If you feel like buying Phryges, the mascot of Paris-2024, you better have a Visa card. Indeed, one of the world leaders in digital payments is one of the main sponsors of the Games in the French capital and has obtained, as in Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012, to be the only way to pay by card in official shops and competition venues.
Thus, a customer who wants to buy a T-shirt or a water bottle stamped “Paris 2024” will not be able to do so with the MasterCard system in the Les Halles shop. However, for those who do not have a Visa card, cash payment is always possible.
However, despite the numerous information notes, customers are still surprised when it comes to paying, as related The Parisian. “We show tourists the boulevard de Sébastopol where there are distributors. We put the baskets on hold, but they don’t always come back, ”says an employee of the Paris-2024 store. From there to talk about loss of earnings, there is only one step.