tappit, a leading international provider of cashless experiences to sports events, festivals and other global entertainment venues, has appointed Jason Thomas as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Jason brings a proven track record of leading international teams in countries across Europe, Asia and North America, working for companies such as Sony, Virgin, HMV and Universal. He takes the helm from Rob Groombridge, who has moved into his new role as Managing Director of joint venture company tappit Africa (PTY) Ltd., in South Africa.

Jason was previously Chief Commercial Officer at the Sappaya payments group, and part of the executive team at Ticketscript that brokered a multi-million dollar trade sale to San Francisco based ticketing company Eventbrite. He was also Head of Ticketing at HMV, leading the department to annual turnover of over £10 million. Jason specialises in business transformation and strategy implementation in disruptive technology, ecommerce, business intelligence and data driven industries.

Speaking about his new position at tappit, Jason explained: “As a huge music and sports fan, I’m thrilled to bring my technology and ticketing experience to tappit as we embark on a period of significant growth in international markets. Every sports game I go to I despair at the customer experience we still put up with – constantly queuing and searching for money for the car park, club shop, programmes, food and drink.

“There is a better way today: tappit provides simple, secure technology via cards and wristbands, that easily avoids these fan pain-points, enabling event operators to focus on providing the best possible fan experience, and enjoy the rewards that come with it.”

Cashless payment experiences, already common in the German Bundesliga and Rugby 7s events, are fast becoming an integral feature of events around the world. tappit makes fans’ payments as convenient as possible, improving the visitor experience, increasing revenue and improving loyalty. Operators benefit from improved cash management and optimised reconciliation, while receiving a wealth of payment information on fans’ spending habits, enabling them to improve future events and experiences.