EQUIFAX OPENS NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART PAYMENT SERVICES HEADQUARTERS

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Feb. 20, 1997 -- Equifax, one of the world's leading providers of credit card and check transaction services, today announced the grand opening of its new, state-of-the-art Payment Services headquarters in St. Petersburg.

The new facility consolidates nearly 2,000 employees into a single office building. It also provides the technology and facilities necessary to firmly position Equifax for future domestic and international growth as a premier provider of card and check payment services to the retail and financial industries.

"This new headquarters location will enable Equifax to continue providing our customers the best card and check transaction services possible and help maintain for years to come the phenomenal growth rate this business area has seen as retailers and financial institutions increasingly look to Equifax for total solutions," said Thomas F. Chapman, Equifax executive vice president.

The Equifax Payment Services headquarters brings to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area a major, high-tech financial services enterprise doing business worldwide and touching the lives of 1.6 million consumers every day as they make financial transactions. Equifax employs nearly 2,000 area residents and pumps more than $100 million annually into the region's economy. Moreover, the unit's revenue is growing at a double-digit pace -- more than 19 percent in 1996.

"We are easily one of the top 10 employers in this region and anticipate continued growth. And as we evaluated options for a new headquarters, we determined there was no better place we'd like to be than the Tampa-St. Petersburg area," said Lee Kennedy, president of Equifax Payment Services.

Equifax Payment Services consists of three business units: Card Services, Check Services and FBS Software. Card Services is one of the United States' largest card authorization and processing services and the pre-eminent provider to the credit union and community bank segments. Check Services is the world's largest check authorization and guarantee service and a leading provider of information solutions for retail risk management. It does business in seven nations. FBS Software is a card processing and management software company whose products are used by the world's largest banks in 28 nations.

"Equifax is dedicated to providing total information solutions to the financial services industry. This new Payment Services headquarters underlines our commitment to being on the leading edge of technology and service to provide the most efficient, value-added solutions for our customers," Kennedy said.

The new Equifax Payment Services location was selected after an 18-month search for the most cost-effective means to consolidate employees previously dispersed among seven different buildings in Tampa and to prepare for future growth. The new 305,000-square-foot building is some 2 1/2 football fields long and 1 1/2 wide, and was the largest building located by Equifax in either Pinellas or Hillborough counties. After a complete renovation, the financial transactions headquarters now includes, among other things, 244 miles of cable for computers and 2,200 live phone extensions. The Equifax lease for the building is for 13 years. The company's parent is headquartered in Atlanta, Ga.

Grand opening events included remarks by David Fischer, Mayor of St. Petersburg, Chapman and Kennedy; a flag raising ceremony; tours and a reception for area business leaders, and a fireworks display.

Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) is the leading provider of information services that help businesses grant credit, authorize and process credit card and check transactions and insure lives and property. Established 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 Dec. 31, 1996, exceeded $1.8 billion.