Olympics-Visa looks to extend sponsorship beyond London
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By Kirby Chien
BEIJING, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Credit card company Visa Inc (V.N) said on Friday it was interested in remaining a sponsor of the Olympics beyond 2012, but had not begun talks on a new deal.
"Absolutely, we are looking to continue beyond London," Antonio Lucio, Visa's chief marketing officer, told Reuters in an interview in Beijing.
"But we have not started our conversations with the IOC (International Olympic Committee). Maybe we will begin talks next year."
The Beijing Games end on Sunday and London will host the next summer Olympics in 2012.
The Beijing Olympics will become the most viewed Games in history, boosted by a massive online audience. The IOC had faced criticism for awarding the Games to China despite concerns over its human rights record.
Visa, the world's largest credit card network, said it had been pleased with the impact of its sponsorship. It is one of the 12 main Olympic sponsors.
"With all its issues, it is still a very strong property to have," Lucio said.
Visa has been a Games sponsor for more than two decades. Under its current contract, the company signed up for two summer and two winter Games. The next winter Games are in Vancouver in 2010, followed by London in the summer of 2012.
Lucio was certain that rivals MasterCard Inc (MA.N) and American Express (AXP.N) would also be interested in the Games.
"As soon as we begin to talk about our negotiations with any of these properties, our other two competitors are going to want to bid too," he said.
Since sponsoring the Olympics, Visa said it had seen an increase in volume transactions, higher acquisition and retention from customer banks and rising brand awareness.
Visa also sponsors 90 athletes -- including U.S. gold medal winners swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Nastia Liukin -- 68 of whom are at the Olympics.
The number of merchant outlets in Beijing accepting Visa cards has jumped from 20,000 -- or about 10 percent of all outlets -- five years ago to around 34,000 now.
Hosting the Olympics has accelerated the spread of electronic payment infrastructure in Beijing, but the ratio is still far lower than the 80-90 percent seen in recent Olympic host cities such as Athens or Sydney. (Editing by Keith Weir)
