Prepaid wristbands are a hit at U.K. festival

Research conducted at the 2011 Isle of Wight Festival held June 10 to June 12 concluded that MasterCard Worldwide prepaid contactless wristbands were popular with festival goers. Survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed the wristbands, rendered contactless by MasterCard's near field communication scheme called PayPass, were quicker and easier to use for concessions purchases than credit or debit cards.

During the popular music festival, which took place on the English Channel island off the south coast of England, VIP festival goers were given wristbands, each loaded with 30 British pounds. By tapping the wristbands on PayPass-enabled POS terminals at a bar and restaurant on the festival grounds, users paid for food and drinks.

MasterCard researchers then polled the users about their experiences with the wristbands. The results were that 96 percent thought the wristbands allowed them to make payments quicker than with traditional bankcards and 98 percent agreed the wristbands were easier to use than plastic. Additionally, 100 percent of survey respondents wanted to use the wristbands for future festivals, concerts and sporting events.

By the end of the first quarter of 2011, more than 92 million PayPass contactless cards and devices were in circulation and 311,000 merchant locations worldwide had been enabled to accept PayPass transactions, according to MasterCard.

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