Visa Provides Athletes Advanced Payment Experiences to Enjoy the
Games
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), the exclusive payment provider at the Olympic and
Paralympic Games, today introduced a new innovation for use at the Rio
2016 Games – the first payment wearable ring backed by a Visa account.
The Visa payment ring will be given to all Team Visa athletes in Rio, a
group of 45 Olympic hopefuls from around the world who embody Visa’s
values of acceptance, partnership and innovation. The Visa payment ring
is NFC-enabled, allowing Team Visa athletes to make purchases by simply
tapping their ring at any NFC-capable payment terminal.
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This Visa payment ring is the first-ever NFC-enabled, tokenized payment ring. Visa created the ring for its Team Visa athletes competing in the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (Photo: Business Wire)
Key features of the ring make this a unique payment experience. The ring
uses the patented NFC Ring® design of McLear & Co. that
includes a secure microchip made by Gemalto, with an embedded
NFC-enabled antenna, enabling contactless payment capabilities. Unlike
many other payment wearables, the ring does not require use of a battery
or recharging. It is also water resistant to a depth of 50 meters,
meaning Team Visa athlete and Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin can
go from the pool to payment all with the tap of her ring.
In addition, at an event in New York City today, Visa demonstrated an
advanced prototype version of the Visa payment ring, which uses token
technology provided through Visa
Token Service, making it the first tokenized payment ring. Visa’s
token technology replaces sensitive payment information, such as the
16-digit account number, with a unique digital identifier that can be
used to process payments without exposing actual account details.
“Visa’s first payment ring puts smart payment technology right on the
hands of our athletes for convenient and easy payments,” said Jim
McCarthy, executive vice president of innovation and strategic
partnerships at Visa Inc. “This ring is the latest example of how Visa
is continuously innovating to deliver on its goal of universal
acceptance at the games and across the world.”
Athletes and fans will also be able to use their Visa accounts leading
up to, and at the Rio Games, using various new form factors. From
booking and planning their trip using Visa Checkout or making purchases
at the games on their mobile phone, both experiences are first-time
offerings for Rio 2016, enabling athletes and fans to swipe, tap, dip or
click to pay during their Olympic experience.
“As an Olympian, rings have a special meaning to me,” said Missy
Franklin, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and Team Visa athlete. “The
Visa ring is a great innovation that I know all the athletes competing
in Rio will enjoy as it will be great to go from a competition to
purchase without having to carry a wallet or card.”
As the exclusive payment provider of the Olympic Games, Visa is creating
and managing the entire payment system infrastructure and network
throughout all venues including stadiums, press centers, point-of-sale
(POS), the Olympic Village and Olympic Superstores. In Rio, Visa will
implement approximately 4,000 NFC-enabled POS terminals capable of
accepting mobile and wearable payments across key Olympic venues, the US
Olympic Committee’s USA House and Copacabana Megastore.
As the payments industry increasingly shifts from plastic to digital,
new technology advances from Visa and its partners are bringing
consumers a simple and more secure purchasing experience.
About Visa Inc.: Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments
technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial
institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories
to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the
world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of
handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud
protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not
a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for
consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution
customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead
of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more
information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa,
visacorporate.tumblr.com
and @VisaNews.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160602006259/en/
Source: Visa Inc.