Cashless transactions bring quicker service

The Civic Centre's potential to be a cashless facility was put to the test during Friday's Civic Ball, with staff reporting positive results.

Council encouraged attendees to pay by card or mobile device on the night to take advantage of Paywave, Applepay, Androidpay and Samsungpay facilities that were installed at the centre as part of the recent refurbishment.

Council's General Manager, James Roncon, said electronic payment allowed customers to get significantly quicker bar service.

"We were very pleased with how the system worked, and to be able to serve people quicker on the night," he said.

"When you take the handling of cash out of the equation it really does speed things up - people can just grab their drinks, tap their card or device, and go.

"We did have backup cash facilities on the night, but as the event wore on, we found people tended to gravitate toward the electronic payment queues.

"I think many people prefer to just take their card on a night out rather than carry around a large amount of cash."

Mr Roncon said Council was now aiming to transition the Civic Centre to a cashless facility by the new year.

"We used Friday night as a bit of a trial, and I think it showed that cashless is definitely the way to go for the Civic Centre," he said.

"We’ll also look at how electronic-only payment can possibly speed up our other Council facilities.

"We already have Paywave, Applepay, Androidpay and Samsungpay installed in all our other facilities, so we'll investigate whether there's potential to go cashless right across the organisation in the future."