Club to go to cashless payments

[Louis29]

Is this just a massive ploy to get sponsored off FairFX and we said we would go cashless and promote their name?

[boyliegladbach]

It's also a shame for the occasional charity and good causes who collect money from time to time at games,
With no one needing to bring cash and it not being used in the ground they won't be getting much.

[Bigfathoss]

The upcoming Q&A night is going to be a brave move

[Pedro]

Bad move for those who are struggling financially to load a card with £50 or do not have a credit card or debit.
It's leaving the less well off behind and not fair.
It's good for the club because they will get a cut of the loaded cards in advance of it being used.

[mall]

That's me done. My time of going to Holker Street looks like its coming to an end.
I always use cash, its the only way me and my wife know. This is a really bad idea.

Would it be possible for you to go in with a mate - give him the cash and he pays contactless for you both?

If only life was that easy.
It means dependence on someone else just when I'm trying to hold onto to what independence I have left.
These younger ones now, I don't know.

[Hadrian]

Whether people can or can't afford £50 is also only part of the issue. What responsible parent can honestly say that they would be happy to send their child out of the house with £50 and no control over how it is spent?

Exactly so.

[mall]

Nonsense, of course there are people old and young who use cards etc but there are lots that don't. This only puts up barriers that will stop people coming.
Accept contactless everywhere yes, great, but refusing other "inconvenient" payments is ludicrous.

You are right, they are taking away a legitimate payment method, but as a club we are following trends in the country at large, I know retail stores will stop accepting cash in the coming years by way of not replacing cash enabled cash registers when they are life expired as they won’t be viable to replace.

Colchester Utd are entering their third season as cashless, they too provided an alternative payment card by means of machines at the ground to load the money onto the cards, by the end of the first season they were so little used barely 1% of takings used the club provided card that they are now looking to remove them as soon as possible, and they have lost money in installing and implementing the system and that’s probably why Barrow are not going down a similar route.

As for the £50 minimum amount, it may seem steep and it would be a barrier to some albeit a very small actual number, but I would easily wax £50 at a game especially if I had a few pints or took my kids. Left over money can be used at other games if not spent and frankly if you can’t afford £50 in one go then you can’t really afford to go the football at all.
Sounds harsh bits it’s true.

"if you can’t afford £50 in one go then you can’t really afford to go the football at all".
Absolute load of arrogant ill thought out rubbish.
What about the bloody state pensioners who dont have a works pension and have to scrimp and scrape to get their match money sometimes twice a week for gods sake!!.

[Hadrian]

Cashing in on the most needy by making profit off a pre paid card and Barrow eats won’t be doing it for the publicity. Bit like paying for a season ticket in interest free installments then being charged £30+ for the arrangement fee, taking fans for mugs.

You may be confusing Internet application providers and financial institutions with charities.

[Stephen Leonard]

I think the main issue here is probably not whether a more cashless approach is going to be brought in - it’s the timing/speed/lack of consultation/lack of understanding/ crassness re the FX card situation etc shown in the decision

If they had said we will start trialling certain things as cashless over the coming months with a view to moving fully cashless by the end of the season then I think more people would have been ok with it

a few days days before the first match is not the time to drop this bombshell and then to seemingly make it an issue that the trust and SLO are dragged into without knowledge or consultation is even more damaging

I think a quick statement of acknowledgement that it’s not been handled well and is being rethought might be sensible -

[Back of the net]

Cashing in on the most needy by making profit off a pre paid card and Barrow eats won’t be doing it for the publicity. Bit like paying for a season ticket in interest free installments then being charged £30+ for the arrangement fee, taking fans for mugs.

You may be confusing Internet application providers and financial institutions with charities.

Not at all. The people who can’t afford £300+ upfront get penalised. Talking to those who bought ST for the rugby by installments paid the same as a fan buying it in a single transaction.
.

[tictactoe]

I’ve used cash daily in my job since covid began and luckily I haven’t had Covid. I don’t think there is any evidence to suggest it is a cause.

