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Athens 2004 - Alpha Bank SA introduces a new 'Visa 2004' Olympic Games gold card
May 29th, 2001 - The President of the Athens 2004 Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Mrs. Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, and Alpha Bank SA's Chairman, Mr. Yannis S. Costopoulos, presented the Athens 2004 Gold Visa card, the first banking product which actively supports the Athens 2004 Olympic Games at a jointly-held press conference, at the headquarters of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games in Athens. Alpha Bank, the Official Bank of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, launches a new, special, collectable Gold VISA card. EUR 80 of the card's one-off subscription fee and 0.5% of the value of the purchases with the card during the next three years, will be remitted to the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. The Athen 2004 Gold VISA card will be issued in a limited number and on a priority basis solely through the Alpha Bank Branch network. Its subscription of EUR 400 covers its entire validity period until December 31st, 2004. Following its expiration date, the holders will receive, at no subscription fee, a new card issued by Alpha Bank, valid until the end of year 2008. The Athens 2004 Gold VISA card will reward its members not only through their tangible participation in the Olympic Vision but also through the "EPATHLON" (this word in Greek is the reward given to an athlete) reward scheme programme, allowing card holders to win "golden privileges" such as collectable Olympic items, tickets and hospitality for the Games. Through the use of the card, holders will collect "ATHLA" (this word in Greek are the points earned by athletes) exchangeable with unique gifts related to the Olympic Games. Alpha Bank and Athenian Brewery SA, a unit of Heineken NV of The Netherlands, were named National Sponsors of the Olympic Games of 2004 in the "Banking" and "Brewery" categories, respectively, following an unanimous decision by the Athens 2004's board of directors on February 8th, 2001. Alpha Bank has agreed to contribute GRD 25.2 billion -- a sponsorship record for a host country -- to become the banking sector's official sponsor for the 2004 Olympic Games, with the exclusive right to use the blue-and-white olive wreath logo (see above). The other leading sponsors, who will contribute in cash and in kind, are Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation SA (OTE), the state-run telecommunications operator, and its mobile subsidiary COSMOTE - Mobile Telecommunications SA; Delta and FAGE (pronounced ''fah-yeh''), Greece's leading dairy producers; Athenian Brewery; and Hyundai Hellas, the Greek representative of the South Korean automobile giant. Mr. Costopoulos explained that Alpha Bank's sponsorship package will be paid in cash and in kind (i.e. banking services as well as Athens Olympics promotion programmes) through the bank's products. Mr. G. Bolos, Alpha Bank's General Manager of Marketing, said that the bank would not disclose the exact amount of money, cost of services or any other details of the agreement, but personally handed over Alpha's first cheque of GRD 1.85 billion to Mrs. Angelopoulos-Daskalaki. About Visa
Visa is the world's leading payment brand and the largest payment system world-wide with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa has more than 80 smart card programmes in 35 countries and on the Internet, with 23 million Visa chip cards, including 8 million Visa Cash cards. Visa is pioneering SET Secure Electronic Transaction programmes to enable and advance Internet commerce. There are over 1 billion Visa, Visa Electron, Visa Cash, Interlink and PLUS cards in the market. Visa-branded cards generate USD 1.6 trillion in annual volume and are accepted at over 19 million world-wide locations, including at more than 627,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network. Sources: Alpha Bank SA, Visa. <<< Back to INVgr's main Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games page Please carefully read our special disclaimer related to Athens 2004 Olympic Games material and information published on INVgr. INV International Ltd. is not responsible for the content of external Web sites.
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