Industry News

Visa to enhance in-stadium payments services at Confederations Cup

Global payments technology company Visa has revealed plans to use its status as an official partner of Fifa to deliver enhanced payment options for fans attending matches at this year’s Confederations Cup national football team tournament.

Taking place in Russia from June 17 to July 2, the contest will serve as a warm up event for next year’s World Cup, which will also be staged in the country.

Visa, the official payment service partner of Fifa, football’s global governing body that organises both competitions, will implement 1,600 point-of-sale terminals and deploy 120 mobile concessionaires at stadiums that will host Confederations Cup games this year.

The company added that its focus will be on enabling fans to enjoy a “cash-free experience”, with supporters able to use Visa contactless credit or debits cards and commemorative prepaid cards, as well as benefit from mobile payments with Visa at NFC-enabled terminals.

In addition, Visa has linked up with Russia-based Alfa-Bank to introduce an NFC-enabled Alfa-Bank payment card, which can be purchased at Visa customer booths at stadiums and be reloaded using a fan’s personal credit or debit card.

Ekaterina Petelina, country manager at Visa Russia, said: “We understand that fans are there for the action on the field and that they value a simple payment experience that gets them back to their seats quickly so they can focus on the match.”

Image: Danilo Borges