))) Seattle Seahawks Fans Pay With A Wave

November 11, 2003

Fans who pay with a token they wave near payment terminals are making purchases twice as often as those who pay with credit cards at Seahawks Stadium, the home of the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks, according to the company that installed the system. Mark Johnson, president and CEO of New York-based Smart System Technologies Inc., tells CardLine the Seahawks introduced the PowerPay program this year, and 36% of all eligible season-ticket holders in the exclusive Club level have signed up, though he did not reveal the number of users. PowerPay customers can wave the token at all 58 payment terminals on the Club level, where single-game seats cost $95 to $280 each. The Seahawks plan to deploy PowerPay terminals throughout the stadium next year, Johnson says. PowerPay tokens communicate with payment terminals using embedded radio frequency identification chips from Texas Instruments RFID Systems. The chip stores only a serial number, and users need not enter a personal identification number or sign a receipt to complete a purchase. During the online registration process, users provide demographic information and designate a credit or debit card to be charged for PowerPay purchases, making it similar to the ExxonMobil Speedpass. Johnson tells CardLine the Seahawks offer PowerPay users special discounts on food and drinks and provide opportunities to win autographed merchandise as incentives to join the free program. The Seahawks can also examine purchase and demographic data to target coupons and other special offers, which are redeemed at the time of purchase, at specific PowerPay users.