e-cash goes at end of this season. Do you use it?

[TonyW]

http://www.seagulls.co.uk/news/arti...ion-contactless-american-express-2288464.aspx

Do you currently use e-cash? The club say that the number of users continues to tail off. I'm surprised, but maybe I'm in a minority?

I'm disappointed by this news.
Use eCash all the time and think it's a great system.

Shame.

 

[Left Footer]

I`ve always used it so I am disappointed that it`s being phased out.
10% cashback on a beer makes a difference to me.

It`s not going to stop me buying a beer but can`t see why it is being phased out.

Can`t really understand why people wouldn`t use it unless they have no intention of buying food/drink.

 

[halbpro]

Flicking through these comments I think the club has missed a trick here.

Relatively few people seem to not use or have stopped using the ecard because its inconvenient merely because the benefit of using it (10% discount) has been taken away.

I'm not convinced that contactless will see a massive take up to be honest because there still isn't a benefit to be had. Added to this there seems to be an awful lot of people who don't have a contactless card!

Does anyone work in a retail outlet where contactless is a reasonable method of payment? What's the general usage? What percent of transactions are contactless vs old-fashioned? As a shopper I only rarely see them being used!

Presumably the club has much better figures than this poll. I mean they know exactly how many sales are made, and to what value, using the e-cash system.

 

[The Oldman]

Another disappointed at the end of ecash. Used it since we moved to the Amex. I just take my season ticket to the match. No cash with me or card so no risk of losing either or getting wallet pinched. Plus it is so easy to use.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

I`ve always used it so I am disappointed that it`s being phased out.
10% cashback on a beer makes a difference to me.

It`s not going to stop me buying a beer but can`t see why it is being phased out.

Hopefully, in keeping with the overall transport strategy, some of the % discounts for earlier and later food/drink purchases will remain.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Hopefully, in keeping with the overall transport strategy, some of the % discounts for earlier and later food/drink purchases will remain.

I can't see that. With the current system, the percentage gets taken care of by computers. Can you imagine the chaos if the poor hapless bar staff suddenly find they need to mix timekeeping with complex equations?

 

[father_and_son]

Presumably the club has much better figures than this poll. I mean they know exactly how many sales are made, and to what value, using the e-cash system.

I'm sure that there is, without a doubt, a significant drop off in use of the ecard. But, to be honest, this was pretty obviously going to happen when the discount was scrapped/scaled back.

Also, I have no doubt that the vast majority of transactions made on match day fall below the limit for contactless (and when that goes to £30 soon, I'll doubt there are many transactions at all that couldn't be contactless).

What I think the club have got wrong is the behavioural element. From the comments here (I haven't even looked at the poll results) and from my own anecdotal observations in shops/supermarkets is that contactless doesn't have a huge take up. Many people don't have it, don't understand it and/or don't trust it and therefore won't be persuaded to use it just because it makes life easier for the bloke behind you in the queue.

I can't honestly see the proportion of customers using contactless being that much higher than the proportion using ecard and therefore, without re-introducing the discount, I can't see a step change in behaviour at the tills.

Switching from eCard to Contactless may be cheaper for the club in administration but I'm not sure it will do anything to help queues/processing times, etc because its fundamentally the same system as the one they are replacing.

 

[Stoichkov]

I've always used eCash and will be sorry to see it go. I don't have a contactless card

In the same way the club must have done its sums about concourse opening / closing times, how many kiosks are open etc - I suppose it must make commercial sense?

 

[Bozza]

It's a strange one this - I'm pretty sure all of those I go with pay by eCash.

It was third time lucky for me paying pre-match on Saturday. My round came to £20.20 - I presented my season ticket but it only had £15-somehting on it - for some reason the auto top-up stopped working for me - I'd set it to add another £30 when it fell below £20. I then went to pay contactless but, of course, I'd exceeded the £20 limit, just. I then paid with chip and PIN. It was quite early on and there were no queues so I didn't hold anyone else up with my rubbishness.

I would hope that contactless means we will be able to pay via ApplePay from our phones, when deployed to the UK later this year.

 

[Frampler]

I used it all the time in our first season at the Amex, as it meant you could join any queue (only some would handle cash, and fewer still would take credit/debit cards). The top up process worked well, and I usually hung around after games for a pint or two.

However, as time has gone on, I've found a combination of factors have led me to use it less and less. The 10% discount was withdrawn, and replaced by a graduated discount depending on how far away from kick off the purchase was made - a definite disincentive. The auto-top up system became unreliable, so I'd have to take cash or a debit card with me in the event that my funds were not showing. And I spend less time at the Amex on matchdays, meaning I spend less on food and drink.

Contactless bank and credit cards are the future, so the club is right to call time on the e-cash idea. Had the Amex opened a year later, I doubt they would have introduced e-cash in the first place.

 

[paul-brighton]

Used to use it but for the last few games, the tills have all been cash-only so there doesn't much point in topping up

I don't think they are all cash only - but the change caught me out on Saturday. WSL had signs Cash Only or Cards Only. So I queued for ages to use my ecash card only to be told cash only also means ecash - why not just leave the signs as they were Cash and ecash only.......

