How Northern Quest Streamlined Concert Operations and Decreased Transaction Time by 73%

Northern Quest turned operational chaos into high-performing festival experiences using FastBar’s hybrid cashless POS—serving thousands of guests with lightning-fast speed, reduced labor stress, and real-time revenue insights.

Background

Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Spokane, Washington, is one of the premier tribal resort destinations in the Pacific Northwest. With a large outdoor event hosting 25+ concerts each summer for up to 6000 guests, plus extensive indoor operations year-round, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians needed a POS solution that could handle rapid guest throughput, enable flexible deployment, and work reliably—even without WiFi.

About this business

Business Type

Tribal Casino

Location

Spokane, WA

Products Used

FastBar Point of Sale

FastBar Registration

FastBar Event Control Center

Ready to take events at your tribal casino to the next level?

“We increased our service level by a factor of like 16. It’s just light speed.”
— Matt Gibson, Director of Vibe

“It’s plug and play. You touch the screen, it goes through quick. There’s no receipts to hold on to or stack up.”
— Tony Edwards, Bartender

The Challenge

Northern Quest’s summer concert series draws thousands of guests each night, but their legacy POS setup—built around slow, receipt-based cash registers—couldn’t keep up with demand. Long lines formed quickly, causing frustration for guests and lost revenue for the casino. Staff struggled with clunky systems that slowed service, while managers lacked real-time visibility to adjust pricing or staffing on the fly. Northern Quest needed a modern, high-speed solution that could scale across outdoor and indoor venues, integrate with existing operations, and deliver the level of service guests expect from one of the region’s premier resort casinos.

The Solution: FastBar

FastBar delivered a fully integrated, RFID-enabled point-of-sale system that transformed Northern Quest’s event operations. Guests can tap to pay using wristbands or cards, eliminating the need for cash, tokens, or paper receipts. With registration completed in seconds, attendees moved through lines faster, enjoyed more of the event, and spent more at the bar. Behind the scenes, staff and managers gained real-time visibility into sales data, enabling dynamic decisions around staffing, inventory, and pricing. FastBar’s intuitive, mobile-first platform replaced outdated registers with battery-powered tablets, streamlining check-in, accelerating service, and unlocking a new level of control and efficiency across every event touchpoint.

Key Results

• 73%+ reduction in transaction time. With their existing system, the total time required to complete a payment transaction averaged 45 seconds. FastBar dropped the average to 12 seconds for credit card payments, and just 1 second for RFID payments. Quicker lines = happier guests and more revenue.

• 50+ labor hours eliminated per event. FastBar’s simple setup and instant reconciliation at the end of the event helped Northern Quest eliminate 50+ labor hours across IT and Food and Beverage departments per event.

• Dramatic increase in spend and guest satisfaction. When lines move quicker, guests are happier, and they buy more. FastBar’s smooth transaction process and lightning-fast speed directly translated into a substantial increase in spend per guest

Why FastBar Worked for ilani

✔️ Lightning-fast transactions with 12 second checkouts for cards, and 1 second checkouts for RFID
✔️ RFID and card payments for faster, frictionless guest experiences
✔️ Real-time sales insights for on-the-fly operational decisions
✔️ Offline mode and mobile tablets for anywhere deployment
✔️ Minimal training required—staff mastered it in minutes