ACI Worldwide Adopts Multi-Platform Strategy for Payments Software; Online Transaction Processing Solution Available on HP, IBM and Sun Platforms

Business Wire, Nov 4, 2002

Business Editors

OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2002

ACI Worldwide (Nasdaq:TSAIE), a leading international provider of enterprise e-payment solutions, today announced a multi-platform strategy for its core e-payments software.

ACI's new BASE24-es(TM) provides application software to authenticate consumers and acquire, switch and authorize financial transactions online, regardless of the channel in which they originate.

BASE24-es is now available on three industry-leading platforms. The product represents ACI's premier solution for IBM zSeries and Sun Solaris systems. It is also ACI's next-generation software for HP NonStop systems, leveraging the company's 27-year history of providing NonStop solutions with its popular BASE24(R) product line.

"With this announcement, we're launching a unique solution that allows us to take our best-of-breed payments software to more markets and platforms," said ACI President Mark Vipond. "ACI is known the world over as a provider of trusted e-payment solutions. With BASE24-es, we've set a new high-water mark in terms of product flexibility and price performance, representing years of research and development work shaped by customer input."

Vipond continued, "Existing payment systems are under pressure to scale and adapt to change caused by continued growth in e-payment volumes, mergers and acquisitions, new technology, and industry mandates like EMV and triple DES. The legacy systems used by many financial service providers have evolved into disparate and redundant systems, with data and services replicated for branch delivery, the ATM system, Web services and other channels. This silo structure requires multiple interfaces to core systems and can ultimately prevent consumers from getting consistent access to products, services and information."

BASE24-es uses an open systems architecture that allows users to access enterprise-wide services like authentication or e-payment switching and make them available to any number and type of delivery channels. This reduces the cost and time required to deliver service through new channels and ensures consistency of service for consumers. A powerful new scripting engine allows customers to easily modify transaction processing logic to meet changing business needs, for example, to quickly introduce new authorization rules or impose more stringent authentication requirements that help reduce risk and improve customer loyalty.

Customers in finance, retail and telecommunications can use BASE24-es to process transactions from any endpoint including Internet shopping, mobile commerce, Web ATM, and branch or Internet banking systems. The software can also be used to upgrade legacy ATM and point-of-sale systems, adding support for new features such as smart card programs and e-check processing.

Vipond added, "Customers turn to ACI because our proven track record of delivering robust, enterprise-grade software helps them reduce the risk associated with deploying e-payment services. With our new multi-platform product, we can now help customers reduce another level of risk, this time associated with platform migrations as their business evolves. For a BASE24-es user, even if their hardware strategies change, they can continue to use the same application software from ACI, running on any platform that ACI supports. This flexibility allows customers to reduce the risk involved in platform migrations and maximize the return on their ACI software investment at a time when ROI is more important than ever."

About ACI Worldwide

Every second of every day, consumers are initiating electronic payment transactions -- getting cash at ATMs, using debit and credit cards to make purchases in stores and on the Internet, banking by phone and PC, paying bills online. Twenty billion times a year, ACI software is used to process these transactions, powering the world's online payment systems. ACI was founded in 1975 and pioneered the development of applications and networking software for online transaction processing. Today more than 540 customers in 71 countries use ACI supplied software. Visit ACI Worldwide on the Internet at www.aciworldwide.com.

Any statements in this press release regarding projected results are preliminary and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, this press release may contain other forward-looking statements including statements regarding Transaction Systems Architects, Inc.'s ("TSA"), its subsidiaries or third parties' expectations, predictions, views, opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of similar effect. The forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include but are not limited to the following.

TSA's business is concentrated in the banking industry, making it susceptible to a downturn in that industry.