Credit card processors have been planning, and are prepared for a return to the drachma.
Bloomberg reports Long-Feared Currency Makes Fleeting Appearance on Reporter’s Bill.
Between June 28 and July 4 at a Hilton hotel in Athens, transactions on a Bloomberg reporter’s Visa credit card issued by Citigroup Inc. were posted as being carried out in “Drachma EQ.”
When Bloomberg sought information, the bill was magically changed.
Citigroup and Visa Inc. declined to comment. A Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. spokeswoman said that the Athens hotel had billed the customer in euros, not drachmas.
Bloomberg notes “Each time a consumer swipes a card, information passes between four parties: a merchant, the merchant’s bank, a network like Visa or MasterCard Inc. and the consumer’s bank.“
Since Hilton declined to provide the name of its acquirer, we do not know precisely who is testing what.
Regardless, we do know major credit card companies are prepared for Grexit.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
