Over the past few weeks, a select number of buskers and street performers in London have been testing out a new contactless payment system, designed to provide a safer and more efficient means of earning money than their current paper and coin methods.

Being rolled out thanks to a collaboration between Busk in London (an organisation for registered buskers in the city) and Swedish payments platform iZettle (recently purchased by PayPal), London mayor Sadiq Khan says the system will be entering 32 of the city's districts in coming weeks.   

Apart from lessening the likelihood of buskers or street performers being robbed, the new system is also said to have had a positive effect on people's willingness to donate. "More people than ever tap-to-donate whilst I sing, and often, when one person does, another follows," street performer Charlotte Campbell told the BBC.

Like many of the tap to pay facilities at portable card terminals available locally, this new system employs a similar means of payment. The terminals require a smartphone or tablet connection in order to operate, with buskers setting pre-fixed amounts for donation.

With South Africa featuring a large busker/ street performer community, which is heavily dependant on tourists for tips and donations, implementing a similar system here certainly holds some merit.

Lead image via BBC.