Spectators at the Arnold Palmer Invitational no longer have to miss out on the action at the tournament with the introduction of the latest technology from MasterCard. Golf fans will now have access to faster and more secure ways to pay at concession and merchandise point of sale terminals throughout Bay Hill where MasterCard is enabling acceptance of chip cards, contactless payments, and QkR! with MasterPass. This means spectators can take advantage of the latest payment technologies, including Apple Pay.
Spectators with EMV, or chip credit cards will be able to dip those cards at all concession and merchandise terminals at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida. The U.S. is in the middle of migrating to the more secure payment standard in which credit cards have an embedded chip that encrypts transaction data differently for each purchase. When a chip credit card is scanned at the retailer, there are two data pieces that are used for authorization to confirm that the cardholder is indeed the person making that purchase.
MasterCard and the PGA TOUR debuted contactless payment acceptance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in January, allowing spectators to use mobile payments platforms like Apple Pay for the first time at a TOUR event. At API, merchandise and concession terminals will be contactless enabled, allowing golf fans to make payments using Apple Pay and other NFC-enabled devices and services.
“MasterCard is always thinking about how we can use our technology to enhance the consumer experience whether they’re shopping online, in a store or even at a golf tournament,” said Matt Barr, group head, North America Emerging Payments, MasterCard. “At API, we knew we wanted to provide a way for fans to get through concessions and back to the tournament quickly, so we took what we have been doing with our bank, retail and technology partners and brought it to Bay Hill. Fans can tap their phones, dip their cards, or use an app to buy food and drinks — quickly and securely.”
“What better place than the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard to showcase the latest in payment technologies,” said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships. “MasterCard has left no stone unturned in an effort to make it safe and easy for PGA TOUR fans to make purchases at the tournament and spend more time watching golf than waiting in line for concessions or merchandise.”
The Arnold Palmer Invitational begins Thursday, March 19th and can be seen on The Golf Channel (2:00pm to 6:00pm EDT) and online via CBS live streaming here: http://pgatour.cbssports.com/live/
MacDailyNews Take: Apple Pay to the “Fore!”
Cool! Arnie’s Apple Army 🙂
By golly, they had the balls to switch to Apple Pay.
“I’ll have a Kevin Nealon…”
I attended the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera Country Club in LA a few weeks ago, and was surprised – and pleased – to see the public concessions accepted Apple Pay, sponsored by MasterCard. I wondered how many people were using it… (regrettably, I was hosted at a private suite and drank all day for free). 🙂
I’m sure that’s making a lot of putters stand on end.