Garth Brooks buffs will be able to spend more time enjoying the country star’s gigs at Croke Park thanks to payment solutions provided by AIB Merchant Services and supported by Visa.
They’ve got a good thing going. While the GAA 2022 season may be over, those attending Brooks’ five concerts join the thousands of sports fans at this year’s All-Ireland hurling and football matches who were able to spend more time following the action on the pitch and enjoying the overall matchday experience with family and friends thanks to a greater range of payment options.
More than 80 per cent of the 80,000-plus transactions during the two days of games were cashless — almost double the total for 2019, the last All-Ireland finals watched by capacity crowds. Indeed, the All-Ireland football final was Ireland’s biggest-ever cashless event.
AIB Merchant Services has installed more than 400 Clover payment devices at concession units and other points of sale throughout the stadium. Fans are the ultimate winners, with faster transactions leading to shorter queues and a far more enjoyable day out. Each transaction was upwards of five seconds faster at the All-Ireland football final, delivering a cumulative time saving of 67 hours for match-goers.
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Come half-time, everyone has the same thing on their minds: They want to get a snack or a drink
“Society has been gradually moving away from cash, but the shift has been fast-forwarded by Covid-19,” says Croke Park stadium financial controller Michael Teahan. “Increasing the capability to accept card transactions within the stadium has been on our agenda for some time and, post-lockdown, we decided that it was the right time to proceed with the project.
“Come half-time, everyone has the same thing on their minds: They want to get a snack or a drink. We have 82,300 patrons in the stadium and the installation of the Clover devices has helped us to reduce the queue times at the food and beverage units, which ultimately helps to provide an improved matchday experience.”
Hubert O’Donoghue, general manager of AIB Merchant Services, says the increase in cashless payments is not restricted to any one sector.
“Pre-Covid, transactions were split about 50:50 between cash and card. Indeed, it was probably closer to 55 per cent cash. Covid changed everything. It is now 80:20 in favour of cards, and Visa and others are claiming it is more like 85 per cent. That change has affected every sector including pharmacies, newsagents, pubs, entertainment venues and sports stadiums like Croke Park.”
And no business is immune, O’Donoghue adds. “I was in a country pub recently and when I went to pay, the owner put a card machine on the counter saying that he probably never thought that he would have one of those things in here.”
The aesthetically pleasing Clover terminals have a number of key advantages over other cashless payment devices, he says.
“We used to call the old terminals bricks. The staff member had to enter in the amount and then bring the device to the customer who made the card payment. Clover sits on the counter and is much more visually attractive. It is connected into the Croke Park property management system, so there is no need for any re-keying of the payment amount. If someone orders two coffees and two burgers, the amount comes up on the Clover screen automatically and the customer can pay by tapping with their card, phone, or watch.”
According to statistics compiled by Croke Park and AIB Merchant Services, the time saving ranges between five and 10 seconds per transaction. “There were 48,000 transactions at the most recent Ed Sheeran gig,” O’Donoghue says. “That was a huge aggregate time saving for everyone there and it allowed fans to spend more time enjoying the concert.”
This doesn’t mean that Croke Park has gone completely cashless, of course. “That’s a very important point,” says Teahan. “We still have the ability to take cash. There is still one till at each unit accepting cash for those wishing to use it. We don’t want to leave anyone behind, and we will continue to cater for anyone who prefers to pay in cash.”
The technology has also delivered considerable administrative and security benefits for Croke Park stadium.
“It has taken a lot of cash out of the system,” says stadium director Peter McKenna. “That has had huge security benefits in terms of handling, counting and dealing with money. Cash is also expensive. We have to pay for cash floats and so on. We have to pay to lodge it as well. Those costs add up to around four or five per cent of cash turnover, and when you add transaction management costs on top it rises to around six per cent.
“From the fans’ point of view, the speed of transaction is excellent. And they have a record of where they spent their money.”
Frustration and the potential for frayed tempers in long queues have also been reduced quite significantly. “No one is stuck behind anyone foostering around for change,” McKenna explains. “And you don’t get people counting money in their hand only for the staff member to have to count it again afterwards. The experience is enhanced for everyone.”
It also makes for more precise pricing. “We don’t have round-up to make transaction speeds quicker,” he says. “If there is a small change in the VAT rate, that can be reflected in the price with no rounding.”
The new terminals were installed at the beginning of the year in time for the return of capacity crowds, and everything has run smoothly since.
“AIB has been a GAA sponsor for more than three decades and we have had a very good relationship with them over a long period of time,” says McKenna. “AIB Merchant Services is a joint venture with Fiserv, a huge American firm, and that combination between the two gave us real confidence in the solution they were offering.”
The service level has also been top quality. “The AIB Merchant Services team is very conscious of the need for a stable solution which provides a seamless experience for us and visitors to the stadium,” he continues. “These things are never easy. It is a bit like a light switch. Everyone expects it to work every time, but this is a lot more complex. Altogether, we are very, very happy with the AIB Merchant Services’ solution and are very happy to recommend it to others.
“Fans tend to be system-agnostic,” McKenna concludes. “They want the system to work, and they aren’t going to tolerate something that doesn’t or is clunky. They are familiar with other systems and are very unforgiving if something doesn’t work. The system needs to be quick and seamless and faultless. That’s what the AIB Merchant Services solution has given us. It has definitely lived up to expectations.”
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