Change is in the air for buskers
Keeping up with the times, one of Sydney’s best known buskers has introduced a tap-and-go system so his coinless customers can “tap” him a $2 tip.
NSW
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He’s spent years tapping out beats on his prized guitar and now one of the city’s best-known buskers is asking his customers to tap along with him.
Joseph Truman, 46, busks all over the city at well-known haunts including Hyde Park, St James Station and Stanmore.
And, keeping up with the times, he’s introduced a tap-and-go system for his customers.
It allows people to simply tap their credit or debit card as they walk past, rather than fumble through their wallets for spare change.
Mr Truman said that after nagging from one of his regulars, who works in the finance sector, he invested in a new system for payment.
“I move around a lot, going from the banking sector areas to the lawyer-type areas. I’ve been doing it for years,” Mr Truman said.
“A few months ago one of my regulars came up to me and said, ‘Joe, you’ve got to get one of those tap-and-go readers’.
“I laughed it off originally. After a bit of nagging from him I ended up buying one and have been using it for about a month.”
The Apple Pay Square cost him $59, and he said he normally received four to five “taps” in a session.
Mr Truman wouldn’t say how much he typically earned in a day, but did say he hoped tap-and-go payments would become normal for buskers in Sydney.
The product was first used by buskers in the UK late last year when London was the first city in the world to introduce cashless payments for buskers through its Busk in London program.
A similar program has also been trialled in Melbourne.
Mr Truman is believed to be one of the first buskers to adopt the move in Sydney.
His price is set at $2, and 15-year-old Tyriesha Williams appreciated the convenience.
“I never carry any cash. My money is always on my card,” she said. “He was really good so I wanted to do something, and then I saw the tap-and-go option.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The move comes as a range of different sectors start to give coins the flick, including charities.
This year The Salvation Army conducted its annual Red Shield Appeal with tap-and-go machines for the first time.
Many cultural institutions have also adopted the technology, including the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra, where you can tap to donate a fixed amount.