Sponsor Spotlight -- Visa Implements Chip Technology; PyeongChang Must Find Sponsors

(ATR) Visa cards in the United States will start featuring high-security chips.

The TOP Sponsor announced on Wednesday it, and nine other credit card issuers in the United States will produce 575 million credit cards EMV Chip technology by the end of 2015. The U.S. has the world's largest number of credit users, but merchants refused to implement the system due to the high cost of changing their credit card machines. The U.S. is one of the last markets to implement the chip-based technology for credit cards.

Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, Independent Community Bankers of America, Navy Federal Credit Union, US Bank, Visa and Wells Fargo & Company participate in the Payment Security Task Force and will be the first companies to issue the new cards.

"By the end of next year, these issuers estimate that one in two of their U.S. payment cards will be chip-enabled, which represents real progress given the scale and complexity of this overall effort," Ryan McInerney, president of Visa said in a statement.

Sponsor Recruitment Top Priority for PyeongChang Chief

Yang Ho ChoThe first job for President Yang Ho Cho is finding sponsors for the Olympics.

Nearly three years after winning the Games, PyeongChang only signed its first sponsor in July. Typically, organizers will have a host of sponsors by that time.

Yang Ho Cho is trying to attract corporate sponsors for PyeongChang 2018 by showing investors the benefits of hosting the Olympic Games in South Korea.

In a statement released by POCOG on Friday the organizing committee said it had only raised 30 percent of its $88 million dollar budget.

"[Cho] is telling executives not to just look at the Olympic Games as a sporting event, but to look it from a commercial perspective and understand that it is big business for their country," the statement said.

"He believes that a successful Olympic Games is not only about sports but also about return on investment and is now developing marketing plans that will help achieve their goals."

The statement covered a wide range of issues, including his outlook and what he has done on the job so far.

Olympians Dominate Best-Paid List

There's more proof that winning Olympic medals pays off.

On Tuesday,Forbes Magazinepublished its list of the highest-paid female athletes for 2014.

Eight of the top 10 are Olympians, and there's a combined 9 medals.

With $24.4 million Maria Sharapova is the best paid, according toForbes.She won silver in women's tennis at the 2012 Olympics.

Li Na, and Serena Williams rounded out the top three. Fellow tennis stars Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwańska, and Ana Ivanovic came in at number six, seven, eight and nine respectively.

All seven tennis players competed the 2012 London Olympics. Williams played in the Sydney and Beijing Olympics as well winning the doubles events in all three, while Wozniacki andRadwańska competed in Beijing.

Yu Na Kim was the only Winter Olympian on the list. The South Korean figure skater earned $16.3 million in 2014, making her the fourth highest paid female athlete.

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick was fifth on the list and golfer Paula Creamer was no. 10.

Written by Aaron Bauer and Andrew Murrell.

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