 

[beorhthelm]

What I think the club have got wrong is the behavioural element. From the comments here (I haven't even looked at the poll results) and from my own anecdotal observations in shops/supermarkets is that contactless doesn't have a huge take up. Many people don't have it, don't understand it and/or don't trust it and therefore won't be persuaded to use it just because it makes life easier for the bloke behind you in the queue.

I can't honestly see the proportion of customers using contactless being that much higher than the proportion using ecard and therefore, without re-introducing the discount, I can't see a step change in behaviour at the tills.

Switching from eCard to Contactless may be cheaper for the club in administration but I'm not sure it will do anything to help queues/processing times, etc because its fundamentally the same system as the one they are replacing.

What I've observed is that no one in shops/supermarkets uses the e-cash, for obvious reasons. but a great many use e-cash at Falmer. it stands to reason that those used to e-cash at Falmer with easily transfer to contactless, and allows those that dont have e-cash to use a quicker method than cash. the two seconds needed for 1 in 5 that might need to input a PIN doesn't seem likely to cause a substantial increase in queuing. as you say, they are fundamentally the same system, so it doesnt make alot of sense to persist with your own bespoke system when theres a universal one available. i'd wager theres a substantial cost saving behind this.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

popped into my local shop this morning, where they have contactless payments available.

I asked the lady approx. what % of people currently used it.

About 1 in 10 she replied.

I'm sure it will grow, but I can see much longer queues next season, and therfore less overall food/drink spend at the Amex.

 

[father_and_son]

What I've observed is that no one in shops/supermarkets uses the e-cash, for obvious reasons. but a great many use e-cash at Falmer. it stands to reason that those used to e-cash at Falmer with easily transfer to contactless, and allows those that dont have e-cash to use a quicker method than cash. the two seconds needed for 1 in 5 that might need to input a PIN doesn't seem likely to cause a substantial increase in queuing. as you say, they are fundamentally the same system, so it doesnt make alot of sense to persist with your own bespoke system when theres a universal one available. i'd wager theres a substantial cost saving behind this.

I certainly see the sense in moving away from a bespoke system to something universally supported. I agree there will be cost savings... but then I think the 10s, may 100s of thousands of pounds sat idly in the eCash accounts could well have resulted in enough interest to support the system (?)

popped into my local shop this morning, where they have contactless payments available.

I asked the lady approx. what % of people currently used it.

About 1 in 10 she replied.

I'm sure it will grow, but I can see much longer queues next season, and therfore less overall food/drink spend at the Amex.

However, as noted above, the take up of the contactless sytem still isn't great and I see cash being the preferred payment method for a long time to come once eCard is removed. Therefore queues will get worse before they get any better!

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Never used it, but frequently use contactless where available - the change is positive for me.

 

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

Persuaded us to use it and special section to be provided for speedy service. In practice, this has a not happened in WSU and some of the outlets do not take it at all.

Still have a wad of cash left on it, so only alternative is to have two pies a game to use it up!

 

[Turkey]

I use it and have auto top up so I never have to worry about having cash on me which suits me. I don't have contactless debit card but guess it can't be too hard to sort out. A little frustrating though as the current e-cash is great for me.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

Persuaded us to use it and special section to be provided for speedy service. In practice, this has a not happened in WSU and some of the outlets do not take it at all.

Still have a wad of cash left on it, so only alternative is to have two pies a game to use it up!

Perhaps Billy Seagull's post is of interest?

The club will continue to remind those fans with ecash funds of the impending changes - but those with balances of £10 or more at the end of the season will be eligible to apply for a refund by cheque. The club will not be able to offer or process any refunds after 31 May 2015.

 

[father_and_son]

What I've observed is that no one in shops/supermarkets uses the e-cash, for obvious reasons. but a great many use e-cash at Falmer. it stands to reason that those used to e-cash at Falmer with easily transfer to contactless, and allows those that dont have e-cash to use a quicker method than cash. the two seconds needed for 1 in 5 that might need to input a PIN doesn't seem likely to cause a substantial increase in queuing. as you say, they are fundamentally the same system, so it doesnt make alot of sense to persist with your own bespoke system when theres a universal one available. i'd wager theres a substantial cost saving behind this.

I certainly see the sense in moving away from a bespoke system to something universally supported. I agree there will be cost savings... but then I think the 10s, may 100s of thousands of pounds sat idly in the eCash accounts could well have resulted in enough interest to support the system (?)

popped into my local shop this morning, where they have contactless payments available.

I asked the lady approx. what % of people currently used it.

About 1 in 10 she replied.

I'm sure it will grow, but I can see much longer queues next season, and therfore less overall food/drink spend at the Amex.

However, as noted above, the take up of the contactless sytem still isn't great and I see cash being the preferred payment method for a long time to come once eCard is removed. Therefore queues will get worse before they get any better!

 

[BensGrandad]

Never use it cos I wont buy anything in the concourses. Took my nephews son Saturday and he bought a bottle of seven up and packet of Maltesers cost £5.80 total rip off.