Visa closes all ATMs but its own at Games

Visa, an Olympics sponsor, has been accused of limiting visitors' access to cash at the Games by replacing 27 dispensers with just eight of its own machines.

Visa confirmed it was replacing 27 ATMs at the various Olympic sites with eight which would run on its own system as part of its exclusivity arrangement as a sponsor. Ron Delnevo, a director of the UK Payments Council, said the move appeared to be designed to "compel those visiting Olympic venues to use only Visa cards".

It understood Visa requested that the existing ATMs were replaced with new machines which would only accept Visa.

Visa said visitors could bring cash with them, and pointed out that 115 million Visa cards were in circulation in the UK.