Going Cashless: The Fast Lane to Payments

The 2017 FIA Formula E Qualcomm New York City ePrix, which kicks off in Brooklyn on July 15 & 16, will mark the first event of its kind in the New York tri-state area. The all-electric race won’t just give fans a glimpse at the next generation of motorsports, it will give local businesses a chance to take a test drive through the future of commerce.

As the Official Payment Partner of the FIA Formula E racing series, Visa will turn the racing venue—the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal—into a cashless payment zone for thousands of ePrix attendees. Formula E fans will be able to leave their cash at home and pay for items, from food truck bites to fan gear, with one of several digital ways to pay through Square readers.

Within the Visa Everywhere Lounge in the eVillage, fans will be able to experience the cashless economy and racing in new ways, including:

• Connected Car Experience Demo: During race weekend, Visa is exposing fans to a series of immersive experiences that showcase the future of payments. One of those experiences is a sneak peek of the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, launching later this year. The car will be on display as part of an in-vehicle payment demo by Honda Developer Studio. The demo experience will help transform the way consumers make in-vehicle mobile payments for everyday services such as public parking.
• Virtual Reality Shopping Experience Demo: Race fans can experience virtual reality payments demo using Visa Checkout. Fans can demo “purchasing” tickets and merchandise for the Formula E race destination of their choice on a VR headset.
• Gaming: In the Gaming arena, an eRace on the first-ever simulator version of the popular mobile game Real Racing, will allow fans a chance to race alongside Formula E drivers. The eRaces will be broadcast live to millions of mobile devices via the app’s Real Racing TV.
• Rewards and Redemption Demo: At the Visa Everywhere Shop, a rewards redemption experience demo will enable consumers to sign up for a demo loyalty program and earn “points” towards purchasing Formula E merchandise.

At the official Press Preview Day on Friday, Visa’s Avin Arumugam, SVP of Internet of Things, will host a “Connected Vehicles in a Cashless World” panel with Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag; John Moon, Developer Relations at Honda R&D Americas; Rick Haas, President and CEO at Mahindra Automotive North America; and Mike Finley, President of North America at Qualcomm. They will have a lively discussion about the future of transportation and commerce as the industry races to a cashless culture.

Outside the New York ePrix gates, local merchants, including 2nd City, Fish Cheeks and Mulberry & Vine, are offering their customers cashless experiences during race weekend. Visa will be helping merchants go cashless and use innovation to their advantage so that they can stay competitively connected to their customers.

To encourage businesses to go cashless, Visa is announcing The Visa Cashless Challenge, with a call to action for U.S.-based small business restaurants, cafes or food truck owners to describe what cashless means for them, their employees and customers. Visa will be awarding up to $500,000 to 50 eligible US-based small business food service owners to help them promote their quest to go cashless.

Visa recently conducted a study titled “Cashless Cities: Realizing the Benefits of Digital Payments,” which found that if businesses in 100 cities around the world transitioned from cash to digital they could experience a net benefit of $312 billion per year. In New York City alone, businesses could generate an additional $6.8 billion in revenue and save more than 186 million hours of labor by relying more heavily on digital payments. That would amount to more than $5 billion in annual cost savings for New York City businesses.

Clearly, it pays to go cashless.