Spectators attending the opening and closing ceremonies at the first ever Youth Olympic Games in Singapore this month have been issued Visa pre-paid cards that, as well as acting as tickets, can be used to buy goods and travel on public transport.
The all-in-one card replaces the usual paper ticket, serving as an entry pass to the stadium for 25,000 people who won out in a ballot from the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee.
The opening ceremony took place last week with the closing set for 26 August. Anyone without a card will be refused entry.
The card also allows holders to make purchases at places that accept Visa, including Youth Olympic venues and comes with a contactless EZ-link transit function for free public transport to competition venues on event days.
After the Games it can be used as a regular transit and reloadable pre-paid card, topped up online at the DBS site, at ATMS and select SingPost branches.
Meranda Chan, country manager, Singapore and Brunei, Visa, says: "The Youth Olympic Games marks the 14th Olympic Games that Visa is supporting and this is the first time Olympic Games ticketing has been integrated into a Visa Prepaid card, and is the result of amazing teamwork which makes the most of Singapore's advanced infrastructure."
Visa's long-running commercial deal with Olympics organisers, which prevents fans using other cards to buy tickets, has come under scrutiny recently. In June, the UK's Office of Fair Trading revealed it is considering whether to take action over the arrangement ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London.