Since 1986, Visa has served as the exclusive payment service provider for the Olympic Games, complimenting cash as one of the only two ways to pay for anything at official Olympic venues. If you’re at the Olympics and need to pay with a credit card, or if you’re online and want to buy tickets for upcoming Games, Visa is the only way to go.

That was until Beijing 2022.

Inside the “Olympic bubble”—a dynamic quarantine zone China operates throughout the Olympic Village in Beijing—athletes, media, staff, and all other guests have three payment options available, rather than the usual two. Visa, cash, or China’s digital currency, the e-CNY.

Although utilizing a card interface blurs the distinction between paying in e-CNY or paying with a Visa credit card, using China’s digital currency at the Olympics is cheaper than paying with Visa. The latter will charge a processing fee on an international payment, as would be the case for a U.S. athlete using a U.S. credit card to buy something in Beijing. There are no fees for using e-CNY in China.

https://fortune.com/2022/02/11/2022-olympics-beijing-china-visa-credit-card-digital-yuan/