When more than a hundred thousand soccer fans pour into a venue, the last thing anyone wants is a cash problem. Vendors don't want to handle it. Fans don't want to line up for it. And the venue wants every transaction to move at the speed of a halftime lineup.
That's the problem we just solved in Vancouver.
The setup
Working with Monie Payments Corp, Berkeley launched the Fan Fest Card: a non-reloadable Visa card issued by Equitable Bank and dispensed on the spot from reverse ATM kiosks at the FIFA Fan Festival in Vancouver.
If you haven't seen a reverse ATM before, it does exactly what the name suggests. A regular ATM takes your card and gives you cash. A reverse ATM takes your cash and gives you a loaded card. Fans walk up, insert their cash, and walk away with a working Visa card. No app download. No registration form. No activation call. The card works the second it leaves the machine.
The venue goes fully cashless without turning away the fans who showed up with cash in their pockets. That last part matters more than most cashless conversations admit: a cashless venue that simply refuses cash excludes real customers. A cashless venue with reverse ATMs converts them.
Five weeks from contract to live cards
Here's the part we're proud of. This program went from signed agreement to live cards in fans' hands in five weeks.
Programs like this routinely take six months. Ours took thirty-six days because the infrastructure already existed: the bank relationship, the processor integration, the compliance machinery, the card manufacturing pipeline. We didn't build a program from scratch. We configured one.
That's the actual product Berkeley sells. Not cards. Speed and certainty.
Why event payments are having a moment
Stadiums, festivals, and tournaments are converging on the same conclusion: payment friction is revenue friction. Every minute a fan spends in a payment line is a minute they're not spending at a concession stand. Instant-issue cards solves this without forcing an app on people who came to watch soccer, not manage a wallet.
And there's a detail fans genuinely love: the card itself is a keepsake. A tournament-themed piece of plastic that works today and sits in a drawer as a souvenir for years. Try getting that emotional response from a QR code.
Thinking about an event program?
If you're running a venue, a tournament, a festival, or any environment where thousands of people need to pay quickly, this playbook is repeatable. Talk to us about what five weeks could look like for you.
The Fan Fest Non-Reloadable Visa Prepaid Card is issued by Equitable Bank under license by Visa International Incorporated.
