News Releases

Visa making cash access easier for tourists and visitors

Partnering with industry members means fast and safe access to cash for foreign Visa cardholders

(Toronto, ON) June 21, 2011 – Visa Canada announced today it is partnering with members of the ATM industry to increase Visa acceptance at privately owned ATMs in Canada, giving foreign visitors fast and easy access to cash when visiting Canada. When the Visa brand mark is displayed on an ATM, Visa cardholders know they can access cash quickly, conveniently and securely.

"Research shows that 23 per cent of travellers get local cash from an ATM upon arrival in a foreign country1 ," said Sue Whitney, head of new products, Visa Canada. "By displaying the Visa symbol on ATMs, we are assuring cardholders that they've found a safe and convenient location to withdraw cash using their Visa card."

A recent Tourism Report from Visa Inc. showed that visitors from the United States were by far the largest contributors to the Canadian tourism economy during 2010, spending $3.5 billion on their Visa cards in Canada2. To raise awareness of Visa acceptance at ATMs in Canada, Visa has launched an advertising campaign in the United States, letting Americans know that they don’t have to get Canadian currency before leaving home, but can easily access it with their Visa card once they arrive.

All ATMs that accept Visa bear the Visa/PLUS brand marks. This summer, ATMs in key tourist locations will have additional signage to draw attention to the acceptance services they provide for tourists.

"By partnering with members of the ATM industry, we're making it even easier for Visa cardholders to benefit from the security and convenience of their Visa cards," continued Whitney. "As always, Visa cardholders are protected by our layers of security, including Zero Liability, whether they are used in stores, online or at ATMs."

Ms. Whitney will be speaking to members of the industry at the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) Canada 2011 conference tomorrow, June 22, 2011.

Visa is working with the ATM industry to reach owners of privately owned ATMs to invite them to begin accepting Visa transactions. Accepting Visa would allow ATMs to benefit from future payments innovations implemented by Visa.

Visa's first partner in this initiative is Calypso Canada, an ATM processor and key ATM industry leader, and a Transaction Network Services Company.

"While many bank ATMs already accept Visa, other ATM providers are an important presence in the market, and this is a new business opportunity for them," said Doug Epp, Senior Director of Sales for Transaction Network Services Canada. "We're pleased to be joining forces with Visa to expand the services provided by our ATMs, reaching new users and offering new services, beyond traditional cash dispensing."

There are 1.9 billion Visa cards around the world. Visa is accepted at tens of millions of merchants and more than 1.8 million ATMs in 200 countries and territories worldwide.

About Visa

Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world’s most advanced processing networks - VisaNet - that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

About Transaction Network Services

Transaction Network Services (TNS) is a leading global provider of data communications and interoperability solutions.

TNS offers a broad range of networks and innovative value-added services which enables transactions and the exchange of information in diverse industries such as retail, banking, payment processing, telecommunications and the financial markets.

Founded in 1990 in the United States, TNS has grown steadily and now provides services in over 60 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, with our reach extending to many more. TNS has designed and implemented multiple data networks which support a variety of widely accepted communications protocols and are designed to be scalable and accessible by multiple methods.

For further information about TNS, visit www.tnsi.com. 'One Connection, A World of Opportunities'


1Source: International Traveler Segmentation Study, Visa Global Research and Analytics, November 2010
2Source: Visa Inc. Tourism Outlook: USA (2011)


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