Visa Provides Auto Rental Insurance on All Visa Credit Cards - Benefiting Millions of Cardholders

SAN FRANCISCO--March 1, 2004--Visa USA today announced significant changes to its Visa Consumer Credit Card Platform that will provide Auto Rental Insurance (ARI), also known as Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), coverage to all Visa consumer credit cardholders, a benefit previously reserved only for select cards. Visa issuing financial institutions will also have greater flexibility to define additional benefits that distinguish their Visa Classic, Gold and Platinum card products - or other self-defined products - to better meet the individual needs of their cardholders.

"Auto Rental Insurance is one of the most popular credit card benefits among cardholders today," said Al Banisch, senior vice president of consumer credit products at Visa USA. "As a result of these changes, an additional 75 million Visa cardholders, and more than 185 million in total, will now benefit from Auto Rental Insurance when paying for a car rental with their Visa credit card."

Visa estimates that cardholders who utilize the benefit will save on average more than $10 per day compared with paying for the same type of coverage provided by car rental agencies.

New Cardholder Benefits:

-- Auto Rental Insurance benefit extended. An additional 75 million Visa cardholders, and more than 185 million in total, will now benefit from ARI.

-- Core benefits remain consistent. All Visa credit cards will continue to offer the following key benefits and features:

-- Zero Liability

-- Lost/Stolen Card Reporting

-- Emergency Card/Cash Disbursement

-- Cardholder Inquiry Service Access

-- Tailored programs will become available to cardholders. Visa expects that consumers will benefit as credit card issuers increasingly develop more tailored credit card programs offering bundled enhancements that better meet individual cardholder's needs. Examples include:

-- Frequent travelers could be offered cards that feature benefits such as Companion Airline Ticket, Travel Accident Insurance, Travel Emergency Assistance and Lost Luggage Insurance in addition to the core ARI benefit.

-- Cardholders who use their Visa cards primarily for retail purchases could be offered a customized product featuring benefits such as Purchase Security, Price Protection and Warranty Manager Service.

These increasingly differentiated products will continue to be supported by all of the Visa core brand promises, including worldwide acceptance, convenience and unsurpassed reliability.

The new Consumer Credit Card Platform reflects Visa's commitment to adapt to the changing needs of both its cardholders and it Issuers. Visa's vision is to lead the payments industry by helping foster the relationship between each Issuer and its cardholders in order to develop the best consumer credit programs possible.

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 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the United States, nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 429 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1.1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, any way. For more information about Visa, please visit www.visa.com.