FreedomPay Takes Sports Venues into The Major Leagues with Better Payment Convenience and Security

When a typical sports fan attends a game, credit card payment security isn’t at the top of their mind. However, long lines at concession stands, pro shops, and kiosks certainly are a big deal and a memorable problem—even if the home team is winning. In fact, the average fan may just decide a purchase isn’t worth it if lines get too long. After all, no one wants to miss a crucial play or a big score.

That’s why sports venues have to stay at the cutting edge when it comes to payment convenience—and they can’t neglect security as they upgrade. Fortunately, FreedomPay is involved in securing payments across various sports and entertainment venues for the major leagues, the minor leagues, and college sports. This means sports fans can enjoy watching their favorite team defeat their opponents rather than worrying about the security of their credit cards—or lines for a cheeseburger forty people deep.

FreedomPay currently works with contract food service companies including Delaware North, Aramark, Compass, Levy, and Sodexo as well as with individual sites like universities to implement P2PE and EMV at various POS terminals in sporting venues. FreedomPay is proud to have completed over 200+ integrations to date.

The benefits of the FreedomPay solution to sports fans are significant. Handing a credit card to a cashier takes too much time, and it’s not secure. Thanks to the Introduction of QuickChip, service in long concession lines will speed up. With FreedomPay, near-field communication (NFC) means fans have the option to simply tap their phones on all devices. The devices are customer-facing, so they can interact themselves rather than having to hand their card over. In-seat payments with wireless devices are now possible as well.

There are also important benefits to stadium merchants when they adopt the FreedomPay solution, including reduced PCI scope for audits, chargeback protection with EMV, and NFC for all mobile wallets. The easy ability for consumers to tip on a device is good for clubs and for bartenders and servers who rely on tips as their main source of income. Wireless devices in suite management integrates to all major POS systems.

Without the FreedomPay solution, semi-integrated or non-integrated payment terminals can cause reconciliation issues for the merchant due to dual entry. Furthermore, any payments that are non-P2PE allow for clear text data to sit in the stadium’s network and cause openings for security breaches.

FreedomPay supports stadiums in all aspects of payment security. Sometimes we will be in just a portion of operations, but other times we will secure payments across the entire venue including concessions, clubs and suites, retail and e-commerce. In some newer implementations, for example, self-service kiosks with FreedomPay secure payment devices allow guests to order and pay for food and other items, bypassing the concession lines completely and allowing a venue to complete more transactions in less time.

To learn more about how FreedomPay solutions can benefit your venue, visit corporate.freedompay.com/industry-solutions/contract-food-services/ today.