When The Ashbrooke in Sunderland made town history - all thanks to plastic cards
It’s 31 years since Sunderland had its first pub where you could pay with plastic.
Back in 1993, the Ashbrooke in Stannington Grove tested pre-payment cashcards with mini-microchips embedded in them.
The cards could be bought at the bar, where staff used a special terminal to credit them with a value specified by the customer.
Using the cards for pool
They could then be used to buy drinks and food and to play most amusement machines, including pool tables.
All costs were deducted automatically by special card readers and display units which were fixed to the till and to the games cabinets, where they replaced traditional coin mechanisms.
Getting a top-up at the bar
The display units on each machine showed customers the price of play and, on deducting the sum, the value which was left on their cards.
When a card’s value was exhausted, it could be recharged at the bar.
The pub also brought in a bonus scheme by using the card’s memory.
As the cards were used, bonus points were added.
And once targets were reached customers could claim free pints of beer or wine.
Reach a target and get a T-shirt
Or the points could be accumulated for bigger gifts like T-shirts and rugby shirts.
Tell us if you remember the early days of plastic at the Ashbrooke in 1993, by emailing [email protected]