Visa to Bring Wearable Payment Devices to Winter Olympics

Visa has announced innovative wearable devices to be used at the upcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The solutions include an NFC-enabled commemorative Pin, available in four designs, and a sticker with an embedded antenna and NFC chip. But the standout wearable for the winter games could prove to be Visa’s payment-enabled gloves, which will let users make purchases with the wave of a hand – and without the need to take the gloves off in sub-zero temperatures.

As South Korean speed skater Park Seung-Hi explained in a statement announcing the wearable devices, “These payment gloves provide a hassle-free way to pay, even when it’s cold!”

The solutions have arrived thanks to Visa’s partnership with the Olympic and Paralympic Games organizers, and appear to build on previous wearable payments efforts. At last year’s Rio Olympics, Visa worked with organizers to enable NFC payments at Olympic venues via wristband and smartwatch devices.

The stickers and pins will go on sale starting November 9th, available from the website and customer centers of Lotte Card, the financial arm of a major Korean retailer; and Visa says all three wearable devices will be available from Visa vending machines at Olympic Superstores during the games, which will run from February 9th to 25th.