One Epassi button, hours saved: sports benefit popularity took Padelkeskus by surprise

Padelkeskus, located in Kempele, was founded in 2021 with six courts. Now there are fourteen courts and thousands of players every month. Paying with sports benefits now takes just a couple of taps in the Thril app, where slots are booked. The result: less manual work and a better customer experience.

Padelkeskus opened in February 2021. Growth was strong from the start and operations expanded quickly. The initial boom has since settled, but player numbers keep growing. Thousands of players now visit the centre every month, which means managing payments and bookings has to be effortless.

Sports benefit usage in particular has surprised Aada Käkelä, who runs Padelkeskus. Switching systems brought the manual workload down in that area too.

Epassi payments are already part of everyday life

Sports benefits, especially Epassi, are already part of everyday life at the vast majority of Finnish companies. To keep the customer experience high for businesses accepting these benefits, Epassi payments need to be quick and hassle-free. Padelkeskus made paying easy.

”Surprisingly many of our customers use Epassi, and more and more want to take advantage of these benefits,” Aada says.

With Thril, sports benefits can be used to pay at the tap of a button, directly in the app where the slot is booked. Aada is happy with the direct Epassi payment method. What she values most is how much time it frees up for other important work, and how much the direct Epassi payment option in the booking app improves the customer experience.

”It’s been really convenient. No manual work needed, and for the customer it’s much more flexible when Epassi payment works at the tap of a button in Thril”
— Aada Käkelä, Padelkeskus

Manual work replaced by a new system

Before adopting Thril, receiving Epassi payments was slow. The customer loaded credits for themselves, after which Padelkeskus processed the transfer manually. The process required manual work time and time again, something that can now be avoided entirely.

According to Aada, setting up the Epassi payment method was straightforward and the system switch went smoothly on both the Thril and Epassi side.

No major overhauls are planned at Padelkeskus for the future, but development continues. The team wants to respond to players’ wishes and adapt the offering accordingly.

”In the future we want to keep improving and responding to what players want. No big shake-ups, but we always want to get better.”
— Aada Käkelä, Padelkeskus

Contact information

📞 Phone: +358 44 2838863

📧 Email: info@thril.fi

📍 Address: Unioninkatu 24, 00130 Helsinki, Suomi