[EABluebird]

You are right, they are taking away a legitimate payment method, but as a club we are following trends in the country at large, I know retail stores will stop accepting cash in the coming years by way of not replacing cash enabled cash registers when they are life expired as they won’t be viable to replace.

Colchester Utd are entering their third season as cashless, they too provided an alternative payment card by means of machines at the ground to load the money onto the cards, by the end of the first season they were so little used barely 1% of takings used the club provided card that they are now looking to remove them as soon as possible, and they have lost money in installing and implementing the system and that’s probably why Barrow are not going down a similar route.

As for the £50 minimum amount, it may seem steep and it would be a barrier to some albeit a very small actual number, but I would easily wax £50 at a game especially if I had a few pints or took my kids. Left over money can be used at other games if not spent and frankly if you can’t afford £50 in one go then you can’t really afford to go the football at all.
Sounds harsh bits it’s true.

"if you can’t afford £50 in one go then you can’t really afford to go the football at all".
Absolute load of arrogant ill thought out rubbish.
What about the bloody state pensioners who dont have a works pension and have to scrimp and scrape to get their match money sometimes twice a week for gods sake!!.

Sorry if that sounded arrogant; it was a bit abrupt.

The solution is simple though, don’t use the club issued card and use your own bank card with contactless function then you won’t need to spend £50 up front, make the queue go down quicker and save the club a fortune in cash processing costs.

[Methuselah]

What I want to know is what has happened to us being a family friendly club.This proposal goes against that very statement.
I remember many a bucket collection for local charities taking place at Holker St where people would throw their loose change into a bucket raising quite substantial amounts for the relevant charity when you could have anything from 1500 to 2000 people in.the crowd.
This opportunity will now be lost.I suppose the club will say that they will advertise the charity in a half time announcement with a website for people to donate which people will probably forget about.
Please remember Barrow AFC is part of the community and do not become some faceless corporate organisation which cares little for the poorer sections of our society who have to budget from week to week.

[blue nige]

"if you can’t afford £50 in one go then you can’t really afford to go the football at all".
Absolute load of arrogant ill thought out rubbish.
What about the bloody state pensioners who dont have a works pension and have to scrimp and scrape to get their match money sometimes twice a week for gods sake!!.

Sorry if that sounded arrogant; it was a bit abrupt.

The solution is simple though, don’t use the club issued card and use your own bank card with contactless function then you won’t need to spend £50 up front, make the queue go down quicker and save the club a fortune in cash processing costs.

YOU STILL DON'T GET IT !

[liverpoolann]

Well absolutely gobsmacked by this.Like most I have a debit card but because contactless cards are so fraught to be used easily by scum if you unfortunately lose it I only take mine out on shopping trips and always draw and use plenty of cash for things like lunch out drinks etc.I consider I am a fairly modern pensioner but I think that this is a rushed ill thought decision that will upset a lot of people.If our bigger stores Tesco B and M etc are happy to accept cash or card think we should be too.These businesses know that a lot of the older generation are not comfortable with electronic banking etc in any form .The idea that parents will quite happily put £50 on a child’s card for the infrequent trips they make make to holker street would be laughable if it didn’t show just how out of touch the ceo and board are as to how a lot of people in Barrow live.Bae May pay well and some people have good occupational pensions but there are a large amount of older people not in fortunate positions to do this.People should not be arbitrarily forced to go cashless at a family friendly club.Too much change too soon is now alienating a lot of the fan base and it has been stated many times the majority of them are older people.By all means give people choice card or cash payments but if you present this decision in this form you will have falling attendances right from the start.The most annoying to me is that this board decision seems to have been made with no consultation with our supporters liaison officer which really undermines him and shows we are an afterthought plus if the Trust were consulted beforehand why were not the obvious objections raised on this thread anticipated.Really disappointed with the board over this .
Is it the intention to not have the wooden huts selling refreshments in ground?Cant believe people need a card to buy coffee and a pay.Put out a retraction ASAP and rethink a compromise or a crises in support.