Checklist

How to Go Cashless at Your Festival: A Practical Checklist

May 31, 2026·7 min read

Going cashless is straightforward when you plan it in the right order. Use this checklist to take a festival from cash to tap-to-pay without surprises on event day.

Before the event

  1. 1Choose your cashless platform and confirm it works fully offline
  2. 2Order pre-programmed NFC cards and bulk-import the UIDs
  3. 3Decide your top-up model: online pre-load, on-site stations, or both
  4. 4Set your refund policy for unspent balances and publish it to attendees
  5. 5Plan top-up station locations and staffing for peak arrival times

Vendor and staff setup

  1. 1Confirm every vendor has an NFC-capable Android phone (or supply terminals)
  2. 2Onboard vendors and assign terminals ahead of gates opening
  3. 3Train staff on top-ups, payments, refunds, and lost-card recovery
  4. 4Run a full end-to-end test: register, top up, pay, refund, settle

During the event

  1. 1Watch the live dashboard and move staff toward forming queues
  2. 2Keep top-up stations stocked with float and staffed at peak times
  3. 3Freeze lost cards on request and move balances to replacements
  4. 4Monitor fraud alerts for unusual velocity or duplicate scans

After the event

  1. 1Process refunds and cash-outs for unspent balances
  2. 2Settle every vendor automatically from recorded sales
  3. 3Export reporting for finance, vendors, and sponsors
  4. 4Review per-zone and per-hour data to plan the next event

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