The total switchover to other methods for paying will apply on both match days and non-match days and will be the culmination of a phased change.

Many areas of the business already benefit by operating on a cashless basis so the transition will bring the rest of the organisation in line with this approach.A cashless Stamford Bridge will match expectations for how modern stadiums should operate, not least because of the undoubted benefit it will have on the speed of service and cutting queue times in all areas of the club operations on a matchday. Research has shown cashless transactions can average half the time taken in comparison to transactions using cash.

We appreciate the majority of our fans are already using cards to make their purchases at Stamford Bridge, so the impact of going totally cashless should not be very noticeable. Already all our hospitality areas, our non-match day events operation, various restaurants within the complex, and some catering kiosks in the West Stand have gone cashless.

The phased approach will start on 1 March with our underground car park machines accepting cashless payments only, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. The club’s ticket office will then go cashless on 1 April for all season ticket renewals and match by match tickets. The process will then take us through to October when we plan to be completely cashless.

Other approximate key changeover dates to note are:

July 2020 – Stadium food and beverage outlets, match day programmes, betting outlets, 50/50 lottery, Under the BridgeOctober 2020 – Megastore and all merchandising outlets, Museum and stadium tours

We will keep our supporters and customers updated on the switchover as these areas of the business move away from cash during the remainder of this season and through the summer.