Visitors to the Olympic Games who do not have a Visa card should be prepared to bring cash when attending venues this summer.
Visa, one of London 2012’s official sponsors, has requested that the 27 existing cash machines located in Olympic sporting venues be switched off during the Games. It will replace these machines, which currently accept all UK cards, with eight machines that will accept only Visa cards.
Ron Delnevo, director at the UK Payments Council, said that machines would be switched off at ExCeL, Earls Court, North Greenwich Arena, Wembley Arena, Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon, Old Trafford, St James’s Park, and City of Coventry Stadium.
He said that visitors who ran out of cash would “have to resort to using Visa debit or credit cards as no other cards will be acceptable at any of the 2012 venues”. Most UK bank debit cards have Visa, but many foreign tourists could be affected.