Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics – Previews – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – January 26, 2026 Common view of the Olympic rings coated in snow forward of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Claudia Greco | Reuters
Anybody attempting to purchase a memento on the official Olympic shops on the Milano Cortina Video games may have been uncovered to a difficulty troubling Europe’s policymakers: the dominance of international cost suppliers and the fading position of money.
Underneath a sponsorship cope with the Worldwide Olympic Committee courting again to 1986 and prolonged to 2032, Visa is the only real card supplier on the Video games, with indicators studying “Card cost? We settle for solely Visa” and workers providing pay as you go playing cards on the spot.
By the subsequent Winter Video games in France in 2030, individuals might have an alternative choice if the European Central Financial institution meets its aim of launching a digital euro in 2029.
Declaring the undertaking key for Europe’s financial safety, the EU Council in December endorsed the digital euro saying it might be “obtainable to most of the people and companies to make funds anytime and anyplace within the euro space”.
That is still the prerogative of money, however EU lawmakers are nonetheless engaged on guidelines that will make it unequivocally obligatory for outlets and repair suppliers to just accept money, apart from distant funds or unmanned companies.
Gone to get some money
On the Video games shops, money is accepted and ATM machines have been put in to permit individuals to withdraw cash, a spokesperson for the organisers stated.
A spokesperson for Visa stated the corporate was dedicated to creating the acquisition expertise for Milano Cortina merchandise the perfect it may be.
Folks not carry banknotes of their wallets.
“My dad’s simply gone to withdraw some money. We noticed the signal and we do not have Visa,” stated Marta Mule, a younger Italian journal contributor, ready in a protracted queue that stretched as much as the doorway of the primary Olympics retailer in Milan.
A store assistant on the counter of the Olympic store near Milan’s imposing Duomo cathedral estimated solely round one sixth of individuals paid with money, whereas all others had Visa playing cards.
Depending on international suppliers
Worldwide card schemes reminiscent of Visa or Mastercard account for two-thirds of card transactions within the euro space, European Central Financial institution Government Board member Piero Cipollone stated within the textual content of a speech on Thursday.
“We have to tackle our present dependencies in retail funds and reverse the tide,” he stated.
Whereas the Olympics will at all times be a one-off occasion when it comes to business preparations, it touches on a sore level for the ECB.
The ECB wants an EU regulation to be in place earlier than it will possibly subject the digital euro.
However its legislative proposal was caught within the European Parliament for greater than two years amid considerations {that a} central‑financial institution‑backed pockets might drain business financial institution deposits or displace private-sector cost methods.
Since December, nonetheless, first the European Council after which the European Parliament have absolutely endorsed the ECB’s stance on the undertaking.
To defend the position of central financial institution cash, the ECB needs the digital euro to work each offline, in a money‑like approach, and on-line, and to be obtainable for wholesale and retail funds.
