VISA CASHLESS ? PRICELESS !
"Proud only to accept Visa" (except Wembley)
"Proud only to accept Visa" (except Wembley)
Apparently there are just eight cash machines across all of the Olympic venues to service more than 11 million anticipated spectators, and all in a world where 85% of transactions are still cash based.
34 Olympic venues, including Wembley, Earl's Court, Greenwich Park, Wimbledon and Lord's do not even have a single ATM. Why? Because under their Olympic agreement Visa has had them removed. Mariano Dima, Visa's European CMO, has labelled London 2012 as a "showcase of innovation"...more like deprivation!
Visa's current strapline is: "Life flows faster with Visa" and "flow faster with Visa contactless".
Visa's current strapline is: "Life flows faster with Visa" and "flow faster with Visa contactless".
Furthermore, the 8 cash machines only dispense cash for those with a Visa card since Visa are a worldwide Tier 1 sponsor. On the plus side, according to Which? magazine, 98pc of the UK cardholders will be able to use cards onsite as there are 115m Visa cards in circulation in the UK, and the vast majority of link/switch cards in the UK are Visa debit cards.
My opinion is that the "We are proud to accept only Visa" is bugging quite a few Olympic visitors especially the fans attending Olympic football games at Wembley Stadium who have complained of "ridiculous" queues for food and drink after tills stopped working. This really isn't a surprise since whenever I have been to events at Wembley this has happened every time.
The fact is that irregardless of whose fault it is, be it Wembley themselves, BT, or Visa, the fact is that Visa will undoubtedly bear the brunt of negative publicity, spectator bad feeling and all round bad will. The first wave of which came when tickets first came out when fans discovered that the only way to pay was using Visa.
The reason behind Visa's decision relates to their business objective for the brand to now be seen as technology company and they are using the Olympic venues to test a new cashless forms of payment. These are the payWave cards and Samsung payWave mobile 'phones which Visa hopes will render bank notes and coins redundant the UK.
8 cash points in the Olympic park mean no cash available, so long queues, no consumer choice & aggravation. Talk about forcing the consumer to adopt new products !! Jim McCarthy head of Products at Visa inc. has said "Electronic payments play a crucial role in facilitating tourism and meeting the needs of consumers on the go during a world sporting event such as the Olympic games, making this a unique opportunity to showcase how technology is changing the way people shop"
However the bigger issue showcased isn't about payment or even new technology products. It is more about how rights holders and sponsors in general are permitted category exclusivity. The issue is that Visa's category exclusivity has been detrimental to the fans' enjoyment of the Olympics irregardless of whether Visa have been to blame or not. Visa will be seen to have been spoiling the fans enjoyment of the games and in the long run this will hurt only them.
In the words of Steve Martin CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment "Everything sponsors do must help the event and make it easier for the fans, and it should ingrained, so the brand's presence is weaved into the fabric of the event".
Time will tell about category exclusivity and whether the consumer will have a positive brand perception from London 2012. Given that Visa have been supporting the Olympics since 1986 and have signed up until 2020 the odd setback is to be expected. However category exclusivity will in the future be thoroughly scrutinised by all rights holders for new deals.
The fact is that irregardless of whose fault it is, be it Wembley themselves, BT, or Visa, the fact is that Visa will undoubtedly bear the brunt of negative publicity, spectator bad feeling and all round bad will. The first wave of which came when tickets first came out when fans discovered that the only way to pay was using Visa.
The reason behind Visa's decision relates to their business objective for the brand to now be seen as technology company and they are using the Olympic venues to test a new cashless forms of payment. These are the payWave cards and Samsung payWave mobile 'phones which Visa hopes will render bank notes and coins redundant the UK.
8 cash points in the Olympic park mean no cash available, so long queues, no consumer choice & aggravation. Talk about forcing the consumer to adopt new products !! Jim McCarthy head of Products at Visa inc. has said "Electronic payments play a crucial role in facilitating tourism and meeting the needs of consumers on the go during a world sporting event such as the Olympic games, making this a unique opportunity to showcase how technology is changing the way people shop"
However the bigger issue showcased isn't about payment or even new technology products. It is more about how rights holders and sponsors in general are permitted category exclusivity. The issue is that Visa's category exclusivity has been detrimental to the fans' enjoyment of the Olympics irregardless of whether Visa have been to blame or not. Visa will be seen to have been spoiling the fans enjoyment of the games and in the long run this will hurt only them.
In the words of Steve Martin CEO of M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment "Everything sponsors do must help the event and make it easier for the fans, and it should ingrained, so the brand's presence is weaved into the fabric of the event".
Time will tell about category exclusivity and whether the consumer will have a positive brand perception from London 2012. Given that Visa have been supporting the Olympics since 1986 and have signed up until 2020 the odd setback is to be expected. However category exclusivity will in the future be thoroughly scrutinised by all rights holders for new deals.
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