PAYBACK members and celebrities collect points for a good cause

As part of its commitment to the Olympic Games, Germany's largest bonus program PAYBACK is donating Euro 150,000 to Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe (German Sports Aid Foundation) in conjunction with ARD. Alexander Rittweger, CEO of Loyalty Partner, the company operating the PAYBACK scheme, presented a cheque for the donation to Klaus Steinbach, President of the German National Olympic Committee (NOK), Bernd Rauch, Deputy Chairman of Deutsche Sporthilfe, and Olympic gold medallists Kati Wilhelm (biathlon) and Andre Lange (bobsleigh) on the last day of the Winter Olympics. A large portion of the money, which is being used to fund training programmes, was raised through "sporting" performances by leading figures from the worlds of sport, politics and business in the ARD studio and at the German Olympic headquarters (Deutsches Haus) in Sestriere.

"I am delighted that our promotion was met and supported with such enthusiasm. It means we can give something back to the German competitors and Deutsche Sporthilfe in recognition of their considerable and very successful achievements in Turin," said Rittweger. "Success in top-level sport would not be possible in Germany without the backing of business," said Kati Wilhelm, as the cheque was presented. "On behalf of my fellow athletes, I would like to thank PAYBACK for its efforts and its creativity." Bernd Rauch also took the opportunity to thank PAYBACK for the donation: "This superb fundraising event makes it easier for us to reward the athletes for the fantastic achievements we have seen here in Turin. In total, we will be able to hand out around Euro 700,000 in Olympic prizes."

Olympic partner PAYBACK has already been supporting Deutsche Sporthilfe for a number of years. The multiple-partner bonus scheme, which has some 30 million cards in circulation, has been one of the main sponsors of the German Olympic team since 2003.

A 16 th "Olympic discipline" was dreamt up in the form of "snowball biathlon" for the charity event in aid of the Winter Olympics in Turin. Guests at Deutsches Haus and the ARD Olympic studio, visitors to the PAYBACK website and customers of PAYBACK partner Galeria Kaufhof all had an opportunity to participate in the new sport.

Points were awarded for every snowball that hit a biathlon target and PAYBACK then converted these points into cash. Participants in the new Olympic sport included German President Horst Köhler, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung, the German ladies ice-hockey team, Christian Neureuther and Rosi Mittermaier, bobsleigher Georg Hackl and former racing skier Hilde Gerg.