A new platform built on Stellar is taking steps to make the digital currency useful in a real-life, practical way as crypto pushes towards mass adoption. After a trial run at the Chicago Food Truck Festival, Stellar Payband announced that their new contactless wristband technology was a success.
During the trial, select guests were given a near field communication (NFC) wristband designed to work with point of sale (POS) merchant management systems. The wristband was connected to a Stellar Lumens wallet, while the POS software was connected to the merchant’s wallet. With the flick of a wrist, customers were able to transfer their Lumens (XLM) directly to the merchant to purchase goods.
According to the company’s Reddit account,
“The technology was initially designed for festivals, fairs, conferences and events where wristband technology is far superior to cellphones because of ease of use. Cell phones die…wristbands do not. Going cashless at festivals is the new trend. Why not use the fastest and cheapest method of sending money?”
Festivals are aiming to cut down on cash transactions. Scott Feehan, executive director of the Festival International de Louisiane, a performing arts festival in Lafayette, has already started using wristbands preloaded with the consumer’s money.
“Tickets, logistically, are tough, from getting them out during festival hours, keeping them staffed, managing the cash. It’s a tough process. Some of the vendor booths, they turn the tickets in and weigh them. There’s a ton of challenges with tickets. We’ve been looking for a solution for years.”
[the_ad id="42537"] [the_ad id="42536"]Marketed as the world’s first cryptocurrency wristband, Stellar Payband was conceived in 2017 and completed as of July 2018. The development team plans to make the hardware and software available to the public this fall.
Aside from consumer-to-merchant transfers, Stellar Payband says their technology will enable peer-to-peer XLM transfers as well.
The Chicago Food Truck Festival is home to one of the largest congregations of food trucks in the country, featuring over 55 food trucks and 50,000 attendees.