McDonald's Corporation Selects Concord EFS for Card-Based Payment Processing for U.S. Restaurants

Business Wire, Dec 10, 2002

Business Editors

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2002

Concord EFS, Inc. (NYSE:CE), a leading electronic payments processor, today announced that it has been selected by McDonald's Corporation(C) to be its nationally approved provider of credit and debit card processing for McDonald's company-owned restaurants and the preferred provider for McDonald's franchisees nationwide. The new partnership calls for Concord to provide transaction routing, authorization, and settlement for credit and debit cards that are used for payment at McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. McDonald's expects to begin selectively rolling out card-based payments by mid-2003.

"Concord's unique technology and network speed made it the clear choice for processing payments under the McDonald's brand," said Frank D. Liberio, Director of US Information Technology at McDonald's.

Card-based payments are uniquely well-suited for the quick service restaurant industry because they improve ease of use at both the front counter and drive-thru, and offer alternative ways for consumers to pay for their purchases. Historically, one obstacle to card payments at quick service restaurants has been speed of transaction, which is paramount in an industry based on time and place convenience. Concord offered McDonald's several options to improve the speed of the transaction.

"We are proud to have been selected by McDonald's for its card-based processing after years of testing and evaluating quick-pay alternatives," said Edward A. Labry III, Concord president and CEO-elect. "McDonald's history is one of continuous innovation, and we believe its leadership in the area of card-based payments will again set the standard for the quick service restaurant industry."

Concord is a leading vertically integrated electronic transaction processor, providing transaction authorization, data capture, settlement and funds transfer services to restaurants, supermarkets, petroleum retailers, convenience stores, independent retailers, and financial institutions. Concord's primary activities include Payment Services, providing credit, debit, check authorization, and electronic benefits transfer processing services to selected retail segments; and Network Services, providing ATM driving, PIN-secured and signature debit card processing, deposit risk management, and STAR(SM) network access to the financial services industry. Concord news releases, links to SEC filings, and other information are available at www.concordefs.com.

McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving 46 million people each day. Approximately 85 percent of McDonald's restaurants in the United States are owned and operated by independent franchises.

This release may contain or incorporate by reference forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause our actual performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those statements. Concord undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, or changes to future results over time. See the cautionary statements included as Exhibit 99.4 to our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 13, 2002 for a more detailed discussion of certain of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements.