Multicard Launches Innovative Card Solution in Augsburg’s New Impuls Arena

Multicard has successfully completed the installation of its advanced card technology in the newly built FC Augsburg Impuls Arena. Together with the two energy suppliers of Augsburg, Stadtwerke Augsburg and Lechwerke, Multicard made what started as a shared vision into a reality, with spectators now having the ability to use three different customer cards inside the arena.

Multicard general manager Jürgen Müller stated, “This was a successful start to the 2009 season for 1. FC Augsburg and Multicard. Over 19,000 enthusiastic fans were pleased with the smooth entrance into the arena and the ease of payment within the stadium. Upwards of 70 payment points within the stadium are programmed to accept all cards, including the newly issued easyliving combination cards supplied by Multicard. We are delighted to see our card technology delivering such an improved customer experience.”

As a specialist in card technology, Multicard seamlessly integrated Legic and other technologies onto one card. This allows three different stadium systems to be used by a cardholder with the various technologies.

“Multicard managed the acceptance of the different customer cards – the easyliving card, KAROCARD, and 1.FC A Card – in the Arena. It is the first time three different cards have been used in a closed payment system and the first time a stadium based its card system on Legic technology”, said Müller.

Since the payment applet had not yet been installed on the thousands of already distributed KAROCARDS, Multicard offered to update visitor’s KAROCARDS right before the match. In order to do so, multiple info points were installed inside the stadium allowing the cards to be newly encoded within seconds.

“Our team has worked hard over the last months to ensure the integration of the different cards with the stadium’s backend systems,” Markus Albrecht, head of engineering at Multicard, said. “While behind the scenes we managed a complex process that enabled the three independent systems to inter-operate, the fans enjoyed a convenient and user-friendly solution. Taking this from an original concept sketched on paper, to a reality in a world class stadium is something we are all very proud of.”