NEWS

American Express Co. announced its fourth quarter 2002 profit more than doubled from last year. Attributing its growth largely to higher card spending and more new cardholders, Amex earned $683 million, or 52 cents a share, in Q4 2002 compared with $297 million, or 22 cents, in the same period last year. American Express' revenues in Q4 rose 6% to $6.196 billion, and for the year its profit rose to $2.67 billion from $1.31 billion in 2001.

Sales Pay to Improve in 2003?

Looking for better pay? Here's something you can use for leverage: A survey of more than 580 corporate sales and marketing executives shows that sales compensation likely will improve in 2003 compared with 2002. The Alexander Group, Inc. and Sales and Marketing Management magazine conducted the survey in December 2002. Of the companies surveyed, 47% said they anticipate providing higher pay for salespeople, which might be based on the anticipation of a better economy in 2003 (82.7% of those surveyed expect positive growth). Of the 580 respondents, the following are areas in which they plan to improve:

• Performance Measures: 67.1%
• Pay Mix (Target Pay vs. Incentives): 43%
• Ramps/Accelerators: 28.5%
• Formula Type: 27.1%
• Thresholds/Caps: 22.7%

For information, visit: www.alexandergroupinc.com/salescomptrends/execsum.asp

Bank of America Mini Check Card Available

Bank of America released a check card version of its Visa-branded Bank of America mini card. Customers can attach the mini cards to their key chains and use them at point-of-sale terminals with magnetic stripe readers where the Visa logo appears. For fraud protection, Bank of America places the cardholder's picture on the front of the card and offers zero liability and guaranteed credit by the end of the next business day if an unauthorized transaction occurs.

Cards Used More for Purchases than at ATMs

Americans use their ATM and debit cards to make purchases at supermarkets, gas stations and other retail locations at least twice as often as they use them to withdraw cash from ATMs, according to a national study of 1,000 debit card holders in November and December 2002. Those surveyed used their cards an average of 10.92 times during a three-week period: 7.81 times to make a purchase at a retail location compared with 3.11 times to withdraw cash at an ATM. Of these 7.81 transactions, 4.06 were PIN-based and 3.75 were signature-based. The study was commissioned by PULSE EFT Association and conducted by Analytica, Inc.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MasterCard International is replacing its backup data center in a New York City suburb with a new data center in Kansas City, Mo. MasterCard said it estimates the cost of the site, which will be staffed by 30 technical employees, to be $50 million. The new location was chosen because of its close proximity to MasterCard's largest office in the world, its $130 million main data center in St. Louis with a staff of almost 2,200.

Discover Joins NACHA

Discover Bank of Delaware, issuer of the Discover Card and a unit of Discover Financial Services, joined NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association as a financial institution member. Discover Bank becomes the 15th financial institution member of NACHA, which includes 21 payment associations.

PARTNERSHIPS

The U.S. Treasury partnered with Waterloo, Ontario-based RDM Corp. to provide a paper check conversion program (PCC) to the many branches of the U.S. government. The program uses RDM's digital imaging solutions to convert paper checks into electronic funds transfer debit transactions. The Department of Defense is the first government branch to use the new check conversion program.

VeriFone Partners for QSR Business

VeriFone, Inc. and Delphi Display Systems, Inc. have joined forces and technologies to provide quick service restaurants (QSR) with an all-in-one solution for the drive-thru. Delphi is integrating its order confirmation system and sunlight-readable LCD panels with VeriFone's outdoor payment processing terminals so customers can swipe their debit or credit cards, confirm their order on a display monitor and pay for their food before reaching the pickup window.

Ezic Adds 2nd FDMS Certification

First Data Merchant Services (FDMS), a subsidiary of First Data Corp., certified Ezic, Inc. to process digital transactions via its Nashville platform. Ezic also processes on FDMS' Omaha platform. Ezic also is certified by Vital Processing Services and NOVA Information Systems.

Cynergy Has Golden Opportunity

Golden Eagle Leasing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hypercom Corp. and a lessor of credit card authorization equipment, won a contract with Cynergy Data. Golden Eagle expects this new partnership to generate several thousand new leases per year. Cynergy Data said it will benefit by offering its ISOs and reps an equipment lease option.

ERA Selects e-Check Processor

The Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) selected Data Processors International (DPI) as its e-check processing provider. DPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of TransFirst, Inc. Through DPI, ERA members will receive e-commerce, credit card and e-check processing services with volume discounts on transaction fees, no upfront deposits and low reserve rates. DPI has been a provider of merchant services for the ERA since 2000. The ERA has more than 500 member companies worldwide that sell directly to consumers via television, radio and the Internet.

