Visa Cash To Be Used In Vancouver's AIDS Conference
Ray Van Eng (06/25/96)
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (VanCity) announced that delegates
and visitors to the XI International Conference on Aids (July 7-12), will
be able to purchase and use Visa Cash cards at the three conference venues:
B.C. Place Stadium, the B.C. Trade and Convention Centre and Robson Square,
all located in the heart of downtown Vancouver.
Elsewhere in the city, Visa Cash cards will also become available in $20 denominations at the VanCity branch at Terminal and Quebec Street. The Visa Cash cards will be usable at the Main Street/SCIENCE WORLD SkyTrain station, Vancouver's light rapid transit system. Several merchants around that station will be able to accept Visa Cash cards meant for small petty cash transactions. The market for small purchases under $10 in Canada is estimated at about $75 billion.
VanCity began conducting in-house tests of Visa Cash cards among its staff in December 1995. Besides being the largest credit union in Canada, VanCity regards itself as a pioneer in delivering new banking services such as VanCity Direct, a home banking system and now Visa Cash.
Linda Copland, VanCity's Manager of Information Systems further stated ``In the future, smart cards, such as VanCity's VISA Cash card, will be as common as credit cards are today. To prepare for this, VanCity is constantly seeking new VISA Cash opportunities...The cards are especially convenient for small purchases and provide an excellent alternative for merchants who don't accept checks, credit cards or debit cards.''
Unlike the Mondex cards which are to be tested in Guelph, ON later this year, cash can not be deposited to the VanCity's Visa card. However, VanCity is planning to introduce a reloadable version by the end of this year.
At the XI International Conference on Aids, Visa Cash cards will be dispensed from DataWave Telecard Merchandising Machines (DTM). DataWave is a Vancouver company specializing in "wireless" electronic merchandising technologies.
VanCity says that they will donate a dollar for each card sold at the conference. About 15,000 visitors are expected for the event.
