54% of Purchases Inside 2018 FIFA World Cup Stadiums Use Contactless Technology
Visa, the official payment services partner of FIFA, released an analysis of foreign travellers’ spending during opening days of 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The results found that in the 11 Russian host cities of the tournament, approximately one in every five (17 percent) purchases with Visa used contactless payment technology, including smartphones, bracelets and rings. In the stadiums themselves, the share of contactless payments was 54 percent, inclusive of purchases made by fans from Russia and abroad.On average, across the 11 host cities, Visa cardholders spent approximately $56.65 per transaction, with fans from the United States spending the most – followed by China and Mexico in second and third, respectively.
As the exclusive payment service in all stadiums where payment cards are accepted, Visa is providing fans in Russia the ability to purchase innovations for fast, easy and cash-free payment experiences. This includes partnering with Alfa-Bank to offer for purchase: 6,500 Payment Rings and a 30,000 Payment Bands. The ring and the band are both NFC-enabled, contactless payment devices that link to a prepaid card. Visa is also offering fans Visa commemorative contactless cards. Consumers only have to load value onto their cards to begin using them, which they can do at Visa Alfa-Bank ATMs or through Visa's online portal.