NPC Wins Two Retailers

National Processing Co. (NPC) will process credit and debit cards for Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. In addition, NPC and Factory 2-U Stores, Inc. renewed their processing agreement. Factory 2-U discount stores sell apparel and home merchandise in 13 western states. DAS Has Two New Partners

Diversified Acquiring Solutions (DAS) entered into merchant referral programs with United Bank of Philadelphia and Polson, Mont.-based 1st Citizens Bank. United Bank and 1st Citizens Bank will refer new merchant business to DAS, which then will handle the sale, setup and servicing of the processing relationships. Among other benefits, DAS' two new partners will receive a referral fee for each referred and approved merchant account.

CrossCheck Gets Sweeter

CrossCheck, Inc. will provide customized check guarantee services to 95 U.S. Sweet Factory locations in shopping centers, convenience stores, department stores, airports and railway stations. The Sweet Factory is a retailer of "pick 'n' mix" candy and sweets. CrossCheck also announced it will provide Worldwide Golf Enterprises, Inc. with check guarantee services. Worldwide Golf runs three chains of golf supermarkets: Roger Dunn Golf Shops (www.rdgolf.com), The Golf Mart (www.thegolfmart.com) and Van's Pro Shop (www.vansgolf.com).

Alliance Data Renews with Catalog Retailer

Alliance Data Systems Corp. signed a 10-year contract extension with Brylane, Inc. Alliance Data, a provider of transaction, marketing and credit services, will continue providing private-label credit services to Brylane's catalog brands: Chadwick's of Boston, Lane Bryant Catalog, Roaman's, Brylane Home, Brylane Home Kitchen, Lerner Catalog, King Size, Jessica London and La Redoute.

ACQUISITIONS

Travel industry-focused credit card processor First Horizon Merchant Services, Inc. acquired Merchant Card Management Systems (MCMS). MCMS is the largest provider of card-based processing services to the United States ski industry (more than 50 ski resorts) and also has clients in entertainment and general retail.

Certegy Completes Netzee Acquisition

With Netzee, Inc. shareholder approval, Certegy, Inc. completed the purchase of all of the assets of Netzee for $10.4 million in cash on December 31, 2002.

APPOINTMENTS

Retriever Payment Systems promoted Russ J. Goebel to Vice President of Sales. Goebel, a 10-year industry veteran, joined Retriever in 2002. His background includes several sales and management positions at eFunds Corp, Heartland Payment Systems and First Data Merchant Services.

Concord Expands Board with Two

Dr. Shirley C. Raines and Arthur N. Seessel III have been elected to serve on Concord EFS, Inc.'s Board of Directors. Raines is President of the University of Memphis, and Seessel is a management consultant to the supermarket industry.

Ronald V. Congemi, Concord SVP and President of Network Services, has resigned from the board. Congemi will continue to provide counsel to the board as a Senior Management Advisor. Concord EFS now has 10 members on its Board of Directors.

Vital Brings in Marketing Veteran

Vital Processing Services hired Charles M. Bruney as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Bruney has more than 25 years of experience in financial services marketing.

He most recently served as Executive Vice President and a board member at Speer & Associates, Inc. where he spent 15 years. Bruney has also worked at Mellon Bank, Barnett Banks of Florida, Girard Bank and the First National Bank of Atlanta.

Hengesbach Adds Sales to Duties

Alice Ann Hengesbach was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at WRG Services, Inc., an ATM manufacturer and service provider. Hengesbach previously served as Director of Marketing at the company. In her new position, Hengesbach supports client development, inside sales, leasing and corporate accounts.

SafeCHECK Hires Sales Manager

Daniel Wellhoefer joined the SafeCHECK sales team as National Sales Manager. Wellhoefer has 20 years of experience in sales, primarily in the retail segment of the electronic payment industry.

eFunds Appoints Gupta

eFunds Corp. hired Rahul Gupta as Senior Vice President, Division Executive, responsible for eFunds' Risk Management Division. Gupta, who has years of experience in financial services transaction processing, B2B payment processing, database management and marketing, software marketing and management consulting, previously served as Vice President, Network/ASP Services at i2 Technologies, Inc. and also served as CEO of Financial Settlement Matrix (FSMx). Before FSMx, he was President and Chief Operating Officer for Summit Marketing Group.

CrossCheck CFO Promoted

CrossCheck, Inc. promoted Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Gayle Pe_a to Senior Vice President. Pe_a was hired by CrossCheck in 1992 as a Cost Accountant. She then was promoted to Accounting Manager and Company Controller, and in 1995 Pe_a was appointed Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Datawire Appoints AT&T Vet to Chairman

Datawire Communication Networks Inc. appointed James Meenan to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Meenan worked with AT&T Corp. in the United States for 30 years; as President and CEO, he established AT&T's presence in Canada in 1995. He served in this role until 2000. Meenan continues to serve on the Board of Directors of AT&T Canada and as Chairman of Castek, Inc.