Stronger Brussels presence strengthens Visas European Profile

With the appointment of March Temmerman, Visa further reinforced the existing Brussels based team and placed a renewed focus on a successful relationship building campaign in the European capital in the lead up to Visa EUs incorporation later in the year. Marcs move comes at an incredibly significant period in Visa EUs history. With MasterCard following a more US focussed business model and Visa incorporation in Europe just around the corner, as well as our investment in a dedicated processing system, its important we extend our activities and relationships with external organisations and lobby groups in Europe. Those relationships will become even more important as Visa continues to build its role as the payments industry leader in pan-European banking initiatives. Marcs priorities include strengthening already productive relationships with Visa stakeholders - from consumers to retailers, regulators to legislators. EU bodies, the European Central Bank, the European Payment Council (EPC), the Euro Banking Association (EBA) and the European credit sector associations are all important contacts. Mr Temmerman, a Belgian national fluent in English, Dutch and French, has 26 years experience in payment systems and banking. He joined Visa EU in January 1998 as Executive Vice President, Marketing & Relationship with responsibility for the management of both the Visa Brand and the complete Visa product line.