NEWS: Lo-Q teams with MasterCard for contactless payment

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/36507/lo-q-teams-with-mastercard-to-develop-new-theme-park-payment-device-36507.html

 

Lo-Q (LON:LOQ), the provider of virtual queuing systems used in theme parks, is teaming up with MasterCard to create its latest innovation. Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding the pair will develop a new contactless payment device that combines the card gaint’s PayPass payments technology with Lo-Q's software. Once developed, they will then promote the combined product to theme parks, water parks and other attractions.

 

Lo-Q chief executive Tom Burnet said: "This really is an exciting partnership for all concerned.

 

“Lo-Q's queuing solutions are highly sophisticated and routinely trusted by some of the world's largest, most demanding attractions operators. “Visitors like our products and they get much more from their days out by leaving the queues behind and focusing solely on having fun. “By combining these qualities with the world-class payment technologies and reach offered by MasterCard means that we can now work together to create new and exciting growth opportunities for both our firms."

 

Lo-Q’s flagship offering is the Q-bot, a handheld device that allows theme park visitors to queue virtually. After making a reservation with a Q-bot unit, the system registers that person or group into a virtual queue.

 

Guests are informed via the Q-bot’s display, and with a beep and vibration, that their ride is ready, while the device can also inform users of a ride’s breakdown and allow rescheduling of reservations.

 

The advantage of Q-bot is that it enables theme park visitors to reserve their rides without having to queue, so a visitor does not have to spend their time waiting in a line and he or she can spend time enjoying other attractions or do something else at the park, such as go to a restaurant.

 

A wristband product for water park visitors and a smart phone app can also provide a similar service.

 

Lo-Q operates primarily on a revenue share basis with its clients, thus sales are hugely skewed towards the summer but the vast majority of deals are actually signed over the winter off-season, Jeans explained.

[ernierocker]

So, if I understand correctly your Q-bot will be somehow be tied into a Mastercard account that you will be allowed to use to pay for food/merchandise at parks? Will be interesting to see how exactly this will be implemented.

[TPDave]

Nice! I would love to have one of these at a park! I could leave my wallet at the hotel and have one less thing to lose.

 

Basically you get a rugged RFID device to pay for things and reduce your waiting time, what I great idea!

 

I wonder if they can get this to market before loads of people have RFID phones that can achieve the same effect?

 

Dave

[vuurvogel]

^But how are you going to meet nice ride-ops who will collect your wallet from the ride?

[TPDave]

^ I'll find other ways!

 

Hopefully this will increase the pickup of Q-Bots in other park chains. I know Merlin has been using them at Legoland Windsor for a while but as far as I'm aware it hasn't trickled through to their other UK properties, shame.

[SharkTums]

^The answer is clearly in using our iPhone 5's from Japan for all of your park needs!

 

Seriously though, I'm really looking forward to the days where you don't have to carry as much around with you due to RFID, Lo-Q Technology, any of this!

[ernierocker]

I can see this technology really being awesome for the water parks. This way you wont have to go to your locker every time you want something to eat or drink and can just keep your wallet stored the entire time.

[David H]

^ I'll find other ways!

 

Hopefully this will increase the pickup of Q-Bots in other park chains. I know Merlin has been using them at Legoland Windsor for a while but as far as I'm aware it hasn't trickled through to their other UK properties, shame.

 

As of July, they had the Q-Bots available at Legoland, but used tickets at Thorpe and Alton Towers.

 

The advantage for those parks of using the ticket system is that they can sell tickets for individual rides or groups of rides for much less than the total cost of a Q-Bot.

 

Since my visit to Thorpe was short (I hit both Thorpe and Legoland in one day!), I didn't get the all day pass, but did make use of the ones for Stealth and the Saw package (the coaster and walkthrough). At Alton, I'd planned to get the tickets if I needed them, but thanks to good planning (and the park's early entry for passholders, internet ticket holders and hotel guests), I did well enough that I didn't need them. But since the Q-Bot was cheap at Legoland (and even cheaper with a passholder discount), I did make use of it there, despite not having much time there to use it. It enabled me to ride everything I wanted to in a very limited time.

[disneyfan1313]

We really just need all these companies to get together and decide on ONE technology/communications protocol and make it universally adaptable. All it would take is all the major banks to put it on all new cards and then all the big box retailers would adapt their POSs to accept it, etc.

[milst1]

I've got a MasterCard PayPass, which is just a tiny card/sticker with a chip inside that's stuck to the back of my celphone. You can wave the phone over a reader to pay at sales points that have a reader, just like you can do with a credit card that has a chip inside.

 

I guess this is revolutionary if you can pay for a queue product at each ride by waving your PayPass. If they're just updating the Q-Bot purchase hut sales points to allow payment with chipcard, I don't see this as a big change.

 

The big change is the transition to using your celphone as the Q-Bot and just buying/downloading Q-Bot software for your visit. Has anyone had an experience with this? We saw it advertised at Flamingoland but the park was too dead to look into it.

 

Cheers.