Rugby Football Union puts faith in Worldpay as single payment provider

Company claims contactless and mobile payments have boosted bottom line

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has gradually phased out the number of payment providers it uses and has opted for Worldpay to be its single provider.

The organisation has worked with Worldpay since 1990, and in August 2013 it aimed to make the vendor its sole provider. Worldpay now looks after all payments made at Twickenham stadium as well as e-commerce payments made through the RFU website.

With up to 82,000 fans filling the stadium for international rugby matches, the RFU wanted a way to serve fans faster and cut down on long queues.

It also wanted to reduce payment supplier overheads, so that payments coming into the stadium through corporate boxes, concourse outlets, stores and online were handled by a single provider.

In November 2013, the RFU opted to bring in Worldpay Total across Twickenham's hospitality and retail outlets. The solution integrates with Worldpay's electronic point-of-sale (POS) systems and allows the organisation to accept payments quickly and keep track of sales in real time.

"It's clear to see the value we get from using Worldpay Total to take more card payments," said George Vaughan, senior project manager at the RFU.

"Since we rolled out the new service in October 2013, the value of payments has grown threefold (314 per cent)."

In November 2013, the RFU took on board Worldpay's contactless payment technology, and it has processed more than 4,200 contactless payments in that time.

"Now that we've rolled out contactless, our outlets are making more in sales; and fans are getting back to the game much more quickly, because they don't have to stand in a lengthy queue," claimed Andy Ward, head of merchandising at the RFU.

In February 2014, the company then introduced Worldpay Total Mobile, a payment system designed for corporate hospitality.

From February to March 2014, the RFU saw a 44 per cent increase in the value of payments using its eight Worldpay Total Mobile devices in the corporate boxes.

"The tablets look slick and professional, which is exactly the image we want to create in our corporate boxes. And with authorisation in seconds, it's a really easy way to process card payments quickly," said Vaughan.

The tablets also allow the outlets to view daily transaction reports for every team member and every mobile card reader, along with weekly and monthly analytics. This enables the RFU to tell how much is spent in each box at each game, allowing them to view their most profitable corporate clients and products, and plan for future matches accordingly.

Vaughan explained that the RFU had this type of information previously, but that it had to be manually created, at a high management overhead and cost.

"Now we have all the latest payment statistics for each of our corporate boxes at our fingertips, so we can better target these customers with other loyalty schemes and offers. Another benefit of Worldpay Total Mobile is the recycling opportunity it has presented, as we are now able to use the new technology with existing iPhones we previously had no use for," he said.

"In just nine months, it's clear to see exactly how much mobile payments and contactless have boosted our bottom line - the revenue uplift is substantial," he added.

Vaughan told Computing that other vendors did not come into consideration because of RFU's "strong relationship" with Worldpay, stemming from its system already being integrated with RFU's POS solution.

As for the future, Vaughan said RFU's relationship with Worldpay is due to last for another three years. He said he would like to see the limit on contactless payments raised above the current £20 mark.

"This would be even more convenient for fans as well as making our revenue potential even greater," he said.