To think that Visa are out of order?

[OldGreyWiffleTest]

Apparently Visa are disabling 27 machines around the Olympic Venue that take cards other than their own, and installing machines that ONLY take Visa.

I am not going to the Olympics and I do have a Visa Card, but I really think this is outrageous. This really is Big Brother tactics.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2153008/Visa-branded-cynical-bans-rival-cards-Olympics.html

(waits for the "I don't care about the Olympics" replies)

I don't care about the Olympics and not just because I am bitter that I didn't get a ticket

But if this is true, it is totally out of order. Although as they are the 'worldwide sponsers' I guess they can do what they like.

YANBU

olymics and a daily mail link, this is not going to end well lol

can they monopolise this, as i thought that was illegal

I don't care about the Olympics and not just because I am bitter that I didn't get a ticket Knowitall sums it up perfectly.

You had to have a Visa card in order to buy tickets last year. Sponsors' privilege, I suppose. But thanks for the info. Will get my cash out before leaving home :)

I think that's their right as sponsors/providers.

I work for Cadbury and we are the official "Treat Providers". No other confectionary (or ice creams) will be allowed within the venues. We've paid a lot of money for that privilege and I suspect Visa have paid a whole lot more than us.

If you disagree with the principle, really, it's not Visa you should be angry at, but LOCOG or the Olympic Committee.

It's not their right as Sponsors! The people who hold mastercards etc didn't elect them

Blocking off other credit cards is madness.

That's ridiculous, and while it might make them money, it doesn't make them come across as a favourable company. I have Visas and I've always thought their service was really good, but this doesn't do their reputation any favours IMO. People won't apply for visa cards just for a day trip to see an Olympic event, but they may well end up carrying a lot of cash, which isn't going to be that safe for tourists somewhere so busy. Either that or people won't know about it and will end up stranded with no money, meaning they are less likely to buy Cadburys or other sponsors products.

That's barking mad and really short-sighted of the organisers too - if you can't get £20 out of a machine for snacks and tat, you're not going to be buying any snacks and tat, are you?

So what are they going to do when someone turns up with only a Mastercard? Commercially daft, surely, to turn away people wanting to spend money?

So why aren't McDonalds insisting that no-one else can sell food?

I am appalled at Cadburys, but then they said they weren't going to close our factories down when they bought it out........then promptly closed them.

Just as well I don't like Cadburys stuff, or I would have to give it up on principle!!

so you can only buy cadbury's and withdraw via visa.

Are these companies interested in actually sponsoring the games and helping them or just interested in lining their own pockets further?

It is costing the taxpayer so are visa and cadbury going to send all of us a credit card and a finger of fudge

and also people are coming from all over the world where visa isn't necessarily as prevalent - imagine trying to find a cashpoint in a foreign city just as visa have done this !

Obviously it is in the agreement they signed with Locog. Doesn't surprise me at all that they have been very savvy (I know their general counsel and she is very smart indeed). Great business for them but poorly negotiated by Locog.

Is this within the olympic grounds type thing?
Or are they disabling cashpoints in the locality which might belong to other banks or whatever? That can't be happening surely

Sponsoring the Olympics is a massive investment and the brands paying the money deserve a degree of exclusivity. Guinness sponsor the Rugby World Cup and that's why the ad-breaks start and finish with Guinness. Coca Cola do the same with the Soccer World Cup. A sponsorship campaign isn't an altruistic/charitable exercise and, if other brands are able to hi-jacking the event and capitalise on it for nothing, companies simply wouldn't commit their money.

But Visa are hijacking the event for other sponsors by limiting customers access to their money.

There will no doubt be thousands of people that are caught short because of this. Those people will have to traipse around London looking for a cashpoint they can use, therefore wasting time that could be used on having a McDonald's or a bar of Dairy Milk or buying a souvenir of one of the scary mascots. Or people will sacrifice their McDonalds or bar of Dairy Milk altogether so that they have enough cash left for basics like water.

I'm surprised the other sponsors, or even the Olympics committee themselves haven't been pissed off by this.