Inside the VIP Wallet: How Event Brands Are Turning Access Into Loyalty

The global events industry is rapidly digitizing. From luxury hospitality to major sports tournaments, organizers are looking for ways to combine seamless access, payments, and rewards into a single experience.

This evolution is powered by embedded finance - where access control, payments, and loyalty are unified through smart wearables, digital wallets, or branded cards. 

The Shift: From Ticket to Experience

Modern audiences expect convenience and connection, not just entry. According to Event Industry News, contactless and wearable payments have become standard at large-scale events, reducing queues and increasing on-site spending. When these payment systems are branded and linked to rewards, they become a loyalty channel in themselves. For example, at music festivals and sports venues, NFC-enabled wristbands are increasingly used as both access passes and payment tools. Research by Mastercard shows that festivalgoers who use contactless or wearable payments report higher satisfaction - citing faster service and easier spending control.

Case Example: Club Brugge’s Club Pay

Sports clubs are leading this change. In 2025, Belgian football club Club Brugge launched Club Pay - a debit card that allows fans to earn and redeem loyalty points for purchases inside the club’s network. The card connects payments, merchandise, and partner offers under one fan wallet, showing how embedded finance can transform event attendance into continuous engagement. 

Wearables: Access, Identity, and Brand Touchpoints

At high-end events and hospitality venues, NFC-enabled wearables and digital passes are replacing printed tickets and plastic cards. For organizers, each “tap” also provides verified data on guest flow, spending, and sponsor interactions - metrics that were previously fragmented across multiple systems. These insights allow brands to reward engagement in real time, track sponsor ROI, and design new loyalty mechanics based on actual attendee behavior. 

Why Loyalty Belongs Inside the Wallet

The logic is simple: the closer a brand is to the payment moment, the stronger its emotional and behavioral connection with the customer. By embedding finance into event ecosystems, organizers and partners gain:

• Unified user journeys - access, payments, and vouchers in one tap.
• Actionable data - real-time insight into guest activity.
• Sponsor visibility - quantifiable engagement metrics tied to spend.
• Sustainable reusability - one wearable across multiple events.

Conclusion

For event organizers, loyalty is no longer built after the show - it’s built during it. By turning access passes and payment tools into branded wallets, event and hospitality brands can create measurable loyalty, gather real-time insights, and deliver frictionless premium experiences.