The company introduced an integrated solution at the Neversea festival in Romania, while new countries could soon be included in the company’s international portfolio: Scandinavian representation for Festipay was established in Finland, and the company will enter the Italian market in August. As part of further innovating its service, Festipay payment solution has been integrated into the applications of the biggest festivals. The number of contactless transactions through Festipay’s service will exptected to reach 10 million by the end of the year.

According to the forecast for 2017, the company expects nearly 10 million contactless transactions at 26 festivals, while Festipay served 22 festivals in 2016, during which guests initiated 7 million contactless payment transactions. Alongside the festivals, more and more business companies recognize the advantages of cashless payment, so several venues introduced the Festipay payment solution this year. The list of new partners include the Paskál Thermal Baths, Lake Lupa, Budapest Park and Siófok Plázs. Lupa Beach visitors can pay comfortably upon departure, so the CHIP in the wristband does not have to be topped up in advance.

Festipay has served successfully several events on the Romanian market: in addition to Untold, which was selected to be “The Best Major Festival” in 2016, Bukarest Gourmet, Airfield and Summerwell, the number of events providing Festipay’s cashless payment in the neighboring country increases with new festivals. The first one in this season was the Afterhills Festival in the middle of June and it was followed by Vibe Festival and the Neversea Beach Festival.

Festipay was present with its integrated solutions at the Neversea Festival: ID-access and payments were both ensured by a single, chip-based wristband. The festival payment chip could be topped up online with a credit or debit card on the festival website’s registration interface. Furthermore, Festipay’s front end sales solution was connected to the merchants’ cash register system, speeding up service significantly. “The Festipay portfolio was completed with the integrated solution provided at the Neversea Festival, so we can say that now we are competitors with the largest international providers - and not only in terms of payment services,” said Festipay Ltd. CEO László Márki.

And international expansion continues. The Scandinavian representation for Festipay was established in Finland this spring, and at the end of summer, the company will enter the Italian market at the AMA Festival between 22 and 27 August in Asolo.

In the Hungarian market the company is expending too:a long running event series, the Közgáz Semester Closing Festival offered cashless payment with Fesstipay in the middle of June in Alsóörs for the first time. Festipay also provided the cashless payment infrastructure for one of its oldest partners, VOLT Festival in Sopron, but as a new service the Festipay Top Up Machine was newly introduced this year. The Top Up Machine enabled visitors to apply for their festival cards without human interaction, and due to its around-the-clock availability, they could top it up anytime with cash, credit and debit cards.

Also new this year is that the services available in the Festipay mobile application have been integrated into the applications of the big festivals to further ease the process of registration of the Festipay card, the credit or debit card top-up and the access of the transactions’ tracking list. The solution, which made its debut at Volt Festival, could also be used by visitors at Balaton Sound and will be available at Sziget Festival too.

The growth in the total number of credit and debit card transactions in 2016 continued this year as well. At Volt Festival, the number of credit and debit card payments increased by more than 50% (from 94,000 to 145,000), and at Balaton Sound an increase of more than 25% was experienced (the number of transactions increased from 77,000 to 98,000).

Festipay presented a new accessory at this year’s Balaton Sound Festival: the festival payment bracelet. The water-resistant and washable nautical bracelet contains a chip, which is suitable for contactless payments, similarly to the festival card. It was available in four designs and four sizes. In addition to replacing the festival card completely, the bracelet is a much more comfortable payment solution, and also functions perfectly as a sporty or fashion wearable. The Festipay festival bracelet can be registered in the festivals’ application, so it provides every convenient function offered by the integrated services.

After the nautical bracelet with the Balaton Sound logo, a Sziget-branded version will be designed for Sziget Festival. According to the plans, this will soon be available in the Sziget webshop - and at Sziget Festival as well.

In the second half of 2017, the usual big international festivals will follow: Untold, and Sziget.