Evening Standard Starts Cashless Payment With iTunes Tracks Incentive

London’s Evening Standard newspaper is launching a new swipecard designed to let readers buy the paper without cash. Customers will add credit to their Eros card from the scheme’s website and, at least during a trial at Waterloo Station next week, will get five free iTunes Store tracks every time they add new credit, Press Gazette says. There’s not just a potential convenience benefit here (in fact, I’d find it more convenient to pay in cash than with a card), but the carrot-and-stick approach of offering value-added rewards like music downloads could encourage customers to add credit they will then feel compelled not to waste. Londoners have already grown accustomed to cash-less transactions for underground travel with the blue Oyster card, which can also be topped up with credits online.