Visa Introduces Winter Olympics Smart Apparel Range Ahead Of PyeongChang 2018

Following on from its initial PyeongChang 2018 ‘100 Day Countdown’ commercial, which broke at the end of October and featured #TeamVisa athletes,

Visa continued its Winter Olympic activation in November by launching payment-ready wearables.

The IOC’s payments sector sponsor has swapped cards for NFC-chip and antenna equipped gloves as its rolls out a range of smart apparel for guests attending the PyeongChang games.

After introducing tap-to-pay and even payment rings at previous sports properties, Visa continues its tactic of demonstrating new thinking around its tap-to-pay technology at the 2018 Winter Olympics with a trio of NFC-equipped gadgets to help fans shop and pay at the PyeongChang Games without having to use a card or even a phone (thus avoiding cold hands).

As well as a set of Visa branded, tech-enabled winter gloves that enable the wearer to pay food and Games souvenirs, there are also (four) commemorative lapel pins ($4.50 each) that you can load with prepaid funds, and a flexible NFC sticker that you can attach to all kinds of objects and accepts prepaid values as high as $180.

Visa debuts cool wearables in Korea for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, athletes and fans will be able to use contactless payment-enabled gloves, pins and stickers! https://t.co/AdF7zITiLe #CashlessWithVisa pic.twitter.com/28QWuPf7lc

— VisaNews (@VisaNews) November 14, 2017

The branded wearables come with prepaid values of between 30,000KRW to 50,000KRW ($27 to $45) and aim to encourage easy, warm South Korean shopping at and around the Games.

Visa has teamed up with the financial arm of fellow Games sponsor and South Korean retail giant Lotte on the sales side of its new wearables range and they can be bought with a Lotte Card either online and in customer centres, as well as at Visa vending machines at Olympic Superstores during the games (which run from 9 to 25 February).

Thus Visa, the exclusive payment technology partner at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, hopes it is enabling fans and athletes to complete seamless and secure payments with a simple tap at any contactless-enabled terminal.

“We are looking forward to transforming the payment experience for everyone who attends the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang,” said Iain Jamieson, Korea country manager at Visa.

“At Visa, we have been working tirelessly to ensure all of the Olympic venues are equipped with the very latest payment capabilities to provide the best experience possible for all those on-site.”

“It is important to me, as a Winter Olympian, to work with a brand like Visa that not only supports a diverse group of athletes, but also enables an enhanced fan experience for those at the Games,” said Mikaela Shiffrin, USA Olympic gold medalist and Team Visa athlete.

“Olympic pins are always the most coveted collectibles, these Visa pins really up the ante.”

“Growing up in South Korea, I am proud that my home country is hosting the Games, and is using this opportunity to introduce Visa payment innovations to the rest of the world,” said Park, Seung-Hi, South Korean Olympic Speed Skating and Team Visa athlete.

“These payment gloves provide a hassle-free way to pay, even when it’s cold!”

Comment:

Of course, realistically these are technology demonstration devices rather than mass market consumer products.

While the pins and stickers add a fresh feature to a long standing tradition, the payment-enabled gloves could prove genuinely useful as the average temperature in PyeongChang will be – 4.8°C.

As well as its ads, global tap-and-pay ticket competition, work featuring its and its #TeamVisa athletes – who include Mark McMorris (Canada), Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), Seung-Hi Park (South Korea), Oksana Masters (USA),

We support everyone overcoming obstacles everywhere, like Paralympian and #TeamVisa member @OksanaMasters.https://t.co/xC5f5RtYad

— Visa (@Visa) December 3, 2017

Sara Takanashi (Japan), Chloe Kim (USA), Kamil Stoch (Poland) and Hilary Knight (USA) – and new wearables range, Visa is facilitating and managing the entire Games’ payment system infrastructure and network: including more than 1,000 contactless point-of-sale terminals capable of accepting mobile and wearable payments.

The initiative followed on from a Visa survey in summer 2017 that found 60% of US adults are interested in using a wearable device to pay for something while working out, and 71% carry some form of payment option while they’re exercising or playing in some sporting event.

Visa has been a partner of the Olympic Movement since 1986 and as a Worldwide Sponsor of the Olympic Games, Visa will be the exclusive payment services sponsor and the only card accepted at the Olympic Games through 2020.

Visa is also a proud sponsor of the US Ski, US Snowboarding, and US Freeskiing Teams.

Links:

Visa

https://usa.visa.com/about-visa/sponsorships-promotions/olympics-partnership.html.

https://www.visa.com

https://twitter.com/Visa

@visa

https://www.visa.com

IOC

https://www.olympic.org

https://www.youtube.com/user/olympic

https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/

https://www.facebook.com/OlympicChannel/