Trintech PayWare Technology Used for World's First Euro Purchase Visa Card; Purchase in Euro On January 1st Confirms Trintech Position as Global Multi-Currency Payment Leader

Business Wire, Jan 7, 1999

FRANKFURT, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7 1999--To mark the occasion of the introduction of the European Single Currency at midnight on January 1st, Trintech, in conjunction with Visa International and B S Card Services, performed the world's first euro purchase.

The historic transaction took place in Frankfurt, Germany, the heart of the euro financial services market by Dr. Stephen Perry, Chief Financial Officer of Visa EU. Dr. Perry used his B S Visa card processed through a Trintech Compact 9000 POS terminal, embedded with PayWare FX. Appropriately, he used his card to buy a bottle of Champagne at the Kempinski Hotel in Gravenbruch, near Frankfurt.

The payment of 63.91 euro (125 DEM) was authorised on-line by Visa through the B S Acquirer network using a Trintech terminal embedded with the company's sophisticated multi-currency software, PayWare FX, sold to B S Card Service Frankfurt. The award-winning software package was unveiled last year to handle conversions of all the major global currencies at the point of sale, including the euro, making Trintech one of the first companies to be able to handle the new currency from its introduction. The transaction was initiated through PayWare FX and then authorized and processed to Dr Perry's account via VisaNet, the electronic processing network that is the backbone of the Visa payment system.

Cardholders from within and outside "Euroland" can use their existing Visa credit or debit card and chose to pay in euro or in the local currency in stores. The payment amount will be marked with the code EUR on the checkout display and on the receipt signed by the cardholder. Service quality standards are identical to other currencies in terms of both speed and security. Experts predict that the possibility of using the new currency on cards as early as 1st January 1999 will boost the euro acceptance among consumers.

Dr. Stephen Perry, Chief Financial Officer at Visa EU commented: "Working with one of our Member banks B S Card Services, and using a terminal provided by Trintech, Visa was able to conduct the first historical euro transaction. This demonstrates our commitment to be ready for the euro from day one. The transition period while the euro is still a virtual currency, and before euro notes and coins are introduced, presents a significant opportunity to move payments away from cash and cheques. Consumers can pay in euros immediately by using a Visa card in any merchant location with a euro compliant terminal."

"Trintech is delighted to have been involved in processing the world's first euro transaction and we salute Visa and B S Card Services for seizing the euro initiative on this historic occasion. This purchase completes a hat trick of firsts from Trintech following the first SSL transaction and first SET transaction, and confirms our leadership position in e-payments," says John McGuire, CEO of Trintech.

"We are committed to providing banks, merchants and consumers with secure, workable euro solutions that ease the transition to the European Single Currency. It is imperative for the technology embedded in banks' systems across the participating countries to work from the outset and PayWare FX has proven its ability with the Visa/B S transaction."

Photographs can be downloaded from the Trintech web site at www.Trintech.com/pressroom/press_release_1.html

About Compact 9000(TM) and PayWare(TM)

The industry-leading Compact 9000 point of sale terminals from Trintech allows merchants to accept payments via credit, debit and smart cards. PayWare is a highly-flexible merchant payment technology for the acceptance of payment transactions at the point of sale, regardless of the acceptance environment: Hardware, in POS terminals; Software, PCs and handsets; Remote, call centers and kiosks; Virtual, Internet based. The PayWare F/X feature allows merchants to convert local currency transactions into the currency of the cardholder's choice, including the euro, a feature particularly attractive to on-line merchants.

About Trintech

Trintech is the world's leading provider of payment software for electronic transactions. The company was founded in 1986 in Dublin, Ireland. The company is co-headquartered in Silicon Valley, California and in Dublin, Ireland, the software capital of Europe. The company offers a complete range of payment software products for credit, debit, commercial and procurement card applications, as well as leading the world in the deployment of payment solutions for Internet commerce. Its range of solutions covers consumer, merchant and financial institution requirements for physical payments and the burgeoning world of electronic commerce.

The Trintech strategy has been to build on its European leadership position to become the dominant integrated payment card software vendor in the US and the rest of the world with scalable open systems architecture on UNIX(R) and Windows NT(tm) based platforms.

The company has participated in the formation and implementation of the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and SET Secure Electronic Transaction(tm) electronic commerce specifications. The company early lead in Internet payments solutions has contributed to its series of industry firsts in electronic commerce.