Leading South African Bank Renews Commitment to ACI Software
(Watford, England – 5 July 2006) – ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: TSAI), a leading international provider of enterprise payment solutions, today announced that First National Bank (FNB), a division of First Rand Bank Limited, has extended its relationship with ACI for another five years. An ACI customer in South Africa since 1997, FNB will continue to leverage ACI’s flagship BASE24-atm® and BASE24-pos® payments software to route and switch ATM and POS transactions across its network. In addition, FNB, the largest merchant acquirer in South Africa, has licensed ACI Proactive Risk Manager to detect and prevent merchant fraud. The adoption of ACI’s fraud monitoring software was necessary to comply with Visa’s fraud mandate requiring banks to implement an automated risk management solution for acquiring.
ACI software allows FNB's clients, primarily large merchants and retailers, to offer consumers a stable and reliable payments service. In addition, ACI’s solutions have been certified EMV compliant with both Visa and MasterCard in anticipation of the local adoption of EMV cards.
With ACI’s flagship software, FNB is equipped with a robust and cost-effective platform for merchant acquiring. In addition FNB will benefit from predictability in terms of processing cost and further economies of scale as their transaction volume continues to grow.
FNB’s BASE24 system is deployed in Johannesburg to provide processing for South Africa with a separate logical node created to process transactions from FNB's subsidiary in Botswana. In addition to compliance with Visa’s fraud mandate, FNB is using ACI Proactive Risk Manager to enhance merchant risk management, thereby further reducing the bank’s risk profile.
“FNB is part of a growing list of customers who have chosen ACI technology to help deliver world-class payment processing services,” said Richard Launder, president of ACI Worldwide (EMEA). “Our BASE24 system provides stability and enables FNB to meet its demanding service level agreements with large retailers, allowing the bank to grow its merchant base and increase profitability of their business.”
“ACI provided FNB with an attractive and very competitive cost per transaction, and in addition the service levels from ACI over the previous term were of a high standard,” said Barry de Witt, CEO of FNB Corporate Transactional Banking. “From a business perspective, the reliability and scalability of the system offers FNB a stable platform to grow the business. ACI's product strategy will continue to support the Bank's current and future requirements, while their consultative approach and advanced technology give us the flexibility to enhance future services. Furthermore, with our corporate division positioning itself as the transactional banker of choice to the South African corporate market, innovative payment and collection solutions are the key to achieve this goal.
“We believe our success is based on cultivating long-term relationships with our customers and proven solution providers such as ACI,” added de Witt.
Notes to editors
About FNB
First National Bank (FNB) is the oldest bank in South Africa and traces its origins back to 1838. Today, as one of South Africa’s leading banks, FNB is part of the First Rand Group. The Merchant Acquiring Business is positioned within the Corporate Transactional Banking Division, which serves 95 percent of South Africa’s top companies.
First National Bank is a division of First Rand Bank Ltd.
An Authorised Financial Services Provider.
About ACI Worldwide
Every second of every day, ACI solutions are at work processing electronic payments, managing risk, automating back office systems and providing application infrastructure services. Founded in 1975, ACI is a leading international provider of solutions for consumer and wholesale banking, retail and cross-industry systems. ACI serves more than 800 customers in 83 countries including many of the world's largest financial institutions, retailers and payment processors. Visit ACI Worldwide on the Internet at www.aciworldwide.com.
Any statements in this press release regarding projected results are preliminary and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, this press release may contain other forward-looking statements including statements regarding Transaction Systems Architects, Inc.’s (“TSA”), its subsidiaries or third parties’ expectations, predictions, views, opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of similar effect. The forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially.
For a detailed discussion of these and other risk factors, interested parties should review the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Form 10-K filed on December 14, 2005, the Company’s Form 10Q filed on February 9, 2006, and the Company’s Form 10Q filed on May 10, 2006.
