Chase Merchant Services, L.L.C. Signs Long TermAgreement With Processing Source International;...

Business Editors

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2000

Chase Merchant Services, L.L.C. (CMS), a joint venture between Chase Merchant Ventures Inc., a subsidiary of The Chase Manhattan Bank (NYSE:CMB) and First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC), Monday announced a five-year agreement

Under the agreement with Chase Merchant Services, PSI will be responsible for providing the underwriting, merchant account activation, customer service, risk management and technical support functions. CMS will sponsor PSI as an independent sales organization (ISO) for both Visa and MasterCard.

This sponsorship is one of Chase Merchant Services' first relationships in which an ISO will provide the full array of merchant services that CMS would traditionally perform itself.

"The agreement with PSI enables us to expand into merchant markets that have been historically served by the ISO network," stated Diane Vogt, chief executive officer of Chase Merchant Services. "As part of the CMS ISO network, these merchants will benefit from lower processing costs that result from CMS' large base of nationally known retailers and clients."

"We chose Chase Merchant Services because of the premier ISO benefits they offer," stated Al Urcuyo, president and chief executive officer of Processing Source International. "PSI believes that CMS' expertise in processing combined with our digital technology will provide the critical services that ISOs need to succeed in a rapidly expanding industry."

PSI is implementing Accesspoint's technology to create a full suite of innovative, real time account management tools that it anticipates will revolutionize the ISO world.

As the nation's leader in payment solutions, Chase Merchant Services will benefit the ISO community by enabling them to provide the industry with not only processing capabilities, but also with a clearing bank solution.

PSI will maintain its risk and underwriting offices in Chicago, with sales, marketing and administrative offices located in Woodland Hills, Calif.

About PSI

Processing Source International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Accesspoint. As one of the nation's leading independent sales organizations (ISOs), PSI offers full-service merchant credit card processing services, providing merchants with the ability to accept and process transactions for VISA, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and all other major credit cards.

In marketing to and offering its services to a credit card processing industry that exceeds $1 trillion dollars annually, PSI has developed innovative, state-of-the-art real-time tools for credit scoring, underwriting, account approval, risk monitoring, residual tracking and account activity reporting.

Visit Processing Source International on the Web at www.psiadvantage.com. For more information on Accesspoint, see the company's Web site location at www.accesspoint.com.

About Chase Merchant Services

Chase Merchant Services, L.L.C., is the nation's largest merchant acquirer and the provider of Internet-based solutions for merchants and can be reached on the Web at www.chase.com/merchantservices. Chase Merchant Services processes more than 2 billion transactions a year and more than $150 billion in annual credit and debit card sales volume at the point of sale and over the Internet.

Chase Merchant Services is a joint venture between First Data Merchant Services, a subsidiary of First Data Corp., the leading bankcard transaction processor, and Chase Merchant Ventures, a subsidiary of The Chase Manhattan Bank, the fourth-largest bankcard issuer in the United States.

The Chase Manhattan Corp. is a premier global financial services firm with assets in excess of $396 billion. Chase can be reached on the Web at www.chase.com.

About Accesspoint -- Transaction Engines that Power E-Commerce

Founded in 1995, Accesspoint is a leading provider of managed real-time solutions for servicing the physical (in store) and virtual (Internet) sides of each business with solutions for secure payment processing, credit verification, identity verification, risk management, e-commerce and e-marketing services to thousands of merchants nationwide.

The company is a mature player among an emerging new breed of service companies called Application Service Providers (ASP). By delivering software and the underlying information as a managed service to businesses, the Accesspoint ASP model provides a viable solution to solving key technology barriers facing the small to medium enterprise today.

The Accesspoint concept is simple -- transaction processing and software delivered as a fully outsourced, bundled service.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements that include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Accesspoint Corp. (the company) to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. (Such factors include, among others, the risk factors contained in the company's Annual Reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.)