Visa USA to Launch 'Pick Up Your Pen' Sweepstakes; Annual Sweepstakes Has Proven Record of Increasing Check Card Usage.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Visa USA today announced plans to launch its third annual Visa check card sweepstakes promotion. This summer's Pick Up Your Pen Sweepstakes will provide Visa's Member financial institutions a tool that has a proven track record of increasing check card volume.

Recent consumer research conducted by Visa shows that these promotions can further drive check card usage. According to a December 2003 survey of Visa check cardholders:

       * 82% of cardholders showed significant interest in the concept       * 59% of cardholders were more likely to use their Visa check card         more often because of this promotion       * 53% of cardholders claimed they were more likely to sign for their         purchases after being exposed to the promotion   

"Through debit marketing promotions, such as Pick Up Your Pen, Visa provides Member financial institutions with tools that increase Visa check card usage," said Stacey Pinkerd, senior vice president, Visa USA. "By building on the success of last year's sweepstakes, Members that take advantage of this customizable promotion will not only be driving Visa check card transactions, but also offering their customers a great value add."

Member financial institutions that participated in last year's Everyday Dreams by using direct mail promotional materials achieved outstanding results, including incremental cardholder spending per account ranging from $7 to $44.

"Whether in the form of a promotion, sponsorship or rewards program, Visa is committed to delivering superior marketing tools and promotions to Member financial institutions," added Pinkerd. "This is the third year Visa has offered a sweepstakes tailored for the Visa check card product, and the results show that these programs do have a bottom-line impact."

Central to the Pick Up Your Pen promotion will be customizable marketing materials including: financial institution statement inserts, direct mail pieces, in-branch signage, web content, and marketing copy for newsletters and ATMs. To order promotional materials, in-branch and web materials, Member financial institutions should call Visa Fulfillment at 1-800-Visa-411. The deadline for ordering materials is April 19, 2004.

This summer Visa's Pick Up Your Pen Sweepstakes will offer cardholders the chance to win back their purchase amount, simply by using their Visa check card and signing for their purchases. Cardholders will automatically be entered to win when they use their Visa check card from July 1 through August 31, 2004 and sign for their purchases. Check card purchases made on the Internet, by automatic-bill-payment, through mail order and by phone are also eligible.

About Visa

Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $2.5 trillion in annual transaction volume with virtually 100 percent reliability. Consumers in more than 150 countries carry more than one billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the U.S., nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 396 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources -- anytime, anywhere, anyway. For more information about Visa, please visit http://www.visa.com/.

CONTACT: Mary Stewart of Creative Response Concepts, +1-703-683-5004, ext. 106, mstewart@crc4pr.com, for Visa USA; or Rosetta Jones of Visa USA, +1-704-444-3815, rjones@visa.com

Web site: http://www.visa.com/