Like many clubs and businesses Gloucester Rugby club are trialing cashless stadiums. Starting with this Friday’s match against Sale the club will be trialling payment by card only in a number of bars at the Kingsholm Stadium.
As Gloucester’s rugby club make this move, it was great to be on Steve Kitchen’s BBC Radio Gloucester’s breakfast show this morning sharing my experiences of being cashless for over two years.
From the northern tip of Shetland’s North Isles to the southern tip of the European Union in the Canary Islands I’ve found being cashless to have many benefits, its convenient, I can track my spending, I always know my balance in real time, it helps me budget and is much more secure than carrying cash about – and I don’t waste time queueing at an ATM.
Ten years ago cash accounted for 6/10 payments and it’s predicted that in 15 years that cash will only be used for 1/10 payments. Given how quickly the number of ATM withdrawals are reducing I’d wager that cash will become an interesting historical artefact much sooner than that – the future is digital money not physical cash.
When you think about it most people are already more cashless than we think – our mortgage is paid by Direct Debit, we buy online from Amazon with a card and pay Netflix electronically. The final piece of the jigsaw is the day to day payments we make – even then loads of people pay for things like their bus fare contactless.
Other stadiums across the UK have also gone cashless, at Spurs’ new stadium at White Hart Lane cashless catering delivers a quick and efficient pie and a pint experience.
So on Friday why not enjoy a cashless pint at the Kingsholm Stadium.and then provide the club with feedback – email: admin@gloucesterrugby.co.uk with a subject: “Cashless”.
As a cashless advocate I’d be interested in how you get on please let me know in the comments section below.
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