All British athletes competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are being given NFC payment bands that will allow them to make purchases by tapping their wrists against a contactless terminal.

366 athletes — as well as 150 support crew and athlete stakeholders — are being provided with Team GB-branded wristbands, developed by Visa and Barclaycard. They utilise the bPay microchip, with an embedded NFC antenna permitting payments.

“As the exclusive payment provider of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Visa has implemented an advanced payment system to make it easy for visitors to buy food, drinks and mementos of the event,” Visa says. “The key venues for the Games feature 4,000 NFC-enabled Visa POS terminals, which are able to accept mobile and wearable payments.”

“bPay removes the need to fumble around for cash or a card, making it ideal for busy athletes on the move who want a quick and easy way to pay,” says Tami Hargreaves, commercial director of digital consumer payments at Barclaycard.

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