ANNOUNCEMENTS

Advanced Payment Services Class A-Certified with SPS

Advanced Payment Services (APS) announced that it has completed Class-A certification on all of its terminals for Secure Payment Systems' (SPS) products. Additional services the company will offer include check verification, check guarantee, check conversion services and gift card programs. APS said these solutions will compliment its existing line of products and services.

ATM Future Trends Report Available

ATMMarketplace.com is now offering its "ATM Future Trends Report," which includes essays written by members of the Future Trends Roundtable-a group of analysts, bankers, independent ATM operators, manufacturers, software companies, EFT networks and transaction processors-and results from a survey of the Roundtable focused on subjects such as potential new ATM transactions.

It also features excerpts of research from Celent Communications, Accelera Research and articles on new technologies from ATMMarketplace's archives. The report costs $399 and may be ordered online at www.atmmarketplace.com .

1 Million Consumers Using BioPay

BioPay, LLC announced in April 2004 that more than one million consumers have enrolled in its electronic biometric identification systems to pay for purchases and cash payroll checks. BioPay began offering its biometric service in September 2003. The company began shipping its check cashing solution, Paycheck Secure, in June 2000.

Comstar Compliant with Visa and MasterCard Security

Comstar Interactive Corp., provider of wireless POS solutions and Internet gateway services, announced that, as of April 12, 2004, it is compliant with Visa USA's Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) and MasterCard's Site Data Protection (SDP) program.

ProfitPoint Opening New Offices

ProfitPoint, LLC, a gift and loyalty program provider, said it plans to open offices in Philadelphia and Atlanta in May 2004. Atlanta's sales and operations will be directed from ProfitPoint's corporate offices located in Franklin, Tenn.; James Battista, President and co-founder of ProfitPoint, will direct the new Philadelphia office operations.

Smart Card Alliance Offers Contactless Technology Report

The Smart Card Alliance's Terminal and eTransaction Infrastructure Task Force released a new report titled, "Contactless Payments: Delivering Merchant and Consumer Benefits."

The report profiles contactless payment initiatives such as MasterCard's PayPass, American Express' ExpressPay, Bank of America's QuickWave and ExxonMobil's Speedpass.

Contributors to the report include representatives from American Express, Atmel Corp., Axalto, Bank of America, First Data Corp., IBM, Infineon Technologies, JCB International Credit Card Co., MasterCard, VeriFone, Inc., Visa USA, ViVOtech and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The SCA task force wrote the report for executives and high-level functional managers in retail and financial services. It's available from the Smart Card Alliance Web site at www.smartcardalliance.org .

VeriFone's Omni 3750 Certified by Six Processors VeriFone, Inc. announced that its Omni 3750 IP-enabled point-of-sale terminal achieved certification by six major processors: Fifth Third Bank, First Data (CardNet and EFSNet Hosts), Lynk Systems, NPC, Paymentech NetConnect and Vital VirtualNet.

The terminal has also been used in rollouts of point-of-sale systems with major Quick Service Restaurants and retailers including Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Taco Bueno and Ford Motor Company.

PARTNERSHIPS

ABANCO Offering ExaDigm Terminals

ISO ABANCO International, LLC purchased 2,000 Mate Plus point-of-sale (POS) terminals from ExaDigm, Inc. The Mate Plus enables the interchange of modems on the back of the device to obtain a range of connectivity options including WiFi, IP, cellular and dial.

American Express Extends Partnership with Costco

American Express Co. and Costco extended their long-term partnership with a multi-year agreement. Costco began accepting American Express Cards at all of its U.S. warehouse locations in 1999.

Their relationship has evolved so that today, Costco also offers its members auto and homeowners insurance from American Express Property Casualty Company, installment loans and lines of credit from OPEN: The Small Business Network, and financial planning services from American Express Financial Advisors.

Costco is now one of American Express' largest merchants. Costco currently operates 432 warehouses, including 319 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 63 in Canada, 15 in the United Kingdom, five in Korea, three in Taiwan, four in Japan and 23 in Mexico.

