Equifax and IBM Strike Deal to Pursue Global Credit Card Processing Market

ATLANTA and LONDON, January 9, 1996 -- Equifax and IBM have announced an alliance to provide computer, management and processing solutions to support the growing use of credit and debit cards around the world.

The combined efforts of the two companies will make it possible for financial institutions and other card issuers, such as retailers and petroleum companies, to issue credit and debit cards and manage both their "front" and "back office" credit card operations.

The alliance will initially focus on Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where growth in credit and debit card usage is expected to surge in the coming years. Equifax and IBM anticipate expanding the scope very soon, however, to include emerging markets in the Asia/Pacific and Latin American regions.

The alliance brings together IBM's expertise in technology, systems integration, support and implementation services with Equifax's card industry skills, financial services and leading mainframe and UNIX-based card processing software systems.

As a result of the venture, IBM's sales force will now be able to offer customers a total card processing solution, which will be jointly supported by IBM and Equifax specialists.

"This alliance with Equifax adds an important solution to our strategy in Payment Systems," said Carlo Cavallino, IBM's Director of Payment Systems Solutions, Banking, Finance & Securities, Europe, Middle East and Africa. "IBM and Equifax will bring together core products and skilled resources to provide our customers with services and solutions ranging from software through facilities management to full outsourcing, based on state-of-the-art mainframe and open platforms."

"This new alliance positions Equifax to provide a total solution around the world for card issuers, including those who want to upgrade their systems and those entering the market for the first time," agreed Thomas F. Chapman, executive vice president and group executive of Equifax's Financial Services Group. "We're offering an unmatched range of decision-support options wherever credit-based economies are emerging."

Equifax, through its FBS Software subsidiary, is a leading global provider of software for the management of credit and debit card processing operations including issuer, collections and acquirer operations. The company's software products are used by major companies around the world, such as Chase Manhattan in the United States; Canadian Imperial Bank in Toronto, and Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney, Australia, as well as by Equifax Card Services, one of North America's leading providers of credit card services.

The announcement of the IBM-Equifax alliance comes just one week after Equifax CEO Daniel W. McGlaughlin announced that Chapman was assuming responsibility for international operations and global expansion by the Financial Services Group. 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. 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 September 30, 1995, exceeded $1.6 billion.