India's top amusement park goes cashless with Intercard technology

Intercard has announced a significant milestone as part of its expansion in the Indian market with the completion of a major installation at Esselworld Amusement Park in Mumbai.

The 4.2 hectacre attraction is one of the largest and most popular amusement parks in India, drawing an estimated 1.8 million visitors annually.

As of early April, Esselword has been operating with a completely automated Intercard cashless payment system, integrating with its existing point-of-sale and enterprise resource planning software.

It allows customers to easily pay for and enjoy the park's full array of rides, food and beverage venues and merchandise stores.

The Intercard system enables Esselworld to eliminate time and labor-intensive cash handling while adding a new admission level called ‘Pay N Play Basic’. This value-priced offering lets the customer pay only for the rides and games they want while enjoying a lower initial fee to enter the park. It can also be used for pay-per-use access to food, beverages and merchandise. The Intercard system also supports Esselworld's other admission and ride packages.

The system uses cards and wristbands with RFID technology that activate Intercard readers at all rides and games. If the customer uses up the initial balance on the Pay-n-Play card he can recharge it at self-service kiosks that accept cash, credit card or mobile phone payment. Recharged cards are good for 12 months and can be used on return visits.

Shaji Sreenivasan, Intercard's Sales Specialist for India explains "Esselworld chose Intercard over other domestic and international vendors because our reliable and efficient system architecture is ideal for meeting the demands of a large and busy attraction.

"They were also impressed by our customer service, which includes a technical team based in India."

Intercard Senior Vice-President of International Sales, Alberto Borrero adds “as a leading operator that understands modern marketing, Esselworld can also use its Intercard system to build their business by creating digital promotions that attract today's consumers.

"We are proud to be associated with an energetic company that is an innovator in the Indian amusement industry."

A world leader in debit card technology for the amusement and attraction industries, Intercard now has more than 70 installations in India.

For more information go to www.intercardinc.com.

Images: Esselworld, often acknowledged as India's top amusement park (top) and Shaji Sreenivasan, Intercard's Sales Specialist for India (below).