Global Competition for Visa Championships-Torino 2006 Online Game Heating Up.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa International:

--National Winners to Compete at the Olympic Winter Games in Italy for the Grand Prize -- A One Week Trip to Beijing, China

--National Competitors Still Have Chances to Win ThinkPad Notebook PCs from Lenovo and DVD Home Theater Systems from Panasonic in National Championships

Visa International's Visa Championships-Torino 2006 online game and international competition is heating up, with players from four countries posting times within milliseconds of each other.

National players from 23 countries are competing in three virtual Olympic Winter Sports to win a trip for two to the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games and a chance to win the grand prize -- a week's trip for two to Beijing as guests of Visa to experience the sights and sounds that China has to offer.

"Only three one-hundredths of a second separate the top gamers in four countries, while many other gamers are registering daily to win," said Tom Shepard, executive vice president, Global Marketing Partnerships and Sponsorship, Visa International. "Players in Canada, China, Italy and Romania have shown a real affinity for the game and are within milliseconds of each other in some cases. Visa Championships-Torino 2006 represents a first in Visa's dynamic approach to its Olympic marketing program. It's the only online game that culminates in an international competition during the Olympic Winter Games. At the Games, the national winners will be able to compete for the Beijing grand prize and the title of Global Champion."

The national competition concludes on 15 December 2005 in all 23 countries. Only players who are legal residents of the participating countries, have registered, posted times in all three sports to the national leader board, and are at least 18 years of age by midnight GMT on 15 December 2005 are eligible to win prizes. Leader boards are up and players can view their results and compare them with their national competition.

As a forward-looking organization, Visa recognizes electronic gaming as an innovative way to raise awareness of Visa's Olympic sponsorship and increase brand interaction and relevance with consumers. Since the launch of the game, thousands of individuals have logged on to play, with approximately 50,000 gamers currently vying to represent their country in Torino at the Global Finals and then a chance to travel to Beijing for the grand prize. There are projected to be quadruple that amount of players when the game concludes.

Players from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay are competing to represent their country at the global finals. The Visa Championships-Torino 2006 game and competition rules are available at www.visa.com/visachampionships.

Visa Championships-Torino 2006 challenges players to master three Olympic Winter Sports online: Bobsleigh, Giant Slalom (Alpine Skiing), and Snowboard Cross (Snowboarding). Similar to an athlete's build-up to the Olympic Winter Games, players must progress through multiple preliminary rounds and then compete in the national competition. In each country, the player with the lowest combined time across all three sports in the national competition will travel to Torino, Italy, as a guest of Visa to attend the Olympic Winter Games and compete head-to-head against the other country winners on 15 February 2006.

Notes to editors:

About Visa Championships-Torino 2006: The Visa Championships-Torino 2006 online video game is a first from Visa as part of its Olympic marketing program. It is a challenging, free international competition in which players from 23 countries compete in three virtual Olympic Winter Sports to win a trip to the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games where they will take part in the global finals of the game. Key dates include:

--National competition -- 15 November-15 December 2005

--Global Finals competition -- 15 February 2006

National winners and their guests will arrive in Torino on 13 February 2006 and depart on 16 February 2006. In addition to competing in the Global Finals, each winner and a guest will be hosted by Visa at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and will receive airfare and lodging for two, scheduled meals and tickets to two Olympic events for themselves and their guest.

Only users who are legal residents of the participating countries, have registered, posted times in all three sports to the leader board, and are at least 18 years of age by midnight GMT on 15 December 2005 are eligible to win prizes. In addition, users must select the same country in which they reside to be eligible for prizes. Details and rules of the game are available at www.visa.com/visachampionships.

About Visa: Visa connects cardholders, merchants and financial institutions through the world's largest electronic payments network. Visa products allow buyers and sellers to conduct commerce with ease and confidence in both the physical and virtual worlds. As an association owned by 21,000 member financial institutions, Visa is committed to the sustained growth of electronic payment systems to support the needs of all stakeholders and to drive economic growth. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

About Lenovo: Lenovo creates the most innovative products and services in the personal computing industry. Lenovo engineers, programmers and scientists from five laboratories in China, Japan and the United States focus on research and development that solves customer problems and improves productivity. Lenovo is Technology Equipment Sponsor of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, providing notebook and desktop PCs, servers, storage and other computing equipment. For more information, please visit www.lenovo.com.

About Panasonic: Best known by its Panasonic brand name, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of US$81.44 billion for the year ended March 31, 2005. The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, New York (NYSE:MC), Euronext Amsterdam and Frankfurt stock exchanges. For more information, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.co.jp/global/index.html.