TSYS® Processing Retail Card for C&A, Fashion Retailer
Agreement Signals Further International Expansion for TSYS’ Retail Initiatives
Columbus, Ga., September 28, 1999 - Total System Services, Inc.® (TSYS®) (NYSE: "TSS") today announced that it has signed a multi-year agreement to process a private-label card in Mexico for C&A, a department store fashion retailer originating from Holland. Processing will be in conjunction with TSYS’ joint venture partner, Total System Services de México, S.A. de C.V.® (TSYS de México® ).The first C&A store in Mexico opened in February 1999.
TSYS Group Vice President, International Services, Lynn Drury, said, "Total System Services de México continues to operate the only ISO-9002-certified card-processing facility in Mexico, and we are delighted to welcome a world-class retailer like C&A Mexico as a TSYS client. We look forward to providing C&A Mexico with the quality and service our customers have come to expect."
TSYS will service the C&A account from its Columbus, Ga., headquarters and from its TSYS de México facilities in Toluca and Mexico City. Through the joint venture, TSYS provides processing services for 17 issuers and acquirers which represent approximately one-third of the Visa and MasterCard credit card accounts issued in Mexico.
Operating in Mexico under the name C&A Modas y Compañía, S. en C., the first C&A store in Mexico is in Puebla, with another in Veracruz. C&A’s Mexican headquarters are in Guadalajara. According to Jose Francisco Jimenez, C&A’s speaker in Mexico, C&A plans to open 10 additional stores in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, and other parts of Mexico in 1999-2000, targeting customers between 17-24 years of age.
Today, C&A (www.c-and-a.com and www.cyamoda.com) has more than 550 stores and 40,000 employees in 14 European countries. From pioneering ready-to-wear clothing more than 150 years ago, to the bikini and the mini-skirt, C&A has sought to bring the latest fashions to the greatest number of people, offering the widest possible variety, across almost all of Europe. C&A is also a major retailer in Argentina and Brazil.
TSYS is one of the world’s leading information technology processors of data, transactions and payments for domestic and international issuers of credit, debit, commercial and private-label cards. TSYS’ sophisticated systems offer online accounting, data processing, electronic commerce services, portfolio management, account acquisition, credit evaluation, risk management and customer service. Through our family of companies, TSYS services the entire lifecycle of card accounts and processes more than 196.7 million accounts, making it possible for an estimated 275 million cardholders to use their cards any time, anywhere. Headquartered in Columbus, Ga., TSYS, (www.totalsystem.com) is an 80.8% owned subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: "SNV") (www.synovus.com) named The Best Company To Work For In America by FORTUNE magazine.
Contacts:
Danita Gibson-Lloyd
Corporate Communications Manager
ph. (706) 649-5578
dglloyd@totalsystem.com
Becky Roberts
Corp. Comm. Project Mgr.
ph. (706) 641-3839
broberts@totalsystem.com