Checkmate announces $962,500 agreement with Banco Nacional de Mexico

Business Wire, Oct 24, 1996

ROSWELL, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 1996--Checkmate Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS:CMEL), one of the leading U.S. point-of-sale manufacturers, today announced the initial sale of $962,500 in Checkmate CMR 430 MICR check readers to Banco Nacional de Mexico (Banamex).

Headquartered in Mexico City, Banamex with assets estimated at $25.9 billion is the largest bank in Mexico and the fourth largest bank in Latin America. With this transaction, Checkmate will now have installations at the top three banks in Mexico. Ranked second behind Brazil, Mexico has 11 of the top 50 banks in Latin America.

Checkmate has already installed over $1 million CMR 430 MICR check readers at both, Financiero Bancomer, ranked fifth in Latin America with assets estimated at $23.1 billion and Banco Serfin, ranked eighth with $18.8 billion in assets. Checkmate also has a strong presence in Chile and Argentina which are both ranked third behind Mexico and Brazil in Latin America.

Checkmate's president and chief executive officer, Jerry P. Malec, says: "Checkmate is well known for our many successes in payment automation and fraud detection with the leaders in retail, department stores (Federated Systems Group, JCPenney), mass merchants (Kmart, Wal-Mart), supermarkets (Vons, Winn-Dixie), drug chains (Eckerds, Walgreens) and specialty stores (Best Buys, Circuit City). With our recent successes with First Union Bank in the US, and many other international banks, Checkmate is being recognized as the leader in teller automation and fraud reduction in retail banking."

Malec continues: "Our international experience, where banks have been succeeding with innovative technologies, is helping us domestically as well. We are able to share cost justifications and implementation experiences with US bankers who seek ways to reduce branch operating costs while improving customer service. Our products, proven in the hard world of retail usage, provide the functionality and quality demanded in banking where there is no room for error."

Checkmate's technology leads the industry in price/performance, quality and fraud detection for check, debit/ATM card, credit card, EBT, SmartCard or signature capture point of sale terminals. Checkmate's connectivity solution provides a single platform integrated into a family of products. Customers can begin with one payment terminal and grow economically into all payment types with minimal additional investments in power and cable infrastructure. Checkmate is currently the only one stop supplier of all payment automation terminals.

CONTACT: Checkmate Electronics, Inc.

John J. Neubert, COO/CFO/Senior Vice President

770/594-6000 or 770/594-6006