Tuesday June 16, 6:32 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Columbia Capital Corp. & PaySys International Enhance Their Relationship with New Agreement
First Independent Computers, Inc. (FICI), a Columbia Subsidiary, Will Use PaySys' VisionPlus(TM) System as Their New Processing Platform
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 1998-- Columbia Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:CLCK-BB)announced today that it has signed a new contract with PaySys(TM) International, Inc., for the use of its state-of-the-art credit card management system, VisionPLUS(TM).
As part of the agreement, PaySys will market the processing services of Columbia's wholly-owned subsidiary First Independent Computers, Inc. (FICI) to potential customers whose processing volumes are not sufficient to process in-house.
Ken Klotz, president of Columbia, stated, ''There are many small- to medium-sized institutions that want to use industry leading software, but simply cannot afford the cost. Since PaySys is recognized as the leader in card processing software, they often receive inquiries from customers who are looking for new software or alternatives to their present third-party processors. PaySys is in the perfect position to refer those small- to medium-sized customers to FICI.''
PaySys' CEO and president, Stephen Grubb added: ''We at PaySys are very pleased to extend our fifteen year old FICI relationship with this new contract. The credit card industry is growing in its business and resulting processing complexity. We believe that the FICI/PaySys VisionPLUS solution provides an attractive alternative for bank and private label card issuers who wish to outsource their processing requirements. Banks, retailers, and finance companies seeking a
state-of-the-art processing solution will find it at FICI.
''FICI joins eight other processors in various regions of the world who have selected VisionPLUS as the processing solution
for their customers,'' he continued, ''FICI now offers a premier processing solution with premier service.''
PaySys has identified institutions who wish to transfer their processing to FICI, and anticipates that this will result in a
significant number of new accounts for FICI within the next twelve months.
FICI has enjoyed a long-term relationship with PaySys and helped them develop the industry-standard CardPac software and the new, fully-integrated VisionPLUS system. This new contract expands the relationship between the two companies.
Mr. Klotz said that FICI is already in the process of converting some of its accounts onto VisionPLUS and hopes to have all of them converted before year-end.
The best-selling VisionPLUS, a Year 2000 compliant and user-friendly card management system, offers many enhancements not available with CardPac. As the latest evolution of the PaySys technology, it handles consumer loans, retail, and bankcard functionality all in one seamlessly integrated suite of systems.
PaySys International, Inc.'s (www.paysys.com) credit card management software-solutions are used by more banks, finance companies, processors and retail establishments throughout the world than any other system. PaySys employs over 400 people worldwide. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., PaySys also has support and development offices in Orlando, Fla. and Columbus, Ohio in the U.S. and internationally in Australia, Costa Rica, Ireland, Singapore and South Africa.
Columbia Capital Corp. operates through its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Independent Computers, Inc., which is a multi-faceted information and transaction processing service organization. The services provided by the company include credit and debit card processing, health care industry processing, bank and financial services processing, and document management and distribution services. The company concentrates on a niche market, consisting of small- to medium-sized financial institutions that have not achieved the economics of scale to operate their own programs and systems.
Forward-looking statements in this press release are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, which may affect the
accuracy of such statements. Such risks may include any delays in the addition of business or loss of existing customers. For a full discussion of such risks, please refer to the Company's Form 10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997 and subsequent filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained herein.
Contact:
PaySys International, Inc.
Hal Smith, 407/660-0343 x617
Fax: 407/660-0483
E-mail: hsmith@paysys.com
or
Columbia Capital Corp.
Charles LaMontagne, 915/674-3110 |
