BOC VISA Olympic Credit Card Issued by Bank of China

Bank of China and Visa International jointly held the launching ceremony of the first BOC Visa Olympic Credit Card in Beijing on Dec. 8th, 2004. Present at the ceremony were Mr. Hua Qingshan, Executive Director and Vice-President of Bank of China, Mr. Rupert Keeley, President and CEO from Visa International Asia Pacific as well as Xu Zengwu, Vice-Director of BOCOG Marketing Department and Zhang Zhenhua, Director General of Card Center, Bank of China.

It is reported that BOC VISA Olympic Credit Card, the first standard credit card designed for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, is another cooperation of Bank of China and Visa International on new products concerning Olympic Games since their issuance of BOC Great Wall VISA Euro Olympic Card in July, the first euro credit card in Asia.

In addition to the basic features such as revolving credit, cash overdraft and consumption payment, the Card provides self-defining options like card color, repayment method, settlement currency and valid region. Printed on the card is the Chinese seal, with five background colors for holder to choose: blue, black, red, yellow and green, in accordance with the Olympic rings.

Cardholders can freely activate or disable roving-payment feature according to their traveling destination. It is reported that these two features are original in similar products. Furthermore, the cardholders can enjoy services like foreign currency purchase via telephone and a flexible repayment plan.

Regarding BOC s plan, more valuable services and activities will be available in the coming four years.

Mr. Jim Allhuson, Vice Executive President of VISA International and Director General for VISA Greater China and Philippines, said, VISA International is glad to present the first card especially designed for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in cooperation with Bank of China at the eve of 2005. Both of us are partners of the Beijing 2008 Games.

We hope this would become a chance for VISA and Bank of China to hold more cooperation in new products of payment cards for Chinese consumers. The issuance of this BOC VISA Olympic Credit Card perfectly represents the Olympic values Excellence, Leadership and Competition , which VISA firmly believes in.

Executive Director and Vice-President Hua Qingshan of Bank of China indicated that as the Banking Partner of the Beijing 2008 Games, Bank of China has long pursued the Olympic motto Higher, swifter, stronger and has always took the support for Chinese sports cause and the promotion of people s health as part of the Bank s own social responsibility.

The successful launching of BOC VISA Olympic Credit Card reflects in detail the modern marketing ideas of customer focus in product design after the Joint-Stock Reform. Hua also thanked IOC, COC, BOCOG and VISA International for their support in the design and review of the products.

As the leader in payment industry and worldwide partner of IOC, VISA provides its member financial institutions and cardholders with widely accepted, reliable and diversified products that other provider could not offer. Since 1986 when VISA started to sponsor Olympic Games, over 21 million VISA cards with Olympic marks have been issued by VISA member institutions all over the world. In China, VISA cards issued in Olympic theme have exceeded four million.

Bank of China is determined to become more devoted in providing financial services in even higher qualities for all parties involved in Beijing Olympic Games, of which bank card service is an important part. The Bank will further deepen its cooperation with IOC and COC, and make contributions to the success of 2008 Olympic Games by providing more personalized solution in credit payment for sports fans and Olympic lovers who hold BOC cards, relying on the its professional credit card platform and 18 years experience in credit card business.