With ‘digital payments’ becoming a lodestone in a COVID-struck world, the German professional football club Eintracht Frankfurt and its digital subsidiary EintrachtTech have entered into an innovative, tech-powered partnership with payment services platform Mastercard and the German multinational investment bank – Deutsche Bank – to provide fans a contactless and seamless experience.
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse (Germany) that is best known for its football club, currently playing in Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The 51,500-capacity Deutsche Bank Park is their home ground.
A statement on the Mastercard website stated that the new digital business model to be implemented from the Spring of 2021 promises fans a mobile payment method that reaches beyond today’s stadium experience.
The thrust here is particularly on the area of mobile payment via an app which is in the making.
Eintracht Frankfurt carried a statement on their website which reported that implementation through the new Eintracht app was the key to the open, mobile payment system, which was developed jointly with Deutsche Bank.
en.eintracht.de sources quoted Timm Jäger, Managing Director, EintrachtTech GmbH, as commenting, “Thanks to our new app, which will be launched soon, and the interaction between EintrachtTech, Deutsche Bank and Mastercard, we are opening up new possibilities for cashless, contactless payment for ourselves, our followers and regional retailers. This will simplify many processes when visiting the stadium and in everyday private life. ”
mastercard.com sources quoted Peter Bakenecker, Division President for Germany and Switzerland at Mastercard, as stating, “Today, consumers expect digital solutions that enable simple, convenient and secure payment anywhere. This also applies to the stadium and other public areas such as public transport. We are all the more pleased that we as a technology company, together with our long-term partner Deutsche Bank, are able to cater to the needs of every individual in the Rhine-Main region by providing such a smart payment system for Eintracht Frankfurt.”
Ingrid M. Haas, Managing Director, Group Communications and Marketing, Deutsche Börse (capital market company), remarked, “With the partnership with Eintracht we are continuing the successful fostering of social cohesion in our company’s home region and are underlining the importance that the Frankfurt financial center continues to have for us, despite our global outlook.”
Eintracht Frankfurt Board Member Axel Hellmann maintained, “I’m extremely pleased that with Deutsche Börse we continue to have a strong partner by our side.”
Eintracht Frankfurt informed that the innovative technology will allow Eintracht fans to use the payments method via a wallet in their smartphones to facilitate mobile and contactless payment throughout the stadium, be it for food and drinks or in the ‘Fan Shop’.
The main advantage is that the Eintracht app will work regardless of the home bank of the fans. All that a user has to do is put in a free, virtual Debit Mastercard from Deutsche Bank in the app. The app automatically links it to the user’s current account in whichever bank that may be and thereafter it’s the word ‘go’.
EintractTech said that the biggest advantage is that the card does not need to be topped up, unlike the previous prepaid systems. The card itself is securely stored in the smartphone’s wallet.
The best part is that the arena is not the only place where the app can be used. Users can go further afield to purchase services in the Rhine-Main area beyond Deutsche Bank Park.
EintrachtTech will be building a regional digital ecosystem by creating a smart region application with partners Deutsche Bank and Mastercard, promoting digital payments so that retail in the Rhine-Main area can survive and thrive.
With the virtual Debit Mastercard, Eintracht fans can make contactless payments with their smartphones at all retail outlets where the two are digitally connected and Mastercard is accepted.
To top it all, Mastercard also plans to foray into the field of sports by actively supporting the promotion of women’s football in the Eintracht Frankfurt club.
Hellmann explained, “The partnership with Mastercard fully pays dividends on our request to take the fans of Eintracht as well as all the people of the Rhine-Main region with us on our way and thus have always been part of us giving due support. With this we succeed once again in working together with international market leaders to create regional added value and to meet individual needs.”
The partners are collaborating on resilient tech solutions that focus on digital business models and retail offers, contactless and mobile payment and areas of application in the Internet of Things (IoT) – such as in the area of mobility. These projects are being initiated by the ‘Arena of IoT’, EintrachtTech’s digital center.
The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects – ‘things’ – that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the Internet.
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