GlobalData Regulatory News (DATA)

11 May 2005 07:00

Datacash Group PLC11 May 2005 11 May 2005 DATACASH GROUP PLC ('DataCash' or 'the Company') PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH CLICK2PAY DataCash, the UK's leading payment services provider, today announced it hasintegrated with CLICK2PAY, the e-Wallet provided by Wire Card AG, Europe'sleading supplier of financial supply chain solutions. The integration means DataCash can meet the growing demand from its customers toextend the number of ways they can process payments internationally.Historically DataCash has supplied merchants with the ability to be paid bycredit, debit card and UK direct debit. DataCash can now offer a global paymentssolution to support its merchants' requirements including ACH in North America,ELVs in Germany, bank wire in Scandinavia, direct debit in Singapore and offlineand online money transfers. DataCash's strategy is to integrate with best of breed technology partners tosupply customers with the widest range of payment methods available. Thepartnership with CLICK2PAY represents a significant development of thisstrategy. DataCash continues to explore similar partnering opportunities furtherto extend the range and depth of payment solutions it can bring its customers. CLICK2PAY was launched in May 2004. Its userbase is growing at more than 20% permonth and comprises merchants and users from all over the world. CLICK2PAY issupported by a 500 man call centre which is able to communicate in sevenlanguages including Chinese and Japanese. The CLICK2PAY wallet can be used topay for goods and services with any DataCash merchant that has elected to usethe service. Importantly for the gaming market, CLICK2PAY can be used to makeinstant transactions and withdrawals. This feature is a major differentiatorfrom other e-Wallets and is especially important in allowing first time users toplace a bet quickly rather than have to wait until funds are cleared through thefinancial networks. DataCash believes CLICK2PAY will be particularly well received by its gamingclients who require the broadest possible payment solutions in what is already atruly global business. CLICK2PAY should also allow DataCash to expand itspresence in other sectors such as the digital content market where wallets are amore economic and practical method of collecting micro and small value paymentthan traditional credit and debit cards. "What we really like about the CLICK2PAY is it has been built acknowledging theimportance of local languages and payment preferences rather than expect theworld to deal in dollars and use credit cards," says Gavin Breeze, developmentdirector at DataCash. "We look forward to working with CLICK2PAY to drive thispowerful proposition into the marketplace." * * ENDS * * Press Enquiries: Isabel Crossley St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7242 4477 About DataCash DataCash is the only quoted payment solution provider in the UK and providesoutsourced solutions for the authorisation, settlement and fraud management ofcredit and debit cards as well as direct debits, direct credits and cheques. Alltransactions are accessible to merchants through a real-time MIS ReportingSuite. DataCash's fraud management solutions support industry initiatives suchas AVS/CV2 and 3-D Secure's Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode as wellas traditional, rules-based, fraud screening. DataCash's solutions are suitablefor merchants selling through any channel including High Street Point of Sale,the Web, Interactive TV, Kiosk, Call Centre and Interactive Voice Response('IVR'). About Wire Card Wire Card AG is one of Europe's leading providers of payment systems, riskmanagement and communication services. The company offers customers a wide rangeof payment options (credit card and debit card, direct debit, bank transfer,invoicing, and prepayment) as well as CLICK2PAY, an alternative Internet-basedpayment solution. In addition to handling transactions over the Internet, thesoftware platform seamlessly integrates all sales channels via Call Centres andconventional POS. With its Call Centre Services, the business area Communicationoffers professional customer support. Wire Card's software is used worldwide bymore than 2,000 companies, including flydba.com, HSE24, QVC, Sony Europe andTiscali. Wire Card AG is listed on Prime Standard of Deutsche Borse, the Germanstock exchange in Frankfurt (ISIN DE0007472060). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange