TSYS Signs Agreement with Alaska Option

Columbus, Ga. — TSYS announced today that it has signed a multi-year strategic marketing alliance agreement with Alaska Option® to provide feature-rich VISA and MasterCard credit and signature debit card programs, PIN-based ATM/POS network services, and fraud management solutions for credit unions.

This alliance will offer best in class credit and debit card services on a very competitive basis that will enhance the cardholder experience and provide additional revenue opportunities to credit unions. It will also allow these institutions to reduce back office expenses through integrated settlement, dispute management and reconciliation processes. Credit unions may now select to work with one payment provider for all of their card program and electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment needs.

“Alaska Option is a well-respected, full service EFT network that we are proud to add as a partner with our TSYS Program Solutions division,” said M. Troy Woods, president and chief operating officer, TSYS. “We believe this relationship will enhance the product offerings of Alaska Option while creating additional opportunities for TSYS."

“Alaska Option is excited about its partnership with TSYS and our mutual ability to offer a comprehensive set of signature and PIN-based card services, ATM driving, and fraud management tools to credit unions and community banks,” said B. John Shipe, president of Alaska Option. “Our firms share a core set of values that center around providing outstanding service, convenience, and value to our customers.”

TSYS Program Solutions, a division of TSYS which focuses on credit unions and other regional financial institutions, will provide Alaska Option with leading-edge product development, new account origination, portfolio management and turnkey operating solutions for consumer and commercial credit cards. TSYS’ data-driven approach and extensive brand management experience will make it seamless for Alaska Option’s clients to profitably engage in the credit card business with best-in-class solutions.

Alaska Option enables financial institutions to take advantage of such benefits as: full featured and robust ATM driving services, the ability to accept a wide array of cards, a nationally recognized PIN debit point of sale program and the convenience of a single point of settlement for PIN-based transactions.

Terms of the long-term agreement were not released.

About TSYS
TSYS (NYSE: TSS) is one of the world’s largest companies for outsourced payment services, offering a broad range of issuer- and acquirer-processing technologies that support consumer-finance, credit, debit, healthcare, loyalty and prepaid services for financial institutions and retail companies in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. For more information contact news@tsys.com or log on to www.tsys.com. TSYS routinely posts all important information on its Web site.

About Alaska Option
Alaska Option Services Corporation was founded in 1983 by seven financial institutions to provide shared electronic funds transfer (EFT) services to its member banks and credit unions. In 1986, Alaska Option initiated one of the first online debit card point of sale programs in the country. This program consistently ranks in the top ten nationally in terms of volume, with Alaska Option branded cards accepted at over 1.2 million merchant locations. Today, Alaska Option offers a full range of PIN-based debit processing, ATM driving and card production services to financial institutions throughout the U.S. For more information, log on to www.alaskaoption.com.