Authorize.Net Announces Two Partnerships

Lightbridge Inc.'s Authorize.Net, and Infinite Peripherals have teamed to offer wireless payment processing via the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway. Merchants with an Authorize.Net Payment Gateway account can now process credit card transactions initiated through a PDA or Smart Phone and Infinite Peripherals' hardware payment solution. Authorize.Net has also joined forces with Hypercom Corp. Both companies plan to offer Authorize.Net Internet Protocol (IP)-based Payment Gateway to retailers purchasing Hypercom's Optimum T4100 point-of-sale terminal with Intel XScale technology.

CardSystems Announces ISO Banking Relationship

As part of a new partnership, ISOs that are processing on CardSystems Solutions Inc.'s platform can now settle those transactions through Merrick Bank, a Utah-based financial institution. Also as part of this arrangement, CardSystems Solutions will refer new ISOs and banks to Merrick for Visa and MasterCard sponsorship.

VeriFone Teams with Stored Value Provider

Chockstone, Inc., a stored value, payment and transaction processing company has partnered with VeriFone, Inc. to offer Chockstone's ChockBox stored value applications on VeriFone's Omni 3700 series terminals. The terminals will support credit/debit, electronic gift, loyalty and promotional marketing transactions at the point-of-sale for the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry.

First National Bankcard Signs with E-Chex

E-Chex signed a three-year agreement with Kansas City, Mo.-based First National Bankcard, Inc. to provide E-Chex electronic check conversion through their extensive reseller channel. Ryan Paine, President of First National Bankcard said a big reason First National Bankcard chose E-Chex's services is because E-Chex does not require imagers to process checks, and that imager requirements restrict a smaller merchant's ability to participate in the cost savings. The company will use lower-priced MICR readers instead.

GO Software Partners with Ingenico for IP Terminal

GO Software, a subsidiary of Return On Investment Corp., and Ingenico have partnered to develop an Internet Protocol (IP)-based terminal solution for the point of sale-using GO Software's recently acquired IP gateway technology and Ingenico's I5100 payment terminal with integrated Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connectivity and 32-bit microprocessor.

Lori Breitzke, Director of Business Development of Ingenico's Financial Services Business Unit, described the partnership as "a forum for idea sharing and an incubator for new products."

MSI Announces IP Terminal Installation

Merchant Services, Inc. (MSI) announced an installation of a VeriFone, Inc. Omni 3750 Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled payment terminal at ProWash Inc. of Union, N.J.

The POS terminal is connected to the merchant's existing DSL router, which creates an "always-on" connection and enables payment transactions to take place in as little as four seconds, eliminating the longer wait often required with dial up.

MedCom USA Selects Hypercom Solution

MedCom USA, Inc. selected to use Hypercom Corp.'s T7 Plus terminal and software and its MegaNAC 180 Network Access Controllers. The solution will enable healthcare providers to electronically verify patient eligibility in about 30 seconds. MedCom USA provides healthcare/financial transaction solutions for the healthcare industry.

NPC Wins Two Restaurants

Panda Restaurant Group selected National Processing Company, LLC (NPC) to provide authorization and settlement services for MasterCard and Visa transactions. Panda Restaurant Group operates 600 Panda Express locations in 36 states, Puerto Rico and Japan; five Panda Inn locations; and 16 Hibachi-San locations.

NPC also signed a multi-year credit card processing agreement with Sasnak Management Corporation, DBA Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe. NPC will provide authorization and settlement services for all Visa and MasterCard transactions accepted at all Carlos O'Kelly's locations.

Two More to Offer Dynamic Currency Conversion

Planet Payment, a trade group and trademark of Planet Group, Inc., partnered with Shift4 Corp. to deliver Planet Payment's Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) capabilities to Shift4's $$$ ON THE NET partners and customers. Shift4 integrated this solution into its new MICROS 8700 enhanced interface.

Planet Payment also partnered with Vital Processing Services to introduce DCC authorization and clearing services to its customers. DCC enables merchants to offer international cardholders in the United States the option at the point-of-sale to pay in their local currency rather than in U.S. dollars.

STAR Renews with KeyBank and Union Bank of CA

First Data Corp.'s Star Systems (STAR) renewed an agreement with KeyBank. STAR will continue providing PIN-secured debit access at retailers and ATMs, and ATM and signature debit card processing for KeyBank's 2,200 ATMs and 4.6 million credit and debit cards.

