Back to live: Why the move to cashless events is more important than ever

Go Cashless or Contactless with egPay. Contact us today.


The live events industry was one of the first to be hit by the coronavirus pandemic. We as an industry must come together to do everything we can to be ready to get back to live as quickly and as safely as possible. Since the pandemic struck, the teams at Event Genius and Festicket have been working hard creating ideas, best practises and developing new features and functionalities across our platform that will help event organisers of all types, and the wider sector, to better manage COVID-secure events as we all try to get back to live.  

In this blog, we’ll be focussing on cashless and why now, more than ever, is the perfect time to switch from cash based events to cashless events. Over recent years, our Event Genius Pay clients have been enjoying benefits including better revenues, more insightful data, shorter queues, faster transactions and increased operational efficiency but in the current climate there are also a host of hygiene advantages that will bolster your COVID-secure protocols whilst allowing you to run safer events for your fans and staff. Check out the rest of the articles in our Back to live blog series here.

‍Reduce contact

• Remove the need for fans and staff to exchange cash, credit or debit cards and pin terminals during transactions
• Increase the ability for your attendees and staff to socially distance suitably.

Reduce cash handling

• Cash is notoriously unhygienic and cash handling is an easy way to spread virus’. Studies have actually shown that the common influenza virus can last for up to 17 days on banknotes.
• Go cashless and create a safer, more hygienic and COVID-secure event environment for everyone on site.

Improve audience flow

• Faster transactions and shorter queues allow for a more natural visitor flow through your event and avoids over crowding in and around queuing areas. ‍

Reassure fans and staff

• We all need to keep the health of the general public at the forefront of our processes.
• Making the switch to cashless is a key indicator you are prioritising the safety of your audience and employees.

Increase revenues

• It is no secret that event promoters have been severely affected by the shut down of the live events industry and cash flow for many is now a serious issue.
• Our data across all cashless clients tells us events that switch to cashless with Event Genius Pay will enjoy up to a 26% uplift in revenues in year one and clients who make the switch to a multi-year agreement have seen an overall increase of up to 39% in customer spend by year two.
• Popular among both fans and organisers, pre-purchased credits also allow you to generate additional revenues in the lead up to your event, particularly important for boosting cash flow. Sold alongside the event tickets – fans will spend an average of £54 (€60) on credit, typically generating 31% of overall cashless revenues prior to the event itself.
• In addition, customers who pre-purchase credit have a 49% uplift in total spend-per-head compared to fans that spend on site.
• Making the most of voucher credit offers is also now more important than ever in order to attract customers during tough economical times. Entice customers with special offers, increase conversion rates and improve pre-event revenues.

In general, society has been moving away from cash and towards a cashless way of living and the Coronavirus pandemic has only accelerated this. Many retail and high street brands have already turned their back on cash and we expect that in 2021, the majority of all major events across the UK and Europe will be cashless.

Making the switch is a simple and straightforward process led by our team of experts. Learn more about all things Event Genius Pay at our egPay dedicated cashless page.

If you’d like to speak to us about going cashless with egPay, get in touch today, we'd love to hear from you!

Guidance surrounding COVID-19 is changing regularly, and as we continue to develop our products and services we will be releasing a series of newsletter updates to keep our clients and partners up to date. Sign up below for all our latest updates.

Related content - Back to live: COVID-19 ready access control from Event Genius
‍Related content - Back to live: COVID-19 ready ticketing from Event GeniusRelated content - Ten reasons why your festival should go cashless in 2021