DIGISEQ, the wearable payments tech pioneer, has revealed details of a partnership with technology company Mastercard and payment app MuchBetter that gave Mastercard customers attending the 2022 French Open Roland-Garros tennis tournament more choice in how they pay, through sustainable contactless payment fobs made with recycled apple skins.
The French Open tennis tournament, held at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, France, is one of the four prestigious ‘Grand Slam’ events on the tennis calendar, welcoming around 15,000 spectators daily.
DIGISEQ teamed up with Mastercard, the official payments partner of Roland-Garros since 2013, and MuchBetter to produce a world-first sustainable contactless key fob made with organic apple skins. Each chip-enabled key fob was pre-loaded by DIGISEQ with €20, which could be spent on-site at Roland-Garros, while the fob holder was made with apple waste from apple juice production.
A pleasant bonus is that the fob holder is naturally apple-scented, creating a more memorable and immersive fan experience at the event.
Terrie Smith, DIGISEQ Co-Founder and CEO, said, “We’re thrilled to showcase the exciting possibilities of our wearable tech solution at Roland-Garros with our partners Mastercard and MuchBetter.
“Fans at this year’s event enjoyed the benefits of contactless payment through a convenient key fob designed with sustainability in mind.
“This is a fantastic example of how DIGISEQ is creating new ways for millions of people to have enjoyable and immersive experiences at their favourite sports events, all through wearable tech which stays with them wherever they go.
“Our wearable tech is already being used by major banks like ABN AMRO, luxury brands like Philippe Starck and events including the 2020 Golden Globes Awards. With Roland-Garros successfully using our solutions to create unforgettable fan experiences, we’re now seeing a big uptick in interest from sports clubs and venue operators that can see the benefits of enabling secure contactless payments and digital ID verification through wearable items.”
Sustainability is a major ongoing initiative at the Roland-Garros event, and promoting and offering sustainable food in the stadium was one of this year’s key efforts. DIGISEQ, Mastercard and MuchBetter transforming apple waste into re-usable contactless payment fobs is a perfect example of recycling bio-waste into low carbon items that can used again and again.
Once fob users had spent their pre-loaded amount onsite at the tournament, the fob could then be reused after the event by downloading the MuchBetter app via QR code, or the link muchbetter.com/app/mastercard, and reloaded with funds. The fob can be used in any contactless location where Mastercard is accepted.
DIGISEQ’s wearable tech is speeding up venue entry times, and creating faster footfall at sales points with quick contactless transactions that eliminate the need for fans to carry cash, with real-time transaction data helping venues to create valuable marketing insights to draw fans closer while also boosting revenues.
DIGISEQ’s fast-growing momentum comes amid an exciting time for wearables as they break into the mainstream market, and are expected to have a market value of $171.38bn by 2032, a projected growth of more than $150 billion over the next 10 years.
DIGISEQ’s mobile personalisation and tokenisation ensures all provisioned payment data is fully protected, with contactless transactions secured in exactly the same way as card or phone NFC payments.
By promoting use of wearable tech, brands, banks and issuers can reduce their reliance on producing plastic cards, as DIGISEQ handles the over-the-air personalisation and payment enablement of the wearable item from end to end, saving banks and original equipment manufacturers vast amounts of time and money.
Additionally, this also helps to significantly reduce the amount of plastic used for cards, improving environmental and sustainability efforts.
DIGISEQ’s ground-breaking technology is revolutionising wearable payments by allowing consumers to register and activate their own item using their payment card, through DIGISEQ’s Manage MiiTM mobile app, which can be white-labelled with the branding of its clients, essentially making it an invisible payments partner.
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