egPay delivers successful cashless solution for UK Government pilot events at Circus Club, Liverpool

Last weekend, one of Liverpool’s most popular clubbing brands – Circus – hosted two of the first government approved pilot events in order to test how live events will be able to run safely in a post-Covid world. As a long time partner of the brand, we were proud to be on site all weekend deploying egPay cashless and contactless technology, contributing to a successful, COVID-secure set of events.  

We were thrilled to be a part of these hugely important events, and seeing the return of clubbers to the city’s Bramley-Moore Dock was an incredible moment for us personally. These were also the first club nights since the pandemic began to not require social distancing or mask-wearing, allowing us to turn back the clock to clubbing before the pandemic.

The events saw 6000 excited fans, all from the Liverpool region, coming down to party alongside Sven Väth, Fatboy Slim and The Blessed Madonna over the two nights.  

Our goal was to help Circus reduce queues, deliver more COVID-secure events and eliminate unnecessary contact between staff and event-goers via our cashless technology. Removing physical cash is a sure-fire way to do this, and with cashless transactions up to 80% faster than cash transactions, clubbers and staff benefit from shorter queues at the venue’s bar and vendor stalls.

To ensure a set of safe events, in the lead up attendees were required to take a COVID-19 test at one of the Liverpool City Region’s test centres and only with a negative result would their ticket be validated allowing them access to the event. A negative test from all staff on site was also required.

Attendees were safely issued an RFID wristband at ticket validation upon entry, and any pre-purchased credit was also added. They were then able to make any purchases within the venue with a simple tap of their wristband, and top up with further credit at one of the various top-up stations in the venue.

We sent along 75 egPay devices to be used across the event at the event bar, cloakroom, top-up stations and all vendor stalls, as well as four of our staff to help ensure the events went as smoothly as possible. Given the time away from live events in the UK over the past 12 months, we were also excited to use the opportunity to roll out some key new features we’ve been working on:

Self-service Top-up Terminals

•  Enabling fans to top up and check their balance through self-service technology. 
•  Reducing fan to staff contact points.
•  Reduces infrastructure and staffing costs for the event organiser.
•  Integrated with PDQ card machines for contactless, chip & pin and Apple/Google Pay.  

‍egPay Integrated PDQ Card Machines

•  Reducing service provider numbers and streamlining operations with our new hardware, egPay integrated PDQ machines. 
•  Faster top-up transactions. 
•  Reduce payment data entry errors, theft and fraud.
•  Integrated and accurate reporting for a more holistic view of event performance.
•  Works offline! Never miss out on payments due to poor connectivity again.
•  Accepts contactless, chip & pin and Apple/Google Pay.

‍Brand New Mobile Reporting Suite

•  Total view of whole event performance from Ticket Sales, Access Control to Cashless POS sales.
•  Track bar and vendor performance at your fingertips.
•  View live top-up sales.
•  View real-time reporting, analyse stock, product and location performance and make smarter, data driven decisions.
•  Track customer behaviour and spend.

Not only did the cashless delivery help to reduce contact points, improve audience flow and reduce queues across site but it also allowed Circus to take advantage of the wider benefits of a cashless solution: 

•  Better customer data and analytics.
•  Reducing cash theft, accounting errors and fraud.
•  Reassuring event-goers their health and safety was a primary concern for the event organisers.
•  Customer incentives and bonus rewards to drive increases in revenues and customer spend.

Given that 70% of event-goers say they are more likely to attend an event with a cashless system in place post-lockdown, removing cash in favour of a Cashless or Contactless system such as egPay is likely to be a major part of the event industry’s return to normality.

“The events over the weekend were a great triumph.” Commented Yousef Zaher, Resident DJ and Circus Co-founder. “It was amazing to see all the smiling ravers finally getting a chance to dance together again and it was equally as satisfying to see all the teams involved in delivering events back to work, doing what they do best. We’ve built a close relationship with Event Genius over the years and had full confidence they’d deliver a successful cashless deployment at the events, which were of huge significance as we step out of the pandemic.” 

Our Chief Supply Officer Reshad Hossenally said: “The events over the bank holiday weekend were a huge step forward in our return to live events in the UK. It was an amazing feeling to be back on site alongside colleagues from the wider event delivery community, all getting back to work after so much time on the sidelines. It was a huge effort from everyone involved and a great achievement. The shows go far beyond people partying and having fun, the live events industry has been decimated and many jobs have been lost and companies severely impacted. These events will hopefully demonstrate the industry can now return safely.

We were delighted that Circus chose egPay to be their official cashless partner for these landmark events. It provided further validation that egPay is the most comprehensive cashless and contactless product on the market, and we look forward to playing our part in the industry’s return.”

If you’d like to speak to us about how egPay can help you and your events get back to live, get in touch today, we’d love to hear from you!

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