TSYS® to Support pointpathbank's Stored Value Program on New Platform
Online Bank to Offer Greeting-Gift Card as its First Stored Value Product
Columbus, Ga., August 1, 2000 — Total System Services, Inc.® (TSYS®) (NYSE: "TSS") today announced an agreement with pointpathbank, a full-service Internet bank owned by Synovus Financial Corp®, to support its stored value programs, beginning with a Visa-branded prepaid gift card. The gift card will be processed on TSYS' new stored value platform and marks TSYS' entry into the association-branded gift card market. Sold via pointpath's Web site, the purchaser can select a pre-designed, customizable greeting card to be mailed with the gift card.
pointpath will offer the gift card along with a full suite of banking products to include mortgages, loans, credit and debit cards. The TSYS Stored Value Platform will provide pointpath with the ability to offer any prepaid card product including teen, allowance, loyalty, employment, insurance and Web.
pointpath President and CEO Lisa L. White said, "We are excited about extending our partnership with TSYS beyond credit and debit into the stored value card market. Adding the Visa brand to our gift card allows our customers to give a gift that is redeemable throughout the world and convenient to use whether shopping online or at a physical merchant location. Our ability to offer personalized greetings is an added convenience to our customers."
"Gift card is an explosive new market with positive impact for everyone," said Scot Sasser, TSYS Director of Stored Value Products. "Issuers have another revenue channel, while merchants improve the gift certificate process, build their brand and customer loyalty by providing consumers with a very desirable product. TSYS is excited to be a key player in this market space, and we are proud to partner with pointpath as they launch this new product, " said Sasser.
How does the pointpath gift card work? Consumers go online to purchase a pointpath gift card in any dollar denomination from $20 to $500 at pointpathbank's Web site, www.pointpathbank.com. The prepaid cards may be purchased by anyone and used at any merchant where Visa is accepted. The icon for the personalized greeting appears simultaneously on the gift card request screen, allowing customers to purchase a card electronically and craft a personal message. The request is processed by TSYS, then sent to the recipient loaded and activated for purchases via the Internet or at a brick-and-mortar merchant location.
The acquisition of ProCard is subject to, among other conditions, approval by the stockholders of ProCard and regulatory approval.
About pointpathbank
pointpathbank, N.A. (www.pointpathbank.com) is the innovative Internet banking community for all online consumers, especially married and engaged couples, who are planning their financial lives. pointpath, based in Columbus, Ga., is the 39th bank and the first Internet only National bank in the Synovus family. It will offer a complete array of financial services designed to educate, advise and guide clients on the path toward financial independence from marriage to retirement and every milestone in between.
About TSYS
TSYS provides global commerce solutions. With more than 181 million accounts on file, TSYS facilitates the payment exchange between buyers and sellers. TSYS and its family of companies offer a full range of business services from credit application to collections and bankruptcy services for credit, debit, commercial, stored-value and retail accounts. Based in Columbus, Ga., TSYS (NYSE: "TSS") (www.totalsystem.com) is an 80.8 percent-owned subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: "SNV") (www.synovus.com), No. 5 on FORTUNE magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies To Work For" in 2000. For more information, contact news@totalsystem.com.
Contacts:
Kimberly Knight
Senior Corporate
ph. (706) 644-1218
kiknight@totalsystem.com
Danita Gibson-Lloyd
TSYS Corporate Communications
ph. (706) 649-5578
dglloyd@totalsystem.com