MELLON BANK, SPS PAYMENT SYSTEMS JOIN EQUIFAX AS MARKET PARTNERS

ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 22, 1997 -- One of the nation's leading financial institutions and a main player in the electronic transaction processing arena have finalized marketing alliances with Equifax Check Services and begun offering check authorization services to their customers.

Mellon Bank Corp., the nation's 22nd largest bank holding company, and SPS Payment Systems Inc., a leading provider of electronic transaction processing services at the retail point of interaction, have formally joined the Equifax Market Partners (SM) program. The deals are part of a major expansion now underway at Equifax Check Services, which already is the largest check guarantee and verification company in the world.

"Our technology and capabilities are such now that we can easily add and serve the customers of our partners," said Tom Gordon, senior vice president and general manager of Equifax Check Services. "It's a win-win situation that provides our Market Partners the flexibility of selecting Equifax services that add value to their existing product line, and expands our customer base for premier card and check transaction services."

Mellon Bank Corp., with balance sheet assets of more than $43 billion, is headquartered in Pittsburgh and through its Network Services Division, provides merchant card processing to 100 other financial institutions and more than 60,000 merchants, health care providers and many government agencies. Through the Market Partners program, Mellon Network Services now will be offering those customers check authorization and collection services.

Similarly, SPS Payment Systems, a subsidiary of Dean Witter, Discover & Co., offers complete point-of-interaction transaction processing for a variety of debit and credit cards, including NOVUS(R) Cards, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and various private label cards. The company is currently serving more than 72,000 merchant terminals around the country and now will be able to offer Equifax check authorization and collection services to complement its card processing.

"We view this partnership with Equifax as a means of offering our customers a complete solution," said Dennis Stover, vice president, Mellon Network Services. "Together we can serve both card and check processing requirements and do it with state-of-the-art systems."

"Our retail customers are looking for a range of transaction processing services. This partnership with Equifax furthers our ability to offer a total solution for processing at the point-of-interaction," added David Peterson, President, SPS Network Transaction Services.

The recently launched Market Partners program is a diversified line of Equifax services targeted to retail merchants, financial institutions and others. The products and services currently available through the program include check guarantee or verification (Welcome Check(R) ); check management systems (PathWays(R)); on-line, point-of-sale credit pre-screening (Decision Power(sm)-Retail); retail collections; point-of-sale systems (terminals, MICR readers and software), and card processing at the financial institution level.

Participating Market Partners have the flexibility to choose only those products and services that best fit their market strategy, increasing the appeal of the program. Those interested in learning more should contact Ron Cook, Asst. Vice President, Equifax Payment Services, 11601 Roosevelt Blvd., St. Petersburg, Fla., 33716, or 800-215-6280, Ext. 7-2623.

Equifax Check Services is the leading provider of check verification and guarantee services to retailers around the world, with operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand.

Equifax Check Services is part of Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), a company committed to Global Information Leadership in the Information Age, that helps business 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.