Visa: Contactless Payments Big Winners At FIFA Women’s World Cup

Contactless payments are making their own big play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, at least according to new Visa data.

In a statement, the company said that “in the nine official stadiums, fans across France tapped to pay using contactless payment technology for more than half (51 percent) of purchases – including on contactless cards, smartphones, payment-enabled wristbands and wearable technology.”

Visa added that “analysis of out-of-stadium spend from international Visa cardholders shows increased tourism in France, especially significant in smaller host cities. In the nine host cities alone, there has been a 140 percent increase of international Visa cardholders choosing to tap to pay when making purchases outside of the stadium.”

Visa also offered more specific data about payment trends during the ongoing international sporting event. For instance, “the match between United States and Chile (Parc de Princes, Paris) saw the highest amount spent in-stadium in a single match, accounting for approximately 14 percent of total spend to date. The next highest, the Opening Match between France and South Korea (Parc de Princes, Paris) accounted for 8 percent – where more than 45,000 fans filled the stadium in downtown Paris.”

The payments company said that for the tournament, “Visa is the exclusive payment service in all stadiums where payment cards are accepted. In-stadium, fans can tap to pay with Visa contactless credit and debit cards and mobile payment services at the more than 1,600 upgraded point-of-sale terminals at all nine official venues.”

The statement also said Visa “selected Natixis Payments as [the] point-of-sale and prepaid solutions provider and acquirer in stadium.”