advantages, and the right choice depends on your event’s size, setup, and goals.
An Open Loop system accepts payments via standard methods like debit and credit cards, as well as mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. These systems are connected to external banking networks, so visitors can pay using the same cards or apps they use every day. This means visitors will be familiar with how to pay. Ideal for one-day events, clubs or short events, that visitors go to, without much preparation.
A Closed Loop system works within your event’s own ecosystem. Visitors top up a wristband or dedicated event card using RFID chip technology, and use it to pay at all on-site bars, food stands, and shops.
Because the system is fully internal, payments are faster, and you get complete control over the transaction environment and richer data for every purchase, even without a constant internet connection. This makes the system more resilient to outages. Ideal for multi-day events and festivals where visitors are prone to topping up credit in advance.
Area | Open Loop | Closed Loop |
Connect spending information with visitor data | No. | Yes. Able to easily and accurately connect visitor and payment information. |
Payment speed | Fast (~8 seconds). May slow down order processing depending on the setup. | Very fast (~1-2 seconds). |
Visitor familiarity | High. Visitors know how to use their preferred payment methods; no account creation or top-ups needed. | Medium. Requires new steps (account creation, top-ups), though 80% of top-ups are done online. |
Offline processing | Yes. There is a maximum of €50k per POS, €50 per transaction. | Yes. Just as responsive offline as online. However, top-ups require an internet connection to transfer to the RFID chips. |
Hardware | Regular POS systems, either handheld or fixed at the bar. | Uses lighter handheld terminals with longer battery life. Requires less technological infrastructure. |
Barrier to spend | Low. Using digital payment methods eliminates the psychological barrier to spending. | Higher. Most people set a budget for the evening when topping up, making them more aware of their spending. However, there is an option to communicate pricing in a digital currency, such as tokens, instead. This has shown to be beneficial. |
Pre-event revenue | No. | Yes. You can sell drink tokens or credits in advance at the ticket shop. Encouraging top-ups in advance leads visitors to feel they spent less on the day. |
Visitor validation and accreditation | No. | Yes. You can manage different groups (crew, VIPs, minors who aren’t allowed to drink) and utilise it to assign access control to groups or individuals. |
Entrance | No impact on entrance time. | Additional effort and time (10-15 seconds) is needed at the entrance for distributing RFID bracelets. |
Costs | POS are a little more expensive. | POS are cheaper, but there are extra costs involved in RFID usage. |
Transaction costs | Higher. Fixed cost per transaction. | Lower. A single fee per top-up. |
The real value of cashless, whether it’s open or closed loop, lies in the data and insights you gain when every transaction is digital and connected. With the right setup, you can turn your cashless system into a powerful decision-making tool.
Cashless systems streamline operations before, during, and after your event. Because everything is tracked digitally, you get immediate visibility into what is happening on-site.
With contactless payments, transactions are processed in seconds, keeping lines moving at bars, food trucks, and merch stands.
Staff no longer handle tokens (or cash), reducing errors, shrinkage, and fraud. It also helps with complex orders (larger beverage assortments, hard cup deposits, etc.). Refunds or credits can also be issued instantly, hassle-free.
Real-time dashboards help you monitor which locations are busiest, how spending changes (dips during a headliner’s set or spikes between acts) and where to allocate stock as needed. You can open or close bars based on real-time demand, upscale or downscale personnel based on sales activity and make real data-driven choices to optimise your bar operations.
There’s no need to settle or reconcile costs with on-site vendors, as all insights are stored in the system.
This level of control means fewer surprises and more confident decisions during your event.
When visitors use a bank card, RFID card, or wristband topped up with credit, they tend to spend more. You eliminate the hesitation that comes with pulling out a wallet or worrying about exact change.
But the real advantage is what happens behind the scenes. You can see:
Which products or stands perform best
What time of day do sales peak at
Which visitor types spend the most
This allows you to fine-tune your pricing, upselling, and promotions with precision. Want to drive sales at quiet moments? Offer a timed deal. Need to reward top spenders or frequent buyers? Use your data to do precisely that.
The more you understand your visitors’ spending habits, the better you can serve them and increase your revenue.
Integrating cashless payments with ticketing provides a comprehensive view of visitor behaviour from ticket purchase to on-site spending.
Unifying this data turns disconnected points into actionable insights, allowing organisers to build detailed visitor profiles and personas. For example, linking early-bird purchases, accommodation bookings, and cocktail spending identifies visitors seeking comfort and experience, ideal for targeted loyalty and upselling offers.
A Closed Loop system's power is connecting every on-site transaction to an individual's account, linking food, drink, or merchandise purchases to their ticket data. This complete profile, combined with the addition of validations (such as age or VIP status) to the RFID chip, enables sophisticated, measurable brand partnerships. Instead of general sponsorship, opportunities can be highly targeted, such as offering special access only to attendees who have purchased a sponsor's product.
E.g. Imagine a partnership with Red Bull, whereby visitors who order or have ordered a Red Bull during the event get special access to a Red Bull area.
This rich, individual data is vital for improving marketing and future revenue. Organisers can track high-spend customers to create detailed audience segments and build highly effective, personalised campaigns. This enables smarter marketing, rewards valuable attendees with loyalty offers, and informs future event planning using precise sales and behavioural insights, ultimately boosting revenue and sustaining ticket sales.
If you’re doubting what solution you should pick, consider whether the following is true for your event:
You’re already analysing and using data in a CRM system. Connecting payment data with visitor data is the main advantage of a Closed Loop system, so in order to effectively analyse your results, you would need to use a CRM.
You have a festival app. If you have your own app, it might be worth considering using a Closed Loop system and setting up top-ups via the app. This increases app usage and opens up a direct communication channel.
You’re hosting a multiday event or festival. If so, a Closed Loop solution may be better suited, as the initial setup hassle is compensated by the ease of use over multiple days.
You’re hosting a single-day festival or a free festival. An Open-Loop system is likely more than sufficient to meet your needs. Setting up a Closed Loop system will generally not be worthwhile.
Whether you're running a festival, club night, sports venue, or food market, going cashless is no longer a future trend; it's a present-day opportunity. With the right setup, cashless payment systems can reduce queues, increase on-site spending, and give you access to valuable data that helps you plan better and grow smarter.
Choosing between an open or closed loop system is just the start. The real value comes from how well your system is integrated, how clearly you communicate with your audience, and how effectively you use the insights afterwards. From faster transactions and smoother access control to improved crew coordination and more accurate forecasting, cashless unlocks a new level of control.
But like any powerful tool, success depends on the setup. That’s why it's essential to avoid common pitfalls, properly train your team, and stay focused on the customer experience from start to finish.
Ready to explore how cashless can work for your event? Our team is here to help you build a solution tailored to your needs, whether you’re just starting out or ready to scale up. Let’s talk.
