Attendees of last week’s closing ceremonies of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, participated in two “firsts”: Participants who attended the first Youth Olympic Games and used Visa’s first all-in-one event ticket, transit and prepaid card.
Those who were awarded tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies in The Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee’s April ballot received the card to use as their means of entry for the celebratory events. The plastic card is more than a replacement for paper tickets; the Visa Prepaid card’s functions include the ability to make purchases at Visa merchants, and pay for trips on Singapore’s public transportation system as well.
Visa collaborated with the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee, local banking partner DBS Bank and public transport system EZ-Link to bring the various applications together onto one card. In addition to the all-in-one card, DBS introduced three other Visa Prepaid cards combining transit and payment for those not attending the ceremonies.
This program is just one example of how Visa collaborates with financial institution clients and partners around the globe to develop innovative programs that combine payment and additional functionality.
- In Australia, a Visa Prepaid card that does double duty as a student ID at the University of Sydney was named Innovative Card & Payment Product of the Year by Australian Banking & Finance.
- The Visa Pay ID Card from U.S. Bank that allows cardholders to use a single card for traditional magnetic stripe purchases, Visa payWave(R) transactions and to gain access to secure buildings received a Paybefore Award for Most Innovative Program.
- The Moscow Social Card offers pensioners in Russia a convenient way to ride the subway, access healthcare benefits and pay for their everyday expenses.
While this is a sampling of programs that are already out there, what may be more exciting, is what is next to come.
Posted by: Kate Mulhearn, Visa Corporate Relations on September 1, 2010 at 1:07 pm
