EQUIFAX TAKES CHECK CASHING TO THE 'MAX' FOR OFFICEMAX

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 20, 1997-- OfficeMax, one of the nation's largest office products superstore chains, has selected a new automated system from Equifax to help in approving or accepting personal checks at its checkout counters.

Equifax's PathWays_ Check Risk Management System will be installed in the more than 575 OfficeMax stores around the nation.

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 by day-of-week, time-of-day and individual store location to assist in the fight against fraud.

It was this unique flexibility and fraud-management capability that led OfficeMax to select Equifax.

"It represents the best use of technology -- giving the retailer the freedom to control every element of the process, all the way down to the individual store level," noted Thomas G. Gordon, senior vice president and general manager, Equifax Check Services. "PathWays enables retailers to control their own destiny with check management."

OfficeMax is one of four major retailers to select Equifax Check Services in just the past several months, part of a line of nationally recognized retailers that includes such giants as Famous Footwear, Service Merchandise, Ross Stores and Woolworth Kinney.

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.

OfficeMax, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, today operates more than 575 superstores and delivery centers in more than 220 markets in 47 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico. The company also operates FurnitureMax and CopyMax, store-within-a-store retailing outlets, and is a leading provider of office products over the Internet. OfficeMax posted fiscal 1996 revenues of $3.2 billion.

Equifax Check Services is part of Equifax Payment Services, a leading provider of check verification/guarantee and credit and debit card processing services around the world with operations in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand. Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), established in 1899 in Atlanta, today is the global leader in providing information solutions to the financial services and insurance industries. Revenues for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 1996, exceeded $1.8 billion.