U.K. Donkey Ride Firm Uses Barclaycard Tech to Buck Cash

Real Donkeys, a donkey ride company that operates in Blackpool in the U.K., has added Barclaycard contactless payment technology to one of its saddles.

The new system lets patrons purchase rides by tapping a contactless payment card against a saddle worn by a donkey named Dillon, according to an article in Travel Weekly. The company approached Barclaycard after it was forced to turn away prospective riders who did not have cash on hand, Real Donkeys owner Mark Ineson said in the article.

"Assuming that Dillon's pioneering approach in going cashless is a success, we could see the roll out of more Contactless Donkeys everywhere next summer," Tami Hargreaves, head of contactless at Barclaycard, told TravelWeekly.

Barclaycard has been aggressive in its support of contactless payment technology. In addition to its contactless credit and debit cards, the bank has also issued more than 1 million PayTags, which are contactless stickers that can adhere to mobile phones. Last month, Barclays formally launched PayBand, a payment-capable wristband it had been testing for two years.

Barclays has also toyed with the idea of animal-based payments at least once before. Its 2013 April Fools' Day joke was a product called PayWag, a collar with a PayTag attached that would enable dogs to buy their own food and toys at the pet shop.