An increasingly cashless society could mean problems for the buskers among us, but hope is not lost, as the world’s first contactless payment scheme for street musicians has just launched in London.
Busk in London (opens in new tab), an initiative backed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has partnered with tech company iZettle to offer card readers to performers.
With the readers, buskers can accept payments via cash, contactless cards, wearable technology and chip and pin.
Full-time busker Charlotte Campbell said she had seen a “significant impact” on her earnings following a two-week trial of the technology.
Campbell set her reader to deduct £2 per tap, so audiences don’t have to select a donation amount - makes a change to a guitar case full of coppers, eh?
The feature will be rolled out to performers across London’s 32 boroughs, with more locations planned in the coming months.
