Visa Contactless: A Swifter Way To Buy And Pay

Mario Alioto, the Giants' senior vice president of corporate marketing, said that initially this season about 100 of the ballpark's most frequented point-of-sale locations will have contactless readers, and that number will grow. They will mostly be used in concession stands around the promenade and home plate. Vendors selling souvenirs and concessions such as beer, garlic fries, peanuts and pizza will be among those employing the contactless readers, he said.

"We want to get more people in our stands and fewer in our lines," Alioto said.

The full Visa press release on the Giants' deployment follows:

The San Francisco Giants and Visa, a proud Giants sponsor since 1997, are making it easier for baseball fans to speed through concession lines at AT&T Park, now that it's equipped to accept Visa Contactless payment cards via 100 special terminals being installed by Hypercom Corporation. Thanks to this latest technology, fans can use Visa Contactless cards to purchase food, beverages and merchandise throughout the park quickly and conveniently.

Visa Contactless technology speeds up transactions by letting cardholders simply hold their Visa cards a very short distance from special payment terminals identified by the contactless payment symbol. The card transmits payment information directly to the terminal wirelessly, and then the transaction is processed by the same secure, reliable network as all other Visa transactions. Cardholders never need to hand over their cards to a cashier.

For purchases of less than $25, Visa Contactless cardholders are not required to provide a signature, making it even faster to pay for refreshments at the game.

In Visa trials, contactless payment card transactions proved an average of 25 percent faster than using cash. And the less time fans spend in line, the more time they can spend enjoying the game.

"It is our top priority to create the best possible experience for our fans when they are at the ballpark," said Larry Baer, Giants executive vice president and chief operating officer. "We believe that with Visa's new Contactless technology, the fan experience at our games in 2006 will further be enhanced by faster-moving concession stand lines. We are pleased to be partners with Visa, and to offer the latest in payments technology at AT&T Park."

Visa Contactless technology has been growing in popularity. To date, there are 4 million cards issued worldwide and 20,000 accepting merchant locations in the United States. It is particularly useful in places where speed is important to customers and where cash has been the traditional means of payment. Besides sporting venues, the technology is well-suited for convenience stores - 7-Eleven has equipped all its U.S. stores with the technology - and for quick-service restaurants, gas stations, movie theaters, taxi and mass transit fares.

"Visa Contactless is another example of a Visa innovation that gives consumers more places and ways to use their Visa cards," said Niki Manby, vice president of market and technology innovation of Visa. "We are excited to partner with the Giants to bring the speed and convenience of Visa Contactless to Giants fans and the San Francisco Bay Area."

Visa is working with the Giants and global payment solutions technology leader Hypercom to install 100 Optimum L4100 integrated contactless payment terminals throughout AT&T Park. The installation is another technology innovation at AT&T Park, which last season became one of the first baseball parks to offer wireless Internet access at every seat.

"We're pleased to be working with Visa and the Giants to provide the hardware that will give fans more time to watch the game," said O.B. Rawls IV, senior vice president, North America Sales, Hypercom Corporation.

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