Payment Giant Visa Monopolises London 2012

The London 2012 Stadium

Visa is very proud of its long track record as a sponsor of international sport, especially the Olympic Games, which it has been backing since 1986.  Not only is it a backer of the Olympic movement,  it is also the sole payment services provider for the London 2012 games. 

According to the enthusiastic blurb on its website:-

Sport unites people, communities and nations. It enriches people’s lives and creates economic development opportunities. In today’s world, where brand and trust mean so much, the Olympic Games reflect those equities found at Visa — worldwide acceptance, reliability, versatility and leadership. Sponsoring the Olympic Games makes good business sense for Visa and our clients.

It might make good business sense for Visa, but not everyone is so delighted with the exclusive sponsorship deal between Visa and the 2012 London Olympics.  It has just emerged that 27 ATMs at various Olympic venues have been ripped out and replaced by Visa’s own machines.  The UK Payments Council, for one, is not happy with this arrangement. Ron Delnevo of the UK Payments Council said the move appeared to be designed to "compel those visiting Olympic venues to use only Visa cards".

He added: "The Olympics are going to be cash-starved by design. This is plainly unacceptable in a world where 85 per cent-plus of all transactions continue to be made using cash.

Said Mr Delnevo "The Olympics do not belong to any sponsor, however much money they have paid for brand awareness. The Games are meant to be a celebration of the sporting prowess of men and women from every corner of our planet. Sadly, it seems that the ideals of the Olympics now take a back seat whenever they get in the way of needs of commercial sponsors."

For those attending the games, it may mean long frustrating waits at the cash machine, as the original 27 ATMs are being replace with just eight Visa machines.  Ticketholders with Mastercard credit or debit cards will not be able to withdraw cash at the Olympic venues.

This monopoly does not only apply to London 2012.  In fact, Visa will be the only payment card accepted at Games venues through to 2020, including  the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the 2020 Olympic Summer Games.

To be fair, Visa have actually put their hand in their pocket and coughed up financial support for the staging of the games and have also supported Olympic teams and individual athletes through its global Team Visa program.

Commenting on the ATM arrangements for London 2012, the Visa web page states
"At every Olympic Games, Visa creates and manages the entire payment system infrastructure and network throughout all Olympic Games venues.
"Visa installs thousands of point-of-sale devices and a dedicated ATM network at every Olympic Games.
"Eight ATMs will be installed at London 2012 Olympic venues and this year, for the first time at an Olympic and Paralympic Games, contactless payment technology will be implemented across the event venues providing additional ways to pay."

Visa also sponsors soccer, as one of the six business partners in the FIFA World Cup, and American Football, as a sponsor of the US National Football League.