Credit Card Processing For Canadian Small Business Is Simplified By Intuit Canada And SureFire Commerce Agreement

Business Wire, Dec 4, 2000

Business Editors

MONTREAL & EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2000

More small businesses in Canada will be able to accept credit card payments from their customers as a result of an agreement announced today between Intuit Canada Limited and SureFire Commerce Inc. (TSE:MTP.).

The deal creates QuickBooks Credit Card Service, transaction processing offered to Intuit Canada's small business customers through SureFire Commerce.

It means Intuit Canada's small business customers will no longer have to apply to multiple banks for approval to accept VISA and MasterCard payments.

"To compete and grow, small business owners need to give customers convenient payment options," said Bruce Johnson, General Manager of Intuit Canada. "But getting approval to accept credit card payments is often their single most difficult hurdle. With this agreement," he said, "a single application can give Canadian small business owners the ability to improve their client service and increase their revenues by accepting two of the world's most popular credit cards, in person, over the phone or even over the Web."

"SureFire's depth of expertise will allow QuickBooks Credit Card Service to offer our customers state of the art transaction processing over the web," Johnson added. "It will simplify the entire process for our small business customers."

In addition to eliminating the cost and complexity of getting approval to accept credit card payments, Intuit Canada's small business customers will be able to process payments in a simple step with no additional investment in hardware or swipe card technology. SureFire Commerce will manage the entire transaction processing cycle - from the initial set up through to final payment.

"Canadian small businesses are seeking solutions that will allow them to leverage the benefits of Internet-based technologies," said Rory Olson, president and CEO of SureFire Commerce. "As one of the most significant players in the small business management software market in Canada, Intuit Canada represents a major channel to fulfilling that need. Today's announcement will make life a whole lot easier for literally tens of thousands of Canadian business owners."

QuickBooks Credit Card Service, powered by SureFire Commerce's transaction-processing, will be one of the new services integrated into Intuit Canada's QuickBooks(R) 2001, business management and accounting software, scheduled for release in December.

About SureFire Commerce

SureFire Commerce Inc. (TSE: MTP) is a global business-to-business provider of proprietary e-commerce infrastructure solutions. SureFire Commerce is an international provider of secure online transaction processing services targeting to process in excess of $1 billion in transactions this fiscal year. SureFire Commerce's merchant enabling solutions provide telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, high traffic portals and financial institutions the ability to generate recurrent revenue streams for themselves and their small- and medium-sized business customers. SureFire Commerce is headquartered in Montreal, with offices in Hull and Boston. For more information visit: www.surefirecommerce.com

About Intuit Canada

Intuit Canada Limited is headquartered in Edmonton and has offices in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. The company is a leading developer of finance and business management solutions, including personal finance management, business management and accounting, and tax preparation software, as well as Web-based services. Intuit's products and services include Quicken(R), www.quicken.ca, QuickBooks(R), QuickTax(TM), ImpotRapide(R) and QuickWealth Planner(TM). Through Intuit GreenPoint, the company offers ProFile(TM), professional tax preparation software and ProFile FP(TM) professional financial planning software. Together, Intuit Canada and Intuit GreenPoint enable individuals, small businesses and financial professionals to better manage their financial lives and businesses. Visit Intuit Canada Limited at www.intuit.com/canada and Intuit GreenPoint at www.greenpointsoftware.com