Star also renewed an agreement with Union Bank of California. Star will provide PIN-secured debit access at retailers and ATMS and ATM and signature debit card processing for Union Bank of California's 560 ATMs and 1.2 million ATM and signature debit cards.

ACQUISITIONS

eFunds Buys Two Companies

eFunds Corp. bought two companies: Penley, Inc., which provides USA Patriot Act and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliance services; and Loss Control Solutions (LCS), which offers fraud investigation case management software for the financial services industry. eFunds acquired both companies for approximately $6 million.

First Data Purchases Australian Payments Company

First Data Corp. announced that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of Cashcard Australia Limited shares. Cashcard Australia Limited, an electronic payments service provider in Australia.

First Data said the combined companies will process more than one billion electronic payment transactions per year and operate over 8,000 ATMs in Australia. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Global Axcess Corp. Acquiring East Coast ATM Company

Global Axcess Corp. signed a letter of intent to acquire an independent ATM company that owns and operates 166 ATM sites stationed up and down the East Coast from Massachusetts to Florida. Global Axcess expects the acquisition to be completed by June 15, 2004.

APPOINTMENTS

LML Payment Systems Hires Craig

LML Payment Systems Inc. appointed Stephen B. Craig to the position of Vice President Business Development with the company's subsidiary, LML Payment Systems Corp.

Craig began his career at Bank of New England, where he was promoted to manage check collections across the bank's 91 branch locations. Craig also worked for five years at Buypass Corp. on the customer support team that serviced Tier I accounts. For the past 10 years, he has served in various positions at First Data Merchant Services.

Ficarra Returns to CrossCheck

Former Vice President of Sales for CrossCheck, Inc., Bob Ficarra, has returned to the company to lead the partner relations department and ISO department. Ficarra left CrossCheck in 1998 to spend more time with his family, to travel, and to be a sales and marketing consultant for several companies in Northern California.

Ficarra helped develop the TeleSales channel at CrossCheck. He also served as Vice President of Marketing, and later as Vice President of Product Planning and Development. Before originally joining CrossCheck, Ficarra was the National Sales Manager of InstaCheck.

Two Promoted at Jack Henry & Associates

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.'s (JKHY) Board of Directors promoted Jack Prim to the position of Chief Executive Officer from President. The Board will also promote Tony L. Wormington to President from Chief Operating Officer. Both promotions will be effective July 1, 2004. Michael E. Henry, the current Chairman and CEO, will continue as Chairman of the Board.

Prim has more than 25 years of industry experience. He has served as President of the company since January 2003, served as COO from May of 2001 and has also served as General Manager of the e-Services division. He was named General Manager of the Liberty division when JKHY acquired BSI's Community Banking Division in 1995.

Wormington has served as COO since January 2003, Vice President since October 1998, and became the General Manager of Technology Services in 2000. Since joining the company in 1980, he has also served as Manager of Research and Development and Manager of Installation Services.

ISD Appoints VP Business Development

Gino Puzzuoli will serve as Vice President of Business Development for Integrated Systems Development, Inc. (ISD). Puzzuoli has 20 years of technology experience in the retail and payment industries. He most recently served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for an electronic payment software company.

TrustCommerce Hires Director of Marketing

TrustCommerce appointed Virginia Lewis Shaffer to Director of Marketing and Communications. She will also serve as a member of the company's executive team and advisory board.

Shaffer previously was Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Relations for Vital Processing Services. Prior to Vital, she held a senior position with Ketchum Public Relations, working with financial services clients including TSYS, Visa USA, Equifax and Vital.

Shaffer served on various committees for the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) including the Editorial Advisory Committee and Chair of the Presidents Dinner Awards and Recognition Committee. She currently serves as a member of the American Banker's Technology and Advertising Advisory Board.

BOTTOM LINES

• The total number of convenience stores in the United States decreased by 1.3% to 130,659 stores, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores/TDLinx Official Industry Store Count. The number of convenience selling motor fuels grew 4.3% in 2003 to 106,240.

• The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which was unchanged in March 2004, increased in April. The Index now stands at 92.9, up from 88.5 the month before.

• Albertsons is selling four of its 24 stores in the New Orleans area to the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P).