On 8 August, the opening day of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, international tourists spent nearly US$10 million on their Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards, Visa says.

The day’s biggest Visa spenders were from USA, followed by Japan, Hong Kong SAR, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Visitors from these five locations accounted for more than half of all Visa card spend on 8 August 2008.

Visa has been a sponsor of the Olympic Games for 22 years, and is the exclusive card of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Visa and its client financial institutions in China also have installed more than 90,000 ATMs and signed up some 216,000 merchant locations or outlets throughout China to help prepare for the expected influx of international visitors this year and beyond.