Cashless Payments Coming To San Francisco Festival

For the fifth year in a row, payment company PayPal announced its partnership with Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, which runs Aug. 5–7 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Under terms of the partnership, PayPal will be the digital payment provider for the festival, enabling concertgoers to attend the event cash-free.

“We’re giving people more convenient ways to pay and get paid back so they can focus on the festival’s music and gourmet offerings and not the awkwardness of dealing with cash,” said PayPal on its website. “Whether you’re reminding your friend who still owes you $25 from last year’s festival to pay you using PayPal or Venmo, or making a payment from your RFID bracelet, which also acts as your entry ticket, we’re committed to giving consumers choice and convenience in how they pay, no matter where they are.”

Highlighting the ease of use that can come with cashless payments, PayPal mentioned that at least two areas at the festival, Wine Lands and Cocktail Magic, are exclusively cashless.

For years now, PayPal has been piloting the use of RFID bracelets at festivals around the world and is now bringing it to the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival. Not only will concertgoers use them for entry into the festival but also to purchase items during the three-day event. An incentive to concertgoers to use the RFID bracelet — for every $75 concertgoers add to their account before 10:00 a.m. on Aug. 5, Outside Lands will add five Bison Bucks, which is the equivalent of $5, to their account.

PayPal isn’t only partnering to bring cashless payments to Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival; it is also powering an arcade at the festival that will include pinball, Pac-Man, Galaga and Wack-a-Mole and running the PayPal store that will be stocked with necessities that concertgoers left at home.