Service Merchandise Picks Equifax For Total Solution To Check Processing

ATLANTA, Aug. 5, 1996 -- Service Merchandise Company Inc., one of the nation's largest general merchandise chains and "America's Leading Jeweler(R)," has selected Equifax Check Services to enhance the check acceptance process at its more than 400 stores across the nation.

The deal represents a decision by Service Merchandise to embrace Equifax's PathWays check-management system, replacing another major check management service and an in-house system.

The PathWays system is so flexible it will be installed within the next month and will easily handle an annual check volume exceeding $1 billion, in the process offering Service Merchandise the ability to accept checks at self-risk or to employ Equifax for guarantee service.

"After careful consideration, we determined that Equifax=s PathWays system would best meet our needs to provide the highest quality service to our customers while reducing check losses," said Donald Curley, Operating Vice President-Credit, Service Merchandise. AIt lets us improve the speed of service at the point-of-sale while providing the flexibility to reduce risk.

"The option to choose check warranty for certain stores and self-risk with Equifax collections for others also was a plus,@ Curley continued. AWe were looking for a total solution and PathWays clearly was the answer."

Service Merchandise becomes the latest in a line of nationally recognized retailers to select Equifax Check Services. The world's largest check guarantee concern, Equifax Check Services is supporting such U.S. retail giants as Famous Footwear, Ross Stores and Woolworth Kinney.

In each case, retailers are reporting significant reductions in check losses with improved point-of-sale service and expense reduction as high as 37% since migrating to PathWays.

PathWays is the only PC-based, turnkey check risk management system available in the industry today. It not only spotlights high- and low-loss trends for check acceptance across a chain's stores, but then makes it easy to adjust the check acceptance parameters, even to the point of varying the standards by day-of-week and time-of-day by store location if necessary to assist in the fight against fraud. The PathWays system also is flexible enough to support DECISION POWER(sm)-RETAIL, a service that allows a retailer to instantly extend a credit card to consumers purchasing goods with checks.

"When we work with retailers, we find they uniformly want to accept as many checks from their customers as quickly and efficiently as they can, while at the same time reducing the risks of fraud," commented Thomas G. Gordon, senior vice president and general manager, Equifax Check Services.

"PathWays provides retailers the analytical information they need to pinpoint check losses and the tools to customize check acceptance standards store-by-store, day-by-day, hour-by-hour," Gordon added. "Our authorization systems, in addition to relying on a negative file, employ risk management techniques, a positive file credit score access and high-risk activity modeling across the system to provide a total solution and effectively reduce losses."

Service Merchandise, founded in Nashville in 1960, is a Fortune 100 Retailer and one of America's largest general merchandise retail chains. The company reported 1995 revenues of $4.02 billion and now operates 409 stores in 37 states, employing 28,000. As "America's Leading Jeweler," Service Merchandise also sells more jewelry under one name than any other firm in the nation. The company's advertising efforts are built around an annual Jewelry, Gift and Home Catalog distributed to more than 16 million ho useholds every fall.

Equifax Check Services is part of Equifax Payment Services, a leading provider of check verification/guarantee and card processing services that guaranteed more than $17 billion worth of checks around the world in 1995. Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), committed to Global Information Leadership in the Information Age, is the leading provider of information services that help grant credit, authorize and process credit card and check transactions, insure lives and property and control healthcare costs. Establishe d in 1899 in Atlanta, Equifax today employs 14,000 people throughout North and South America, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. Revenues for the 12 months ended June 30, 1996, totaled $1.7 billion.