Mastercard is continuing its tradition of bringing its latest technologies to The Barclays golfing event by enabling this year’s attendees to use the enhanced Masterpass solution to buy merchandise on-site and leverage the Qkr! with Masterpass application to order concessions directly to their seats.

Mastercard is maintaining a strong presence at this week’s The Barclays event in Farmingdale, NY, allowing golf fans to use its contactless payment solutions when making purchases at point-of-sale locations around the Black Course at Bethpage State Park. Additionally, consumers can order concessions directly to their seats by using the Qkr! with Masterpass app, showcasing how financial marketers can leverage mid-size events as advertising vehicles for their newest technologies.

“Last year, The Barclays featured 100 percent contactless acceptance for concessions, but not for merchandise,” said a spokeswoman for Mastercard. “This year, contactless acceptance spans both concessions and merchandise.

“Spectators at The Barclays will also have the opportunity to experience the enhanced, all-digital Masterpass at the point of sale,” she said. “Finally, while Qkr! with Masterpass was available at The Barclays last year, this year, we implemented in-seat delivery in two on-course locations: the 18th public bleacher and the Mastercard Club.

“Fans will be able to order directly from their phone through the Qkr! app and receive their food or drink right to their seat without missing any of the golf action.”

Teeing up sales
Golf spectators at The Barclays this week will have the ability to test out Mastercard’s latest technologies right on the course or while visiting the Mastercard Club in Farmingdale, NY. Individuals with Masterpass accounts – Mastercard’s proprietary mobile payments solution – can make contactless purchases at concession stands and point-of-sale merchandise terminals.

Meanwhile, the Mastercard Club and public 18th Green Bleacher will enable consumers to order concessions directly to their seats via the Qkr! with Masterpass app.

Qkr! with Masterpass lets users order and purchase food with their smartphones. It can be downloaded for free from the Google Play or Apple App store.

The Barclays marks the first debut of Mastercard’s new brand identity – and logo – at a sponsorship event.

Mastercard, which has thrown its hat into the ring of in-store mobile payments with Masterpass arriving at bricks-and-mortar locations such as BJs and Subway, hopes to become a leader by tacking on vending machine connectivity, Cake Pay integration, messaging purchases and banking partnerships (see story).

Attendees at The Barclays – which kicks off on August 25 – will also be privy to various experiences through Mastercard’s Priceless Surprises, Priceless Golf and Priceless Cities programs.

New technology at events
This is not the first time that Mastercard has tested responses to its latest technologies at a mid-size event.

Last summer, Mastercard also attempted to help drive adoption of new payment technologies among golf fans at The Barclays in New Jersey by offering its cardholders a 10 percent discount when they used their Mastercard cards at the point of sale or leveraging Qkr! with Masterpass to order ahead (see story).

Additionally, with consumers becoming more comfortable using mobile payment platforms for everyday purchases, Mastercard recently invited New York residents to buy items from a specific café with Samsung Pay in exchange for tickets to a Cold War Kids, Capital Cities or Years & Years concert (see story).

The financial brand’s strong presence at these events may prompt other marketers in its sector to pursue more sponsorships with the intent to leverage events as testing grounds for their new platforms.

“Digital payment platforms like Qkr! with Masterpass are playing a critical role at events as venues strive to improve the fan experience – from sporting events to concerts to dining out (Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant, Streetbird in Harlem, is the first U.S. restaurant fully equipped with Qkr!),” Mastercard’s spokeswoman said.

“Giving fans the opportunity to order concessions directly to their seat using the Qkr! with Masterpass app at The Barclays marks another implementation of the platform, and we hope that with our partners, we’ll continue to roll out this technology and others over time.”