Contactless payment donkey rides are a thing now

Barclaycard is looking to 'roll out' more Contactless Donkeys if pilot donkey is a success

Christopher Hooton
Thursday 21 August 2014 13:06 BST
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Blackpool donkey rides have been dragged braying into the 21st century, with Barclaycard kitting out the animals with contactless payment saddles as a rather prosaic solution to the problem of customers not having cash on them.

Mark Ineson, who has been running rides for 17 years, said making his donkey Dillon cashless "is just a matter of moving with the times".

Now here's a press release quote from Barclaycard's head of contactless Tami Hargreaves in which the phrase "we could see the roll out of more Contactless Donkeys" is brought into existence.

"Assuming that Dillon’s pioneering approach in going cashless is a success, we could see the roll out of more Contactless Donkeys everywhere next summer. In fact, we’re constantly building on the market leading innovations we have delivered, and we have exciting projects in the pipeline which are set to shape the future of payments."

According to the Telegraph, no customer has as yet used the new payment method, possibly because not that many people have the right card for it, possibly because slapping your wallet against a donkey for an automatic transfer doesn't have the charm of handing over a few coins.

At the current trajectory, we can look forward to contactless gondola rides and Wifi-equipped cathedrals in the very near future.

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