The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are 100% cashless.
This isn’t correct. Vendors at the Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris accept cash, along with card and mobile payments. And all businesses in France legally must accept cash, with only a handful of limited exceptions.
A widely shared social media post falsely claims that the 2024 Paris Olympics are “100% cashless”.
The post, which has been circulating on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, includes a picture of a relatively empty street and outdoor dining area, with the caption: “You've seen the empty seats in the Olympic stadia. Paris is empty. The Olympics is an expensive flop. Restaurants are making no money. Tourists have not arrived. What has driven people away is the Olympics is 100% cashless & all products & services are via QR Code. People have literally checked out of hotels because of it. Cashless is FAILING.”
However, the claim that the Olympics is completely cash-free is not true.
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The official website for the Paris Olympics states that both the Olympic and Paralympic games accept cash at venues for food, drinks and official products.
But if you wish to pay by debit or credit card at the Games only Visa payments are accepted, and Visa prepaid cards can be used as an alternative payment method.
In addition to this being the policy of the games, it’s also the law in France. As we wrote earlier this year, all businesses in France legally must accept cash, with only a handful of limited exceptions.
The law says (translated to English by Google): “Refusing to accept coins and banknotes that have legal tender in France at the value at which they are in circulation is punishable by a fine applicable to 2nd class offences.”
There are very limited circumstances when banknotes and coins can be refused, namely if someone is attempting to use a foreign currency, if it’s counterfeit, if the payment consists of more than 50 coins, or if the money is in poor condition.
Shops can also refuse cash for security or technical reasons, for example as a security measure if a staff member is working the night shift.
Additionally, the Paris Olympics and Paralympic events had reportedly sold 9.7 million tickets as of the end of July, breaking the record for the most number of tickets sold or allocated in the event’s history.
Anecdotal reports of quiet streets and restaurants in the French capital have been attributed to Parisians leaving the city for summer holidays (as is tradition during the heat of August in the capital), but also to the Olympics proving off-putting for other tourists, including hotel prices which had risen ahead of the Games. A similar effect was noticed by some businesses during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Online misinformation has the potential to harm individuals, groups and organisations. It's important to consider whether what you see is accurate before sharing it online.
We have fact checked a number of other misleading claims about the Paris Olympics, including that Israeli artist swimmers spelled out a message at the Games, and Christians held protests against a scene in the opening ceremony.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because the Olympic Games in Paris is not a “cashless” event.
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