NEW REPORT: Are Mobile Payments Raising The Roof On Live Music Events?

From music to international commerce, mobile payment technology has the potential to change the way consumers pay for purchases and how companies do business. But can merchants find a way to make the technology appealing to consumers?

The May PYMNTS mPOS Tracker features news and headlines on companies looking to bring mobile payments to wider audience than ever before — and going to international lengths to do so.

Around the mPOS world

The world is getting smaller, and mPOS technology is being brought to more potential users than ever before, as several companies announced new expansions in the past month.

Square, for one, is bringing mobile payments across the pond. According to reports, the payments company founded by Jack Dorsey is using the launch of Square in the U.K. as part of a plan to gain a foothold in the mainland European marketplace. Meanwhile, Australian merchants now have access to NCR’s Silver cloud-based mPOS system. The product and its accompanying software are available to Australian merchants via download from the Australian Apple and Android app stores.

And in India, retailers have a new mPOS security tool. As the result of a recent collaboration with card payments solution provider MSwipe, MYPINPAD’s PIN Entry technology will now be available thanks to new demonetization guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India.

Making concerts cashless

Back in the U.S., at major music festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, which attract hundreds of thousands of music fans for all-day summer lineups, keeping track of cash and credentials (while achieving musical liftoff) can be a burden — and pickpockets are notoriously opportunistic.

Increasingly, however, large music concerts and many others are starting to make use of mPOS technology to keep track of who’s coming and going through festival gates, simultaneously enabling attendees to pay for food, libations and merchandise while leaving their wallet and paper tickets at home. Through partnerships with ticket technology providers like Ticketmaster subsidiary Front Gate Tickets, more music festivals are turning to wearables, like wristbands embedded with mobile ticketing and payment technology, simplifying the credentialing and payment process for both vendors and consumers.

In a recent interview for the May Tracker’s feature story, Ben Taylor, COO of Front Gate Tickets, told PYMNTS the technology has been popular with festival goers thus far.

“We’re seeing some very high adoption rates for this technology,” Taylor said. “The festivals do a good job of encouraging people to link their payment or other information to the wristbands, and we’re seeing lots of people sign up for them, and then 100 percent of the people who link payments use it for at least one transaction, so it seems the fans definitely see a value in the service.”

For the full story, along with all the latest notable news from the mPOS space, along with company rankings and a directory of more than 270 providers, check out the latest mPOS Tracker.

To download the May edition of the mPOS Tracker, click the button below …

About The Tracker

The PYMNTS mPOS Tracker is your go-to resource for staying up to date on a month-by-month basis. The Tracker highlights the contribution of different stakeholders, including institutions and technology coming together to make this happen.