Are you ready for it? What matches the thrill of live entertainment—whether it be seeing a beloved pop star in concert, watching your favorite team play in person, or attending a theatre performance?
From small-scale music festivals to massive stadium tours, demand for concerts in particular has never been higher. Live Nation Entertainment Inc, which owns Ticketmaster, reported that 2023 brought all-time highs in both attendance and ticket sales. Attendance jumped 20% per cent (to a staggering 145 million) in 2023 alone, and grosses for the top 100 North American tours topped out at $6.63 billion, a 40 per cent rise over 2022.
If you’re one of the lucky ones able to score tickets to a big event and the date is approaching, you want to make the most of the experience, and that starts with planning. There are many things you should bring to a concert or event (along with your friends, your friendship bracelets, and your sense of fun). But one thing you might consider leaving at home? Your wallet. That’s because across Canada, more and more venues have transitioned to only accepting cashless payments: an efficient, convenient, and secure way to pay.
It’s been a long time coming…
Canadians are all-in on contactless payments. In fact, seven in 10 Gen Z Canadian adults (69 per cent) have embraced the mobile wallet, and six in 10 (63 per cent) prefer to leave their physical wallet at home for short trips, according to a recent survey commissioned by Interac.
That’s good news when it comes to concerts, because cash isn’t even an option any longer at many venues. Always check with the venue’s website, but more often than not, you’ll find language indicating that cash will not be accepted at any point of sale and that so called “reverse ATMs” are available for those patrons who need to input cash and receive pre-loaded cards.
So long, slow lines
We’ve all seen lines for concessions or souvenirs that seem to go on forever, and every minute you spend waiting takes away from your enjoyment of the experience. One of the biggest benefits of contactless payments is how effective they are at speeding up the checkout process (especially with the rise of tap to pay technology on smartphones).
Adding Interac Debit to your phone allows you to breeze through checkouts with just a tap of your smartphone or wearable device. And that speedy, contactless payment process means that concertgoers can take the moment and taste it—everyone saves time when customers aren’t fumbling around for cash or cards and cashiers aren’t making change.
Spend safely
Cashless payments reduce the opportunity for theft and lost money at events with large crowds. And they provide a digital record of your transactions.
When you make contactless payments through Interac Debit, you can feel confident that the right security measures are in place, including:
- Interac Zero-Liability Policy protection offered through your financial institution for losses resulting from circumstances beyond your reasonable control. Learn more here.
- Transaction and cumulative limits for contactless payments
Ticket tips:
Don’t forget to protect what may be one of your biggest purchases: the event ticket. There’s always some degree of risk when it comes to tickets purchased on the secondary market, whether that be through resale websites or online marketplaces. And there has been a recent uptick in these scams around concert tickets, making it more important than ever to remember that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Travel with ease
It’s important to confirm parking availability and transit recommendations with your event’s specific venue. But in general, when attending large events, it’s a good idea to consider making use of public transportation. It’s usually faster, it’s more environmentally friendly, and it saves you time when the event ends (no need for a getaway car—just hop on the train, bus, streetcar or subway).
If you do decide to take public transit, you can use Interac Debit to pay adult transit fares in select cities across Canada, bypassing lines to buy fares or load a fare card. In major regions—Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, to name a few—Interac Debit contactless payments let you tap and go using your smartphone to pay for local transit on the bus and train.
Bonus Tip:
Splitting costs for tickets, snacks or merch with your fellow concertgoers? Don’t get caught with the bill.
Send a request via Interac e-Transfer Request Money if it’s offered by your financial institution.
Lighten your load
No one wants to be weighed down at a concert, and ditching your physical wallet is a great first step when you’re trying to comply with strict bag-size limits at events. Policies can vary by venue, so always make sure to check in advance (and depending on the venue, guests may be encouraged not to bring bags of any type at all).
Generally, outside food and drinks aren’t allowed, so there’s a good chance you’ll end up buying something at the event. Those costs add up quickly—making Interac Debit the default payment on your phone can help you keep track of your snack spending.
Another reason to leave your wallet and bag at home: most large-scale events have bid farewell to paper tickets sent via mail or retrieved at will call on the day of the event. Whether it’s in your email or text or accessible via a ticket vendor app, your ticket is most likely on your phone—just like your money.
It was rare, you were there
With cashless payments, you won’t miss a moment of the action. Hopefully, you’ll have the time of your life at the event and leave with memories to last a lifetime.
