Great work Visa, now I hate you • Hacker News Board

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#61

Post by omarrr » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:41 PM UTC

rubergly wrote: post #56

More realistically, Visa was probably hoping that many consumers would, like the author, already have the option of and be forced into using their Visa card. I agree that this seems, in addition to being extremely frustrating to almost all consumers, a silly marketing move, but I'm sure that Visa has run the numbers and has a sound business reason for doing this. Since, judging by mthoms's post, this seems to be a tr…

A better marketing approach to this would have been to silently only accept VISA and never call attention to the fact that there is an arrangement behind the scenes.

Still pretty awful for your potential customers.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#62

Post by mikeash » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:41 PM UTC

peterwiese wrote: post #24

Pay cash, moron. That's how we roll in Europe.

I relied heavily on a bank card when I lived in France a decade ago. Has Europe regressed?

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#63

Post by archangel_one » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:43 PM UTC

kaybe wrote: post #47

pavel_lishin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, but you have to estimate how much cash you'll need. You also run the risk of that cash being stolen.

It won't go bad after this day.. (but theft is a valid point)

If you don't live in the UK, having a fistful of sterling when you get home is not really the ideal situation. It's not far from it going bad, in a sense.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#64

Post by waterside81 » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:44 PM UTC

mthoms wrote: post #6

During the Vancouver Olympics not only were we not permitted to use other credit cards, we couldn't even use our bank-issued debit cards for payment (in Canada we don't have Visa Debit cards - our debit cards are issued directly from banks have been accepted everywhere for nearly two decades.) Cash or Visa Only. So there I was at an official Olympic souvenir shop picking up some gifts when I was told no - I'd have to…

Visa started pushing debit cards here in Canada now.

http://visa.ca/en/personal/visa-debit-card/index.jsp

(I don't work for Visa, but they sent my girlfriend one in the mail.)

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#65

Post by ars » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:45 PM UTC

icefox wrote: post #45

mthoms wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. What you're implying is that the marketing benefits of Visa become a sponsor are secondary to the direct revenue it generates at the event. This could be the most profitable marketing spend with the quickest ROI ever.

"$700 million worth of charges" Visa only gets 2-5% of the charge. Lets assume on the high end at 5% we are talking about only 35 million in income. Even doubling that for the second week we get 70 million (before costs). How is that the quickest ROI ever? Sounds like a bad marketing move backed up by a loss of profits. Maybe the real winners were the olympic committee or the other credit card companies that bid up t…

> Visa only gets 2-5% of the charge.

Visa doesn't get that - the issuing bank does. Visa probably gets %0.1 of the charge.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#66

Post by forwardslash » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:46 PM UTC

Shenglong wrote: post #18

I disagree completely. Visa sponsored the event - why would they want competitors there? When the average person sees that his or her Mastercard is not accepted, I don't think the first response is "damn you, Visa!" Just like, when I see an AMEX card isn't accepted, I don't say "Damn you Visa and Mastercard for offering lower rates!" The image that Visa is trying to promote is that they're the most commonly accepted…

Actually, Tim Hortons just recently started accepting Visa (at least out here in BC).

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#67

Post by ars » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:47 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #54

efa wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, I would have been screwed. I had to look in my wallet because I truly didn't know if I had a Visa. I just have a card my bank provided and it happens to be Master Card. And I rarely carry around much cash.

It's good to have one of both, I've decided, unless you are big on cash.

Yes! Especially traveling outside the US.

In the US it's common for merchants to always take both, it's not so elsewhere. I did take a taxi once in the US that only took one and not the other - and not the one I had.

That ended up as a half hour drive around town looking for an outdoor ATM.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#68

Post by zzygan » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:49 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #41

It's more than just Visa -- this is the marketing arrangement for (AFAIK) ALL Olympic sponsors. The marketing agreement with the IOS is: - You get your brand prominently featured across venues, media feeds, and collateral. - All competitors are iced out. I'm OK with the first. I'm not OK with the latter. Particularly in light of the Orwellian trademark and copyright enforcement (including significant changes to corre…

Yep, there is also the stipulation that no Shops in London are allowed to sell hot Chips unless sold with Fish aka Fish and Chips, because McDonalds has exclusive sponsor rights on Chips. I should say that English Chips really are nothing like McDonalds french fries.

Same thing, different brand

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#69

Post by ars » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:49 PM UTC

ewood wrote: post #43

Maybe it is a unique marker of those who are technically minded to be especially aggrieved by an arbitrary restriction such as this? Going through the London2012 ticket website today I noticed the requirement to pay by Visa and even though I was intending on using my Visa I clicked on the "What if I don't have Visa?" link to see what alternatives were on offer: If you do not have a Visa card, your bank will be able t…

I would rather say:

If you do not have a Visa card take your money elsewhere, we don't serve your kind here.

Re: Great work Visa, now I hate you

#70

Post by crag » Mon, Aug 06, 2012, 10:50 PM UTC

dredmorbius wrote: post #41

It's more than just Visa -- this is the marketing arrangement for (AFAIK) ALL Olympic sponsors. The marketing agreement with the IOS is: - You get your brand prominently featured across venues, media feeds, and collateral. - All competitors are iced out. I'm OK with the first. I'm not OK with the latter. Particularly in light of the Orwellian trademark and copyright enforcement (including significant changes to corre…

Actually it's worse. All video footage belongs to the IOC. In other words, athletes don't own their image at the Olympics. This is true with the NCAA too, by the way. And the NFL.

So if a company signs an athlete to wear their tennis shoes (for example) any image from any olympics, the IOC gets a fee. Not the athlete (of course the athlete is begin paid anyway).