DIGISEQ and prepaid provider Payme Swiss bring innovative sustainable wearable tech made from recycled apple skins to tennis fans at the 2023 French Open at Roland-Garros

DIGISEQ’s tech empowers sports venues to speed up venue entry, generate more payment transactions and deepen fan loyalty with wearable items

DIGISEQ, the wearable payments tech pioneer, has unveiled details of a partnership with prepaid provider Payme Swiss that gave guests attending the 2023 French Open Roland-Garros tennis tournament the ability to make contactless payments with key fobs made from recycled apple skins. This is the second consecutive year that DIGISEQ’s game-changing tech has been used at the French Open, following last year’s successful launch of chip-enabled sustainable contactless fobs.

The French Open tennis tournament, held at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, France, is one of the four prestigious ‘Grand Slam’ events on the tennis calendar, welcoming around 15,000 spectators daily.

Powered by DIGISEQ’s tech, 650 Roland Garros branded recycled apple skin key fobs were pre-loaded with €20, and handed out to guests attending the tournament. Of the 650 fobs, 150 comprised the sustainable key fobs that were given out during last year’s event, while 500 new fobs included DIGISEQ’s RCOS™ chip, which enables real-time payment data to be provisioned to the key fob over-the-air through DIGISEQ’s mobile personalisation technology.

The contactless key fobs are made with recycled apple waste, and are vegan, durable, waterproof and eco-friendly. The apple waste came from the cultivation of apples grown in South Tyrol, Italy, and used in the food industry to make juices, jams, and other food products. The apple waste (i.e. apple cores and peels) are turned into powder, which is then used to substitute oil derivatives (such as PU) with 100% organic industrial waste. This results in a vegan and sustainable material able to replace real leather, with every kilogram of apple residuals used to substitute PU saving 5.28 kilograms of CO2.

The promo-enabled fobs used real-time data to redirect guests to various information about the event and the recycled fob. During or after the event, if a user taps their key fob on their NFC-enabled phone, the user is redirected to a mobile web page offering information about the key fob and what it can do, and a link to the Roland Garros app and the day’s schedule of play. Users can also find information about DIGISEQ’s Manage MiiTM mobile app (available on the Apple and Google Play app stores), which prompts users to link their bank card to the fob with a list of supported card issuers, including prepaid provider Payme Swiss.

Iain Case, DIGISEQ Solution Integration Manager, says: “For the second year running, we’re thrilled to showcase the exciting possibilities of our wearable tech solution at Roland-Garros with our partners Payme Swiss. The speed of contactless payment, coupled with a sustainable, eco-friendly key fob that eliminates the need to produce plastic cards or tickets, is exactly what banks and non-bank brands need to forge deeper connections with their customers. DIGISEQ’s innovative wearable tech is creating new ways for millions of people to enjoy immersive experiences at their favourite sports events, with stylish, aspirational payment tech which stays with them wherever they go.

“DIGISEQ’s wearable tech is already being used by major banks, luxury brands like Philippe Starck and events including the 2019 Golden Globes Awards. With our solutions having already helped to create unforgettable fan experiences at both Roland Garros and this year’s UEFA Champions League Final, we’re now seeing a surge of interest from sports clubs and venue operators that want to enable secure contactless payments and deeper fan engagement through wearable items.”

DIGISEQ’s wearable tech has the potential to speeding up venue entry times, and creating faster footfall at sales points with quick contactless transactions that eliminate the need for fans to carry cash, with real-time transaction data helping venues to create valuable marketing insights to draw fans closer while also boosting revenues.

DIGISEQ’s mobile personalisation and tokenisation ensures all provisioned payment data is fully protected, with contactless transactions secured in exactly the same way as card or phone NFC payments. By promoting use of wearable tech, brands, banks and issuers can reduce their reliance on producing plastic cards, as DIGISEQ handles the over-the-air personalisation and payment enablement of the wearable item from end to end, saving banks and original equipment manufacturers vast amounts of time and money. Additionally, this also helps to significantly reduce the amount of plastic used for cards, improving environmental and sustainability efforts.

DIGISEQ’s ground-breaking technology is revolutionising wearable payments by allowing consumers to register and activate their own item using their payment card, through DIGISEQ’s Manage MiiTM mobile app, which can be white-labelled with the branding of its clients, essentially making it an invisible payments partner.