CardSystems Meets Data Security Compliance Deadline; Independent Auditor Submits Compliance Assessment Report to Payment Card Associations

Business Wire, Sept 1, 2005

ATLANTA -- CardSystems today announced that AmbironTrustWave, an independent data security assessment firm, submitted on CardSystems' behalf, a Report on Compliance (ROC) to MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover on August 31st, 2005, as previously promised.

The ROC is a summary of findings resulting from a Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard audit. The report details the security protocols of a company's network environment that processes and/or transmits credit card data. The ROC is submitted to credit card associations for validation of compliance with the PCI standard. CardSystems retained AmbironTrustWave in July 2005 to perform a PCI audit and submit a ROC by August 31, 2005.

"In performing its assessment, AmbironTrustWave scrutinized every aspect of our operations," said John Perry, President and CEO of CardSystems. "AmbironTrustWave audited the security of our network, the steps that our 110 employees take to safeguard cardholder data, our vulnerability management program, our information security policy and our ability to regularly monitor and test our network."

CardSystems has implemented a fully encrypted processing network for both data transmission and storage. Additionally, by segmenting its network with a series of internal and external firewalls on its system, CardSystems' infrastructure is segregated to ensure that only appropriate communications occur. As a result, CardSystems is confident that its 119,000 merchants are being served by one of the most secure payment processing systems in the industry.

"We believe that the Report on Compliance concludes that CardSystems meets the PCI standard. We are hopeful that MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover will accept this PCI report and validate that CardSystems is PCI compliant," said Perry. "The data security protocols currently in place at CardSystems make it one of the data security leaders among payment processors in the payment card industry."

About CardSystems:

CardSystems Solutions Inc. is a provider of integrated payment solutions to associations, financial institutions, Independent Sales Organizations (ISO) and retail merchants. With CardSystems' flexible array of processing services, clients can manage the entire payment processing cycle and customize services to fit their needs while maintaining complete control of risk, dispute resolution and proprietary customer data. CardSystems' intelligent enabling technologies include an expert system, neural network and service offerings optimized for the card processing industry. CardSystems products include traditional terminals, integrated applications and e-payment solutions. The company processes payment transactions for more than 119,000 merchants. For more information contact CardSystems at (800) 333-8928 or visit www.cardsystems.com.