Visa UK announces Visa Swap in association with TRAID

Re-invent your wardrobe at the first ever UK high fashion swapping event

Not sure what to do with that vintage skirt that was never quite your colour? Can't bear to chuck those Louboutin shoes that were always a little tight? Wish you could update your wardrobe without your landlord putting you on the street?

Drawing on the growing trend in vintage shopping and the emergence of clothes swapping, Visa UK is launching a brand new concept - the Visa Swap - which will take clothes and accessories shopping to a whole new level.

Fashion lovers and shoppers will be invited to take their designer and quality high street clothes and accessories to a drop off, pop-up shop at a central London location for a three week period where they will receive redeemable points in exchange for their designer items. The more exclusive and unique the garment, the higher the points. These points will be spent by fashionistas at a large-scale fashion swapping market, Visa's unique Swap Shop.

Furthermore, Visa Swap has teamed up with TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development), a charity committed to protecting the environment and reducing world poverty by recycling clothes and shoes and campaigning at home.

Fiona Wilkinson, Visa Europe's senior vice-president of communications comments: "We are committed to clever spending - forget losing track of cash and cheques, swapping is the exciting alternative to shopping. Visa Swap will also show fashion lovers that the small, everyday purchases such as an accessory, a cosmetic product or the simple customising of an existing garment can make a huge difference to your wardrobe without having to spend large amounts of money."

The Visa Swap launches on 31 May 2007 at a central London location. Items dropped off will be assessed and valued by the Visa Swap team, with the value given back to the customer in points loaded on to a Visa Fashion Swap Card so no need to worry about loose change or cheques.

The much-anticipated swapping event will be hosted at the Visa Swap Shop on 15, 16 and 17 June with stylists on hand to help achieve that unique personalised look. The event will offer a real fashion experience with catwalk shows and celebrity outfits on display. Style experts will be giving advice on how to customise recycled clothes to recreate a new look with quirky accessories and details. In addition, any clothes left over will be donated to TRAID so nothing will be wasted and every garment will find a new home.

"TRAID is pleased to be working in partnership with Visa Swap Shop's effort to encourage responsible consumerism. It is possible to look fantastic without buying new clothes and is really important to encourage sustainable fashion activity!" Maria Chenoweth-Casey, chief executive, TRAID.

The Visa Swap website will go live in early April 2007, giving details of dates and venues. Its web address is www.visaswap.com

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Notes to editors:

Key dates

• Launch date: 31 May 2007
• First swap weekend: 2 June 2007
• Second swap weekend: 9 June 2007
• Final weekend: 15 to 17 June 2007

About Visa Europe
In Europe, there are nearly 321 million Visa debit, credit and commercial cards. In the 12 months ending September 2006, those cards were used to make purchases and cash withdrawals to the value of over €1.2 trillion. For every €9 spent in Europe today, €1 is spent on a Visa card.

Visa Europe is a membership association - an organisation owned and operated by its 4,500 European member banks. As a dedicated European organisation it is able to respond quickly to the specific market needs of European banks and their customers - cardholders and retailers, and to meet the European Commission's objective to create a true internal market for payments. Visa Europe is a part owner of Visa International, the organisation that ensures global interoperability of products as well as management of the Visa brand.

In October 2006, Visa announced that it intends to restructure its entire worldwide organisation except Europe in order to create a new public global corporation called Visa Inc. As a part of this restructuring, Visa Europe will remain a membership association with an exclusive, irrevocable and perpetual license in Europe.

Globally Visa is one of the world's leading payment brands and has unsurpassed acceptance at approximately 24 million acceptance locations including one million ATMs.

About TRAID
TRAID stands for Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development. It is a registered charity (reg. charity no. 297489) which collects, reuses, recycles and sells second-hand clothes and shoes. This diverts textile waste from landfill and raises money to fund projects for some of the world's poorest communities.