Certegy to Provide Check Authorization and Collection Services to BI-LO and Bruno's Food Retail Chains

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Certegy Inc., a leading global payment services provider, today announced that it has signed an agreement to provide its Pathways® check authorization and collection services to BI-LO and Bruno’s food retail chains.

BI-LO and Bruno’s are two of the leading grocery store chains in the southeastern United States, with a combined store count of over 400 supermarkets in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. Ahold USA has announced it is selling both chains to Lone Star Funds, a leading U.S. private investment company based in Dallas, Texas that manages more than $13 billion in assets and investments in North America, Europe and Asia.

With the Pathways® service, Certegy provides up-front check authorization while the retailer assumes the risk for fraudulent checks. Certegy’s risk management system, combined with its check recovery service, makes the payment process more efficient by significantly reducing risk at the time of payment and collecting checks returned for insufficient funds, thereby lowering retailers’ overall check expense.

“With strong heritages of outstanding customer service, both BI-LO and Bruno’s place a premium on offering their customers a pleasant shopping experience,” said Jeff Carbiener, executive vice president and group executive of Certegy Check Services. “Our unique artificial intelligence modeling and superior risk management technology enables retailers like BI-LO and Bruno’s to reduce fraud and control check expense while maintaining superior customer service levels and consumer satisfaction.”

“As an industry leader, Certegy is the ideal check risk management provider by making the purchase easier for customers who prefer to pay by check, in addition to reducing our cost of check acceptance,” stated John Symons, BI-LO Executive Vice President of Store Operations.