10 Ways ATMs Can Benefit Your Music or Food Festival

Author Justin Gilmore

When organizing a music or food festival, one of the top items on your to-do list should be securing ATMs for guests to use during the event. ATMs have become an absolute necessity at such events, proving useful for organizers, vendors, and guests. Here’s a look at 10 ways your next music and food festival can benefit from having ATMs onsite.

Revenue from Surcharges

Scattering ATMs throughout the festival grounds is a good way to add an extra source of revenue. Guests will pay surcharges every time they use an ATM at the festival, just as they would at any other ATM location. It may not be the festival’s top source of revenue, but it’ll be noticeable.

Sell More Food and Souvenirs

Data shows that more than 75 percent of the money taken out of ATMs at festivals is spent at the festival. By giving guests more access to cash, you increase the chances of them spending more money than expected on food, drinks, and various forms of souvenirs, which will increase the revenue the festival brings in.

Guest Satisfaction

Most of the people attending your festival will be glad that ATMs present. No, it’s not their main reason for attending, but it’s a convenient perk that will keep them happy while at the event. If there are no ATMs present, most guests will notice and may be inconvenienced because of it. Remember, most guests will be expecting and need an ATM.

Attract More Vendors

Having ATMs present can help to attract more vendors who will buy space at the festival. A lot of the vendors at festivals will only operate with cash and may be hesitant to set up shop if guests don’t have access to cash during the festival. Making it clear that you’ll have plenty of ATMs at the festival will push more vendors toward participating.

Less Theft

Having ATMs available can play a role in reducing petty theft at festivals. Without ATMs, guests will be more likely to carry around large amounts of money, leaving them vulnerable to losing it. But if they have access to ATMs, they can take out however much cash they need and then turn around and spend it right away before they have a chance to worry about losing it.

Guests Will Stay Longer

For certain events, once a person runs out of money, there’ll be no reason to stay. If there are ATMs around, this will never happen. With ATMs onsite, guests will stay longer, spend more money, and be able to enjoy themselves, which is the whole point of the festival, right?

Revenue from Sponsorship

This is another way to make a little extra money from ATMs. It’s easy to have a company or vendor sponsor your festival’s ATMs by putting a few stickers on the machine or placing the ATM inside a tent that bears the company’s name. It’s not the biggest money maker, but it’ll bring in enough extra revenue to be worthwhile.

Shorter Lines and Faster Transactions

Cash transactions at food and souvenir booths tend to happen a lot quicker than those that happen electronically. People don’t want to spend their time at festivals standing in long lines, which means faster transactions will help keep your guests happy. It also means you need to have plenty of ATMs onsite so people aren’t waiting long to get their cash.

Vendors Avoid Electronic Transaction Fees

Aside from taking longer, electronic transactions often come with fees that vendors may not want to pay. Even if some vendors accept credit cards and other electronic methods of payment, having ATMs at the festival will promote the use of cash for all purchases. More cash transactions will mean fewer fees paid by your vendors and more revenue from surcharges every time someone uses an ATM, making it a win-win for both the festival and its vendors.

Keep Vendors Happy

Between encouraging more purchases and alleviating the fees that come with electronic transactions, having ATMs at your festival will go a long way toward keeping your vendors happy. More importantly, it will keep your vendors coming back the next time. If your vendors do well and have a hassle-free day, they’ll be eager to sign up for the next festival, which can make planning the next festival a lot easier.

Contact National ATM Wholesale today to learn more about installing an ATM at your music festival.