Vital and TransFirst Renew Contract for End-to-end Merchant Processing Services
Tempe, Ariz., August 21, 2002 - Vital Processing Services® (Vital®), a recognized leader in technology-based commerce enabling services, announces the renewal of its contract with TransFirst, a leading provider of transaction processing services and payment technologies, to provide end-to-end merchant processing services, including authorization, capture, clearing and settlement of payment transactions.
"Vital has been both reliable in providing services and aggressive in introducing new products that are aligned with our merchant customers' needs," said Thomas Rouse, chief executive of TransFirst. "We look to those companies with which we have strategic partnerships to help us add value to our customers, and we are confident about continuing our long-term merchant processing relationship with Vital."
Vital has provided processing services to TransFirst since 1995, when TransFirst was founded. Since its inception, TransFirst has been one of the fastest growing transaction processing companies in the nation and is now ranked among the top 25 largest processors in the United States. Its aggressive growth strategy targeting vertical and emerging markets ensures continued success. Currently reporting annual sales volume of approximately $5 billion, TransFirst is projecting continued processing volume growth of more than 30 percent as it continues to expand its services and market expertise.
"We are proud of our long-term relationship with TransFirst and happy to have been part of their success from start-up to their emergence as a significant player in the merchant acquiring business. Vital understands the need to support the "New Winners" in our industry if we are to continue our 20 percent annual growth rate. It is critical that we recognize these new players early and help them develop when they need it most. TransFirst is clearly one of the "New Winners," and we are proud to serve as their primary supplier of payment services," said John Marshall, executive vice president of Sales and Client Relations for Vital Processing Services.
About TransFirst
TransFirst, a premiere provider of transaction processing services and payment technologies, was founded in 1995 by the senior management of one of the top 25 payment processing companies in the nation. Built on a foundation of personal service, customer commitment and flexible pricing, TransFirst offers a broad range of specialized transaction processing and payment technologies to merchants, financial institutions and ISOs. Based in Dallas, Texas with operations facilities in Superior, Colo., Omaha, Nebraska and Kansas City, Kansas, TransFirst serves more than 450 community banks and 46,000 merchant customers nationwide. TransFirst can be reached at 1-800-745-2659 or at www.transfirst.net.
About Vital Processing Services
A leader in technology-based commerce enabling services, Vital Processing Services® (Vital®) is the commerce connection between acquirers and merchants, processing one out of every four authorized payment transactions in North America. From authorizing and capturing electronic payments at the merchant point of sale, to clearing and settling transactions, Vital provides highly reliable, integrated end-to-end processing services to more than 300 acquirers and over one million merchants. Vital processes all payment types for merchants of all sizes from a wide array of industries and provides merchants and acquirers with the information and tools to efficiently manage their payment processing businesses. Vital is a merchant processing joint venture of Visa U.S.A. and TSYS® ("NYSE: TSS"). Additional information regarding Vital can be found at www.vitalps.com.
Contacts:
Virginia Lewis
Director of Corporate Relations
Vital Processing Services
(480) 333 - 7671
virginia.lewis@vitalps.com
Tonya Gollahalli/Scott Jones
The Point Group
(214) 378-7970, ext. 223/268
tonya@pointpr.com/sjones@pointpr.com