Australia and New Zealand host “the first-ever cashless” Women’s World Cup
Sydney (Australia), Jul 30 (EFE).- The FIFA Women’s World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand is the “first cashless World Cup” with fans and Visa card customers able to make digital payments quickly and securely at stadiums and other venues.
“It’s the first FIFA World Cup that is 100 percent cashless,” Erandi Valdéz, senior director of Employee and Sponsorship Communications for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean, told EFE, adding that the experience so far has been “very positive.”
Visa customers can use their physical or virtual debit or credit cards on their cell phones and smart watches at the World Cup venues from July 20 to August 20.
In addition, users are entitled to discounts and small gifts.
For those who have cash, Visa – the main sponsor of the Women’s World Cup, with which EFE collaborates – allows them to buy commemorative prepaid cards with which they can make various transactions in stadiums of Australia and New Zealand, as well as in the FIFA spaces for women’s soccer fans.
One of the options is new cards with digital World Cup designs, linked to an Australian cell phone number, which update with the match results.
Valdéz explained that this World Cup will allow Latin American consumers to “experience” the ease with which these transactions are made in Australia and New Zealand, where contactless payment penetration is over 90 percent, and to return to their country with a “slightly different mentality.”
“We see many advantages to a cashless world and what better than a space where you have people from all over the world (where they come) to enjoy the biggest women’s soccer tournament,” said Valdéz, who assured that Visa is working on the digitization of transactions for the next Women’s World Cup in 2027.
“With our brand, we will approach financial institutions and businesses to prepare them,” said the Visa executive, giving as an example programs to prepare entrepreneurs to accept and process digital means of payment, as well as with consumers to increase the acceptance of this type of virtual transactions.
The candidates to host the next FIFA Women’s World Cup are Brazil, Mexico-United States, South Africa, and Belgium-Netherland-Germany. EFE
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