Foreign Visa card spending tops S$154mln during Youth Olympic Games

Visa Prepaid cards were issued with games tickets as international visitors spent S$11mln on opening day.

Spending on foreign Visa-branded payment cards in Singapore jumped 38 percent to S$154 million (US$113.6 million) during the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, according to data from Visa.

Meranda Chan, Country Manager, Singapore and Brunei, Visa, said: “Singapore proved to be a wonderful host of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. Not only did young athletes from around the world benefit from this world-class competition – Singapore saw a number of benefits as well. The IOC estimates that more than two billion people saw Singapore during the Games telecasts, and our local economy received a major boost as well. We’ve also seen a strong showing for our Visa Prepaid cards, with nearly 50,000 active cards and close to S$1 million in card top-ups during the Games.”

Visa spending data indicates the top spenders by country during the Games were:

1. USA
2. Indonesia
3. Australia
4. Malaysia
5. UK
6. Japan
7. China
8. Hong Kong, China
9. India
10. Thailand

More than S$11 million (US$8.3 million) was spent by international visitors to Singapore on Visa-branded payment cards on the Opening Day of the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. The amount spent by visitors on their Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid cards on 14 August 2010, showed an increase of nearly 50 percent over the same day in 2009.

For the first time at an Olympic Games, Visa Prepaid cards were issued with all Games tickets. In addition to providing access to public transport, the Visa Prepaid card offered young fans, athletes and accredited officials a convenient cashless way to make purchases. Visa Prepaid cards allow cardholders to spend only the funds loaded onto the card, minimizing the risk of overspending, and can be used wherever Visa cards are accepted – even online.