Visa's Olympic hoarding

Olympic sponsors Visa have published new data which demonstrates the increased boost in tourism that international sporting competitions - "mega-events" - bring to the host nation.

The study, which was conducted by tracking spending on Visa cards throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, showed that the host countries experienced a surge in tourism, and therefore in spending, throughout the year, not just at the time of the mega-event itself.

We can therefore assume that Britain is likely to experience its own surge in tourism throughout 2012, providing the country's economy with a much-needed boost.

It is essential, however, that we ensure that it is not only the economic giants - such as Visa and its members - who will benefit from the surge in touristic spending.

We must strive to make sure that all UK businesses, large and small , and including independent retailers, will truly benefit from the 2012 Games. We can only do this by encouraging all visitors to the UK to use cash for their purchases in 2012.

As an example of why cash transactions are so much better for all businesses: while an average cash transaction costs a retailer about 1.7p (including banking fees and transportation), credit card payments come out at a whopping 37.1p and debit cards at 9.2p. These are enormous added costs that some small businesses in particular just can’t afford. Although credit cards make up only 10% of payments in the UK, they account for a staggering 44% of the overall transaction processing costs faced by retailers.

This added financial pressure on businesses means that, by using cards rather than cash, we are not only taking longer in the queue (card payments statistically take over 12 seconds longer than cash payments) we are also contributing to an unnecessary economic burden placed on the already hard-pressed businesses of Britain.

Monday, 15th August 2011

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