The Olympic Promise

Visa believes in the unifying power of sports. Sport unities people, communities and nations; it enriches people's lives... it creates economic development opportunities, and frankly, it makes good business sense for Visa, our cardholders, financial institution clients and their merchants.

A worldwide Olympic sponsor for over two decades, Visa is proud of its affiliation with the Olympic movement -- a movement that is built on the notions of inclusion, fair play and excellence, all attributes shared by Visa and our employees worldwide.

As a worldwide Olympic Partner, Visa is the Exclusive Payment Card and the Official Payment Service of the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will be the only card accepted at all Olympic and Paralympic Games' venues for any official Olympic-related transactions.

Visa has used the Olympic Games over the past ten years as a principal marketing platform worldwide. It delivers incomparable international exposure, broad-based audience appeal and a range of events appealing to virtually every demographic. It allows Visa's financial institution clients to tie-in exclusive marketing and merchandising campaigns around the Olympic Games, promoting Visa products and services to cardholders and merchants on a worldwide basis.

Visa combines its equities of leadership, acceptance and excellence with those of the Olympic Games - the world's largest and most prestigious cultural and sporting event. As an Olympic sponsor, Visa also supports numerous athletes and since 1986, has provided more than US$120 million worldwide in support to Olympic athletes through their Olympic organizations.

Above all, the Olympic Games remain a tremendous source of pride for our employees who are committed to the Spirit of the Olympic Games, the celebration of worldwide athletic achievement and the hopes and aspirations that the Olympic Games represent to participants and fans alike.

Supporting Athletes
In addition to the economic support provided to the staging of the Olympic Games, the Visa corporate sponsorship of this global sporting event has provided more than US$120 million worldwide in support to Olympic athletes through their Olympic organizations since Visa became a worldwide sponsor. Visa is committed to supporting numerous Olympic teams as well as individual athletes for the Olympic Winter Games, including Team Visa worldwide.

Visa is committed to supporting numerous Olympic teams as well as individual athletes. At the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Visa supported the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Teams and the Visa Gold Medal Athlete program; the Canadian Bobsleigh and Skeleton teams; and the highly successful Team Visa programs.

Visa created the Team Visa concept to help sustain Olympic and Paralympic Team athletes as they embark on their journey to the Olympic Games. This program has included athletes from countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, as well as South and North America, in their quest to make their national Olympic and Paralympic teams and attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
Visa continues its Olympic Games sponsorship as the exclusive payment card and official payment service of the Olympic Games through the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. Visa is the only payment card accepted at all Olympic venues for all official Olympic-related transactions. Visa has been the official payment service of the last 11 Olympic Games – Calgary, Seoul, Albertville, Barcelona, Lillehammer, Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, and Torino.

The Torino Olympic Winter Games
All six Visa regions took part in sponsorship opportunities, with 1,200 financial institution clients in 46 countries participating in cardholder promotions; an increase in activation of 230% compared to Salt Lake City. Visa also took its sponsorship to the next level with a range of innovative programs, including the Visa Championships -- Torino 2006 online arcade game and the Merchant Showroom on Visa Roma, Torino.

Since the Olympic and Paralympic Games came to a close, the Olympic legacy has been paying benefits to the local community. To date, the Olympic facilities have hosted 20 sports events, ranging from the World Fencing Championship to the Winter Universiade, and 40 non-sporting events such as major music concerts, fairs and corporate events. According to Turismo Torino, this amounts to 545 days of events welcoming 240,000 visitors from around the globe and a marked increase in the number of tourists to the region, particularly from abroad, giving an estimated increase of about 100,000 - 150,000 tourists per year following the Games.

Visa Olympics of the Imagination
Visa Olympics of the Imagination (VOI) is an international art program created for children ages 10-14 to learn about the Olympic Movement while participating in an artistic competition. As a reward, they win an opportunity to attend the Olympic Games as guests of Visa. The program is designed to teach children about the goals, ideals and history of the Olympic Games while exercising their imaginations.

Visa launched the Visa Olympics of the Imagination program in 1994 to encourage children to think creatively and explore the history and values of the Olympic Games. More than one million children have taken part in the competition to date. To date, 181 children from 48 countries have attended the Olympic Games as guests of Visa and 30 more children will attend as Visa's guests at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Visa hosted its seventh "Visa Olympics of the Imagination" international youth art competition at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The children were asked to use their imaginations to create a flag that represented the Olympic winter sport in which they would most like to compete. The program ran in 13 participating countries from June through November 2005. More than 500,000 children entered the contest worldwide. To view the winners' artwork, click here:
http://sponsorships.visa.com/olympic/voi/voi_gallery.jsp

Visa looks forward to hosting its eighth "Visa Olympics of the Imagination" for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. As a new facet of the program for these Games, children may either submit a computerized electronic drawing - or they can submit traditional two-dimensional art, if they prefer. All the art will be based on a theme of global unity. The children will be asked to "Show how the Olympic Games connect different cultures and capture the Beijing theme - One World, One Dream."