Have you ever hurried past a street performer with an apologetic, hands-empty shrug to say that you don’t have any cash on you? Lacking pocket change might not be an excuse in the future as buskers in London will soon be able to accept cashless payments.
“Busk in London” is an initiative launched by the Mayor of London’s office and is partnering with Swedish payment technology specialists iZettle to bring in the cashless payments. The scheme, which its organisers claim is a world first, will allow participating artists to accept payments by contactless cards, chip & PIN, wearables and mobile payments, as well as the traditional hat or guitar box for cash.
Mayor says busking helps London maintain music leadership status
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said of the scheme: “London is a powerhouse of music, having produced artists from Adele to Stormzy, and The xx to Dua Lipa. For London to maintain its status as a global capital of music, it's vitally important that we support the stars of tomorrow. Busking helps emerging artists to hone their talent and gives them the chance to perform in front of huge numbers of people.
"I'm delighted that iZettle has chosen London to launch this innovative scheme – allowing artists to accept donations by card payment, as well as cash. Now, more Londoners will be able to show their support to the capital's brilliant, talented street performers."
A few buskers have already been trialling the scheme. Full-time busker Charlotte Campbell said that she had seen a “significant impact” after trying the card readers for two weeks in the capital.
Street performers must “adapt to cashless society”
She said: "I believe if street performers like myself don't adapt to the cashless society we are edging towards, we're at risk of becoming a dying art.
"I've only trialled Repeat Payments for two weeks and it's already had a significant impact on the contributions I've received. More people than ever tap-to-donate whilst I sing, and often, when one person does, another follows."
It was reported earlier this month that PayPal was buying iZettle for $2.2bn (£1.6bn). The firm was the first to develop a chip-card reader and app for smartphone-based mobile commerce that meets international security requirements. It’s a leader in cash-free and contactless payment technology in Sweden, which itself is at the very forefront of that emerging global cashless economy.
Sweden leads the charge towards cashless
Only around 1% of the total value of payments made in the country last year were made with cash. Cash is banned from the buses, and businesses have a legal right to refuse coins and notes. iZettle’s mobile readers have enabled market traders and even homeless people selling charity magazines – the equivalent to the UK’s The Big Issue– to take cashless payments.
Niklas Arvidsson, a professor at Stockholm's Royal Institute of Technology, told the BBC: “In general, consumers are very interested in new technologies, so we're quite early to adopt [them].
"Swedes tend to trust banks, we trust institutions... people are not afraid of the sort-of 'Big Brother' issues or fraud connected to electronic payment."
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