Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Cheq Inc. is expanding its footprint in the highly competitive stadium-payment space by adding restaurants, bars, hotels and stadiums to its roster of merchants in South Florida.
The expansion comes on the heels of Cheq’s deal in 2022 with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League to be the team’s official mobile-ordering and delivery partner at Hard Rock Stadium, the team’s home field. Cheq has a similar deal with Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins and that team’s home stadium, LoanDepot Park.
Cheq, which could not be reached for comment prior to deadline, says it will announce five new stadium partnerships, with the first deal slated to be announced later this month.
The company’s app enables users to order food or drinks on-premise, as well as send food or drinks remotely to others at restaurants, bars, hotels, or stadiums within Cheq’s merchant network. Venue partners can also use the app to send app users promotions and free products to increase sales, foot traffic, and customer loyalty.
In addition to its presence in South Florida, the company also has deals with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and Nissan Stadium, the Titans’ home field, as well as the Washington Commanders and their home stadium, FedEx Field, and the University of Washington Huskies, as well as PespiCo Inc., according to the company’s Web site.
Mobile-ordering and -payments systems for sports and entertainment venues is a hot market that has attracted such major payments players as Shift4 Payments Inc., FIS Inc. and Fiserv Inc.
Cheq looks to differentiate itself by leveraging social-media platforms to enable ordering and payment at merchants, as well as enable consumers to remotely send food or drinks to another person at a merchant in the company’s network. Stadiums can use the Cheq app to communicate with users during a game by sending promotional offers, as such as discounts for team apparel. Stadium operators can also use data gathered from users remotely sending food or drinks to fans attending a game to send promotional offers, such as a season-ticket package. Cheq claims that data gathered from transactions can increase repeat sales by as much as 22%.
“Friends can send each other beverages quickly and easily for birthdays, game day, or a bachelorette party. Parents can send a quick latte to their college student who is hunkering down for finals,” Cheq chief executive and co-founder, Thomas Lapham, says in a prepared statement. “The variety of usage on the app has exceeded our expectations entirely.”
