More transactions were completed using China’s digital yuan currency than Visa (NYSE:V) on the day of the 2022 winter Olympics opening ceremony, according to reports.
Sources familiar with the matter, cited in the Wall Street Journal, stated that digital yuan transactions outnumbered visa ones at the Beijing National Stadium on 4 February.
Athletes, staff and journalists, who are operating within the Olympic quarantine ‘bubble’, have the option of paying for goods or services with cash, Visa or e-CNY, the digital currency.
However, many retailers just outside this bubble are also all allowing customers to pay using the digital currency, with the report stating e-CNY transactions are seemingly pulling ahead of Visa ones.
Mobile apps such as Alipay and WeChat pay are used throughout China to make contactless payments, although an exclusive contract between the winter Olympics and Visa means they can’t be used at the games.
Visa hasn’t pushed back against the use of digital yuan, possibly because it is still awaiting approval of a domestic licence application to operate in China.
US lawmakers have warned US citizens at the games about using the digital currency and the potential dangers it poses, such as threatening its interests in cross-border payments.