Paris 2024 Olympics: no Competition for Visa

Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together

 The original Olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (faster, higher, stronger) was adopted at the launch of the Olympic Movement in 1894 at the urging of founder Pierre de Coubertin, who wanted a slogan that expressed excellence in sport. The motto aimed at encouraging athletes to give their best during the competition. But the spirit of competition does not apply to sponsors, quite the contrary.

In 2021, the word ‘Together’ preceded by a hyphen was added to the motto recoginising the importance of solidarity.

Visa is an official sponsor of the event. Under the terms of a contract signed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it has exclusive rights to all transactions carried out at the Olympic venues. It is therefore impossible to pay for purchases with a Mastercard, Union Pay or American Express card in the official souvenir shops or in food outlets at the venues. Only the ticketing office is accessible to all types of cards.  In accordance with French legislation, which requires merchants to accept cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More, cash is also accepted, in theory at least.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 proudly accepts only Visa paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More products including debit, credit and mobile payments, along with cash, at Olympic and Paralympic venues to pay for food, beverages and official licensed products.” 

Paris 2024 website

 A 38-Year Monopoly for Visa

This is not the first time Visa enjoys a monopoly situation at the Olympic games. It has been the exclusive payment service provider for the Olympic since 1986, complementing cash – in theory – as one of the only two ways to pay at official venues.

In 2012, Visa strived to turn the London games cashless by promoting mobile and contactless payment technology. Visa ambassadors were equipped with a Samsung  (another Olympic sponsor) phone, which enabled contactless payments within the Olympic areas. In a more controversial move, Visa had 27 ATM machines closed down at the Olympic sites  and replaced with 8 new machines, which only accepted Visa cards. Further criticism arose from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, as ATMs were not equipped for blind and partially sighted people. But the real backlash occurred when card systems crashed at a soccer game at Wembley stadium and tens of thousands of spectators were unable to buy snacks.  And if further evidence that the London games did not go cashless is required, Link, the UK ATM network Link announced that ATM withdrawals increased by 4.6% during the Olympics compared to the same period the previous year. In Rio in 2016, Visa used the opportunity to promote their latest payment solution: wearable payments using devices such as a ring or a bracelet.

The cost of the exclusive sponsorship rights for Visa are surprisingly opaque for an international organization such as the International Olympic Committee. According to Forbes, the 15 global sponsors will invest roughly $3 billion for the four year Olympic cycle.

Could CBDC become a Challenger?

During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) promoted the use of the e-CNY,  the central bank’s digital currencyThe money used in a particular country at a particular time, like dollar, yen, euro, etc., consisting of banknotes and coins, that does not require endorsement as a medium of exchange. More thereby providing visitors with a third way to pay, alongside cash and Visa. Visitors could use the e-CNY through physical wallets – including cards, watches, gloves or badges – or through a mobile app.  According to Reuters, the e-CNY, was used to make 2 million yuan ($315,761) or more of payments a day at the Beijing Winter Olympics, citing a top official from the PBOC. However the availability of the e-CNY at the Games attracted some concerns about cybersecurity and data protection: U.S. Republican Senator and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio labelled the digital yuan a “tremendous security threat to individual users”; one of Britain’s spy chiefs, Jeremy Fleming, added in an interview with the Financial Times in December that the technology could allow Beijing to monitor users and exert control over global transactions.

Awkward Solutions for Consumers without Visa

For those who don’t carry the precious card, Visa offers alternative solutions. First, cash as it is a legal requirement to accept cash in France. Second, visitors can also generate a virtual pre-paid Visa card using the Visa Go application, which has been available on mobile app stores since the end of June or collect a physical card. The virtual card can be reloaded several times up to a maximum of €150. The physical card, on the other hand, cannot be reloaded and can only be loaded once up to a maximum of €150. A single use plastic card is however quite a paradox for what are supposed to be the greenest games in history.

Furthermore, when you download the app, you must accept surprising terms and conditions , to say the least. For example, authorisation to use your name “for advertising purposes on all media worldwide, in perpetuity […] without payment or consideration […]” (article 14.2.9 of the general terms and conditions).

