Visa Data from FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 Illuminates Contactless, Cashless Spending
More than half of all purchases made at the nine stadiums hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France were made using contactless payments technology, including dual-interface NFC cards, smartphones, and wearables like smartwatches and payment-enabled wristbands, new data released by ETA member Visa has found.
“Football fans are embracing the speed, convenience and security of tapping to pay in order to get through lines and back to the action on the pitch,” said Lynne Biggar, chief marketing and communications officer, Visa, in a press release. “As the exclusive payment provider of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, we are proud to support the athletes who make this tournament incredible, while also heightening the fan experience with fast, innovative ways to pay.”
Visa, the official payment service partner of FIFA, analyzed stadium payment data from June 7-20 to pull together the insights. According to the report, fans from France spent the most in the stadiums, accounting for 53 percent of all purchases. Americans and fans from the United Kingdom ranked second and third, respectively. Food and beverage purchases outnumbered souvenirs, at 54 percent versus 46 percent of total transactions, respectively. On average, Japanese fans spent the most on individual purchases, Visa reports, followed by Chinese fans and Mexican fans.
The single match with the highest spend in-stadium was between the United States and Chile at Parc de Princes in Paris. It accounted for 14 percent of the total spend alone, Visa said.
For purchases made outside of the stadiums, Visa cardholders accounted for 4.45 million transactions during the tournament, and in some host cities contactless transactions grew by 140 percent compared to June 2018. Tournament tourism accounted for significant increases in total spending by foreign cardholders in all the host cities, Visa reported. Le Havre experienced a 372 percent increase in foreign spending, led primarily by spending by American, British and Chinese tourists.
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