Barclaycard Payband will bring NFC payments to Wireless Festival

THE WIRELESS FESTIVAL will be the first UK music event to be fully kitted out for contactless payments, allowing festival goers to turn up without needing to carry cash.

That's thanks to Barclaycard Payband, a wristband that will enable attendees to pay for goods including booze and burgers quickly using contactless technology. Festival goers will have the option of adding up to £20 to the brightly-coloured bracelet, or they can choose to use their NFC-enabled bank card instead.

Tom Gregory, head of digital payments at Barclaycard said, "We are immensely proud to be the first to go completely contactless and offer the choice of a cashless experience at London's largest music festival."

Warming to the topic, he burbled, "We're really excited by the possibilities Barclaycard PayBand offers as a wearable, secure and easy way to pay when you're out and about at the festival. Alongside QuickTap and Barclaycard PayTag, we're exploring the versatility that contactless offers as an alternative to cash."

Barclays Bank assured us that it has got security covered too. "Help points and roaming Barclaycard staff will be on hand to help with top ups and to report lost or stolen PayBands," it said. "Those paying with PayBand will benefit from the 100% fraud refund guarantee associated with all Barclaycard products. PayBands will be live only for the festival period and will be deactivated after the festival."

If you want to be amongst those lucky few to take the new Barclaycard Payband out for a spin, and you're planning on attending the Wireless Festival, you can apply for one. µ