BARS Payment and Access System
In Lazurny Water Park

Project: water park automation

Customer: Lazurny Water Park

Location: Belgorod

Solution provided: BARS Payment and Access System for water parks

Result obtained: a convenient payment and access system that integrates cashiers' workplaces connected to access points, turnstiles with wristband receivers at the exit, information kiosks and payment for purchases at food outlets inside the water park

TASK AT HAND

At the end of 2019, a modern 12,000 sq.m indoor water park with a colourful interior and azure water opened in Belgorod. Lazurny features 5 swimming pools, 5 children's and 7 adult slides, a thermal spa area, a souvenir shop, bars and cafés.

To control access to the water park and payment for its services, a payment and access system was needed. The management of the water park chose the BARS payment and access system of Bars IT.

SOLUTION

Kaba turnstiles with built-in Gat Access 6350 F access control terminals by GANTNER on all entrance panels were chosen for equipping 6 access points.

On 3 exit turnstiles there are GAT Access 6200 access control terminals and SLA300 access control readers. GAT Return 6350 access control terminals are installed on 3 exit turnstiles.

To make visiting the water park even more comfortable for guests, the BARS payment and pass system integrates food outlets located inside. You can use the wristband to pay for your purchases in bars and cafes.

Cost Control in Water Park

Lazurny guests are always aware of their expenses. There are information kiosks inside, which are convenient for visitors to use to see their locker number, check how much money is left on their account and how much prepaid time visitors can still spend in the water park. Visitors put their wristband to the reader of the information kiosk and all the data they need is displayed on the screen.

If the guest wants to pay off the debt for water park services before leaving the water park, he/ she can always go to the surcharge desk, which is located in the gift shop. Having paid off the debt to the water park at the surcharge desk, the visitor does not need to stand in the queue at the exit ticket office.

Those guests, who have no debts – they have paid at the surcharge desk or exactly met the prepaid time and do not need change, leave the water park through the turnstile with a wristband receiver. Visitors place the wristband against the access control terminal to confirm that they are not in arrears. Guests then remove the wristband from their hand, put it into the wristband receiver and exit the water park.

Turnstiles with a wristband receiver are great for water parks that want to experiment with how many cashiers are needed for optimal operation. If the majority of visitors will exit through the turnstile without going to the ticket office, the water park can reduce the number of cashiers.

For those clients who find it more convenient to pay at the cashier's desk on the way out, they hand their wristbands to the cashier. He/she puts the wristband to the reader located on his/her desk. The reader connected with the turnstile shows whether the client has debts for water park services. If there is, the guest pays the required amount. Once the debt is repaid and the client leaves the water park.

Organisational and Financial Model

Sports and entertainment facilities such as water parks often use an advance (deposit) or credit payment system. If the water park has a payment and access system, the means of payment is usually an RFID wristband.

Under the deposit system, clients deposit a certain amount of money to their account. Within this monetary limit, guests pay for all services and goods purchased inside the water park with the help of a wristband.

Under the credit payment system, the water park credits visitors for a certain amount, for example, 5,000 roubles. Within this amount visitors purchase services and goods on the territory of the water park and pay for them at the exit.

A mixed payment system can be used – when at the entrance the client makes an advance payment, buys services without worrying about the limit, and at the exit pays the required amount.

For a large sports and leisure facility, there is always the question of how to enable customers to pay for their own goods/services as well as those provided by tenants. They can provide, for example, catering, equipment rental, instructor services, or sell souvenirs, goods in vending machines, etc.

Each tenant can be a separate legal entity. Therefore, either each tenant independently accepts payment for its services and goods, or the water park includes all its tenants in a single payment system, accepts payment for all services and goods purchased inside the facility, and issues cheques to clients.

The second option is much better for clients. In an aqua park it is inconvenient to carry cash or a bank card to pay, for example, in a cafe. Money and card can't be tucked into a swimming costume or swimming trunks. It is more convenient to pay for all goods and services with an RFID wristband issued by the water park.

It is necessary to solve the issue of how the water park should ensure that cheques are printed for all types of purchased goods and services - separately for the amount spent at each tenant. For this purpose, fiscal registrars of all tenant legal entities should be installed at the cash desk and there may be 5, 10, 15 or 20 of them. It is not possible to do this if the number of fiscal registrars is more than two.

An alternative option is to use one of the legally permitted organisational and financial models, which allows one legal entity to accept payment for its own goods/services and those provided by other legal entities (e.g. tenants) and transfer money to them for their goods and services under some scheme. In this case, only one fiscal registrar is needed and one cheque is printed, which reduces the settlement time with each guest.

There are different organisational and financial models, each with advantages and disadvantages. The optimal model is the "Agent" model. Under it, the Agent undertakes for a fee to perform legal and other (factual) actions on behalf of the other party (the Principal) on its own behalf but at the expense of the Principal or on behalf and at the expense of the Principal.

This is the scheme chosen by Lazurny Water Park to accept cash and non-cash payments for its services and tenants' goods/services, to issue a single cheque to customers and to make the necessary settlements with tenants. Bars IT explained to the Lazurny management the peculiarities of different organisational and financial models, adapted the software to the chosen model and implemented it.

RESULT

In December 2019, Lazurny Water Park opened for visitors. Now Belgorod residents have the opportunity to ride water slides and swim in warm clear water all year round.

BARS Payment and Access System ensures order at the entrance to the water park, helps the staff to control payment for services and prevents abuse. In other words, the BARS system solves urgent tasks of water park management – access control, collection of fees for services – own and rendered by tenants, and mutual settlements with them.

The plan is to sell sessions for all of the water park's tariff plans on its website – using an online sales module developed by Bars IT.

It is already convenient for Lazurny guests to use all zones and services of the water park with the help of a wristband, which is issued at the entrance. Visitors do not need to worry about the safety of personal belongings and valuables. They remain under lock and key in the lockers specially provided for this purpose.

The wristband will help clients pay in bars and cafes. The information kiosk allows guests to find out at any time how much money they have spent at Lazurny and how much prepaid time is left at their disposal. If a visitor needs to take something from his/her locker, the information kiosk will prompt the locker number.

All these "little things" make a visit to Lazurny comfortable, carefree and pleasant for customers, and profitable for the water park.

The Vitaliy-Belgorod YouTube channel has an excellent video about Lazurny – watch it to find yourself for a few minutes in the fabulous interior of the beautiful water park.