NEW YORK — Visa’s Avin Arumugam, SVP of Internet of Things, felt that the first Formula E race in Brooklyn was the perfect place to showcase the bells and whistles offered by the payments technology company and jumped at the opportunity.
When Formula E vehicles that are electric-powered zoom around New York City with the skyline as a backdrop this weekend, fans can go cashless if they like and still be able to enjoy the event as digital payment will be accepted. A number of local restaurants are also offering their customers cashless experiences during the race weekend. The venue at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal will be essentially a cashless payment zone.
While cars are powered by virtually zero emission, fans can save time in line with digital payments through Square readers as they make purchases from food trucks and fans shops offering gear. Businesses can save labor hours through faster transactions.
“They’re the future of automotive,” Arumugam said Friday of Formula E, which Visa sponsors. “We’re the future of cashless payment.”
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Visa is accustomed to showcasing its payment technologies at sporting events. A FIFA sponsor, Visa had 1,600 point-of-sale terminals throughout stadium concourses in Russia at the recent Confederations Cup. It collaborated with Russia-based Alfa-Bank to introduce a Visa NFC-enabled Alfa-Bank payment band, which could be purchased in stadiums and reloadable using credit or debit cards, with select guests able to use the NFC-enabled payment ring for the first time at a FIFA event.
Visa has also showcased its technologies at the site of the Super Bowl through its NFL sponsorship and at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
At the Formula E event, there was also a focus on the future. One experience involves a preview of the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, a car that allows drivers to make in-vehicle mobile payments for services such as public parking.
Besides the connected car, will also be biometric payment technologies and a VR payment demonstration using Visa Checkout.
“To Visa, a cashless culture means convenience, security and ease of use. That translates to freedom for consumers and merchants alike,” Jack Forestell, head of global merchant solutions, Visa Inc., said in a statement. “The Formula E race is the ideal backdrop because just as Formula E is bringing the future to racing, Visa is bringing the future to payments.”