VISA has crowned its two months-long Visa Olympics “Shop and Win” promo in Ghana with the selection of one lucky winner to be flown to the Rio Olympics in Brazil.

The global payments platform with operations in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe picked Jonathan Sekyi as the overall winner.

In an electronic draw held to pick the winners of the campaign, Mr Sekyi, emerged as the winner and for his prize, he was rewarded with an all-expenses paid trip to the upcoming Rio. He gets the added benefit of embarking on this trip with his partner.

Joshua Yaw Naayo, the 1^st runner-up, received a VISA card preloaded with GH¢1,500, whilst Kingsley Botwe, the 2^nd runner-up, received a VISA card pre-loaded with GHC 1,000.   

The campaign, organized in collaboration with Shoprite, the South African retail giant, saw three lucky winners being awarded various prizes at a short and colourful event held at the West Hill Mall branch of Shoprite.

Speaking at the awards event, the Ghana Country Manager for VISA West Africa, Emezino Afiegbe, underscored the relevance of the “Shop and Win” promo in encouraging more people to switch to and utilize cashless payment systems, which have become the order of the day.

According to him, “Shop and Win” is aimed at “driving e-commerce and encouraging a cashless society.”

He further highlighted the contributions of a payment platform like Visa in serving as “an essential building block for a diversified, knowledge-led and inclusive economy.”

Mr. Afiegbe, in making a case for electronic payment systems also added that “electronic payments are more efficient than cash and they promote economic growth, help reduce fraud, and are more secure than cash.”

“VISA services can promote transparency and accountability, reduce transaction costs and decrease the size of the grey or informal economy, all of which help to stimulate economic growth and employment” he reiterated.

On his part, Octavius Vermooten, the Finance Manager for Shoprite Ghana, expressed his companies delight in partnering with Visa in the “Shop and Win” promo.

He revealed that utilization of cashless payment platforms in Ghana is gradually picking up and he further encouraged the shopping public to switch to electronic payment since that is a more secure option compared to cash.

The Visa-Shoprite campaign, which commenced on the May 10, was segmented into three categories with each having its own reward systems.

In the first category, winners received instant prizes through a lucky dip when they shopped on some specific days.

The second category involved an engagement game such as ball juggling with winners receiving gift vouchers from Visa.

The third and the final category entailed an electronic draw where customers who had shopped with their Visa cards were randomly picked to receive their prizes.