S&P Rates Credomatic's CIC Receivables Mstr Tr 2002-A.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2002

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'AAA' rating to CIC Receivables Master Trust's US$125 million CIC floating-rate trust certificates series 2002-A due Jan. 8, 2010.

CIC Receivables Master

Trust represents the first future flow credit card merchant voucher securitization rated by Standard & Poor's in Central America and involving multiple jurisdictions. The assets sold by Credomatic International Corp. (Credomatic; 'BBB-' issuer credit rating) are originated in five Central American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The rating reflects a financial guarantee insurance policy provided by Ambac Assurance Corp. ('AAA' insurer financial strength rating), which guarantees timely payment of interest and principal when due. The rating also reflects an investment-grade stand-alone rating (assessed without giving credit to the insurance policy) assigned to the transaction.

For a merchant-voucher type of transaction, the ratings rely on the abilities of the acquiring entity, Credomatic, because the acquiring entity is responsible for generating future merchant vouchers and making settlement payments to the local merchants in local currencies daily.

The stand-alone rating reflects the following strengths of the transaction structure:

-- The increasing role and importance of tourism and business travel to the Central American economies as their respective economies diversify; and Credomatic's bank operating network, credit card, and merchant voucher processing systems (within the respective five countries), which facilitates the flow of foreign exchange into the countries;

-- The healthy level of credit enhancement with a base case (unstressed) average of 34x quarterly debt service of the master trust's issuance;

-- The generation of receivables is diversified among five countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua;

-- The dominant position of Credomatic in the Central American region for credit card issuing and processing;

-- The long-established record (since the 1970s) in the issuance of credit cards and commitment to merchant-voucher operations (it began servicing both international VISA and MasterCard credit card vouchers in the late 1970s). Credomatic not only processes its own vouchers but also processes vouchers for banks located in other countries in Latin American and the Caribbean;

-- A payment structure that provides financial incentives to Credomatic to continue servicing the international voucher business during a rapid amortization period;

-- The structural features that enhance the likelihood of payments. These include the offshore collection account and agreements by VISA and MasterCard to make payments directly to such account; and

-- The continued growth in foreign tourist and business visitors traveling to the Central American region.

However, the stand-alone rating is constrained by:

-- The ability of Credomatic to generate future cash flows and

pay the local merchants in U.S. dollars or the respective

local currency at Credomatic's 'BBB-' issuer credit rating

level;

-- The possibility of sovereign interference with timely payments

of debt services during a sovereign financial systems crisis,

in one or several of the five countries. However, irrevocable

instructions by VISA and MasterCard to make payments to the

offshore collection account, combined with the fact that only

members of VISA and MasterCard are allowed to settle vouchers

in the five countries, reduce such interference risks; and

-- The potential volatility of business and leisure travel to

Central America due to either regional-specific factors (such

as natural disasters, which are somewhat common in the region,

or potential political or economic instability given the

speculative-grade ratings of the sovereigns in the region) or

global factors such as potential future terrorist attacks that

reduce air travel generally or a U.S. economic slowdown. These

uncertainties are mitigated somewhat by the healthy level of

credit enhancement and conservative base case level

assumptions and the level of flows generated after September

2001 (cash flow levels took approximately two months to

rebound to pre-September 2001 levels). Furthermore, despite

the Hurricanes Cesar in 1996 and Mitch in 1998, and the

earthquakes in Costa Rica (1991), Nicaragua (2000), El

Salvador (2001), and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the

number of foreign tourists has been increasing every year

since 1991.

The certificates pay interest quarterly the fifth day of each January, April, July, and October at a rate of three-month U.S.-dollar LIBOR plus a margin. Principal amortization amounts will be paid to certificateholders beginning April 7, 2005. The certificates mature on Jan. 8, 2010, and have a weighted average maturity of 4.68 years.