But what is worse, cash is not always accepted, contrary to French law. I had the opportunity to attend a badminton event this week. It was very warm and my daughter and I went to buy an ice-cream. At the main food stall, signs indicated cash and Visa was accepted. However, ice-cream was sold exclusively at a smaller booth which “proudly accepted Visa” but not cash. I did not want to have an argument with the very friendly salesperson who most probably had very little responsibility over the decision not to accept cash. However, the next person in line was with a 7- or 8-year-old daughter and only carried a Mastercard and cash. He explained that his group probably had a Visa card but that would mean re-entering the stadium and missing part of the game. His daughter started crying as it was hot and the ice-cream was tempting. I paid for her ice-cream with my Visa card. So much for solidarity.

Visa only sign at an official Paris 2024 ice-cream shop

Consumers are Frustrated, Merchants lose Business

“It’s embarrassing, really, and quite incomprehensible” says Clémence in Le Figaro. The thirty-something year-old travelled from the south of France to attend the Olympic Games and was planning to raid the official Paris 2024 shop. But she hadn’t anticipated a major problem: she doesn’t have a Visa credit card, and neither does her partner Sébastien. After many long sighs, the young woman decided to find a solution on her phone. “They say you have to buy a prepaid card, but I can’t see anything for that. Or cash. That means finding an ATM. And to think I was already halfway through the queue”, she complained, before turning back towards the Champs-Élysées.

Jane, an American, fell under the spell of a Phrygian cuddly toy, the Olympic mascot and it took her almost an hour to get her hands on the object of her desire. Her “fault”: she holds an American Express card, not a Visa. “I didn’t know that there were special cards for the Olympics. It’s not really promoted,” lamented the 50-year-old to the Figaro, between sips of water. “The first time I didn’t have enough cash, so I had to go and find a bureau de changeThis is the action by which certain banknotes and/or coins are exchanged for the same amount in banknotes/coins of a different face value, or unit value. See Exchange. More, because withdrawing moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More from an ATM is expensive, not to mention bank fees”. She promises to find out how virtual Visa cards work as soon as she gets back to her hotel room. But the €150 limit is already putting her off. “I’m here with my three children, so that amount is likely to be spent quickly”, she sighs.

French consumer organisation ’60 millions de consommateurs’ deplores that only 60 ATMs are installed at Olympic venues. “This is clearly not enough, and Visa knows it,” said Loïc Deguzan, president of the Indecosa CGT consumer association, “Given the traffic congestion and other labour issues, the secure and adequate supply of ATMs is also a matter of concern.”

Lessons Learned

Given the size, scope and duration of the event, this represents a unique laboratory for a future without cash. Here are some lessons.

1. The process is not consumer-driven. It is solely supply-side driven, with Visa willing to pay colossal amounts to be the exclusive payments service provider. There is a similarity with Coca-Cola who is the exclusive provider of beverages. When I attended an event, there was a far longer queue at the free water fountain than at the food & beverage stall, with people filling their water bottles as well as reusable cups sold at the food & beverage stall.
2. The monopoly is detrimental to inclusion, both financially but also socially. All consumers cannot be expected to carry a Visa card, even at the Olympics, where one would expect the vast majority of visitors to be fully banked. What about children? Should they carry cards as well? What about the Paralympics? What solutions are available for instance for blind or partially sighted visitors? Or those with limited hand functionality?
3. By forcing consumers to use their products, Visa is turning them into a commodity with no added-value for the consumer. In an interview with Forbes, the Chief Marketing Officer of Visa, Frank Cooper says “we seek to remove friction from transactions and to open up new opportunities for commerce for more and more people.” Excluding other payment instruments – including cash – achieves just the opposite: it creates barriers to transactions. Like sports, payments should operate in a level playing field.
4. In Beijing in 2022, Visa faced competition not only from cash but also from the digital yuan. It will be interesting to watch how Visa reacts if other Central Bank Digital Currencies are launched in countries hosting the Olympics.