MILAN, Italy: Visitors buying merchandise at the Milano Cortina Winter Games are encountering a payments reality that has long troubled European policymakers: the dominance of foreign card providers and the diminishing use of cash.

Under a sponsorship agreement with the International Olympic Committee that began in 1986 and runs through 2032, Visa is the sole card provider at the Games. Signs at official stores read "Card payment? We accept only Visa," while staff offer prepaid Visa cards to customers on the spot.

By the time the Winter Games move to France in 2030, Europeans may have another option if the European Central Bank meets its target of launching a digital euro in 2029.

Calling the project crucial to Europe's economic security, the EU Council in December endorsed the digital euro, saying it would be "available to the general public and businesses to make payments anytime and anywhere in the euro area."

Cash remains the only central bank money currently available to the public, but lawmakers are still working on rules that would make it unequivocally mandatory for shops and service providers to accept it, except for remote or unmanned services.

At Olympic stores, cash is accepted, and ATMs have been installed, organisers said. A Visa spokesperson said the company was committed to ensuring the best purchase experience for Milano Cortina products.

Still, many shoppers are unprepared for Visa-only card payments.

"My dad's just gone to withdraw some cash. We saw the sign, and we don't have a Visa," said Marta Mule, an Italian magazine contributor waiting in a long queue outside the main Milan store.

A shop assistant near Milan's Duomo cathedral estimated that roughly one-sixth of customers paid with cash, while the rest used Visa cards.

International schemes such as Visa and Mastercard account for about two-thirds of card transactions in the euro area, ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said in a speech text released last week.

"We need to address our current dependencies in retail payments and reverse the tide," he said.

While the Olympic arrangement is unique, it highlights a broader concern for the ECB, which cannot issue a digital euro without EU legislation. The proposal had been stalled in the European Parliament for over two years amid fears that a central bank wallet could drain deposits from commercial banks or displace private systems.

Since December, both the European Council and Parliament have endorsed the ECB's stance. The central bank wants the digital euro to function both offline, like cash, and online for wholesale and retail payments.

"To put it simply: if we lose control of our money, we lose control of our economic destiny," said Cipollone.

Strained transatlantic ties have further strengthened support for defending central bank money and cash.

At the Olympic press centre, Reuters observed journalists returning groceries at an Esselunga supermarket because it did not accept cash. The retailer later announced that from February 16, cash payments would be accepted, adding that the initial card-only policy had been agreed with Games organisers to speed up service.