“Approximately 18 billion paper checks are written in retail stores each year, so there’s vast untapped potential for moving these labor-intensive payments to electronic form, providing faster check-out and greater security to retailers and consumers alike,” said Edward A. Labry III, Concord president. “With our large retail customer base, broad connectivity, and new products like check conversion and pre-authorized debit, Concord is well-positioned to take advantage of this huge opportunity. We expect pre-authorized debit to grow especially rapidly, because it can be implemented very quickly and easily by the retailer.”
Also known as “ACH cards,” pre-authorized debit cards are attractive to margin-conscious supermarkets and grocery stores because they are lower risk and cost less to handle and process than traditional paper checks. The card can also be combined with a store’s frequent shopper program, providing the consumer with a single card for payments and store discounts and rewards.
“We see pre-authorized debit as the next major payment alternative on the continuum from paper checks to on-line debit,” said Tim Hammonds, president and CEO of FMI. “As with check conversion, pre-authorized debit uses the relatively low-cost ACH system, while eliminating the handling of paper checks. Because it is magnetic-striped, it will open up important merchandising opportunities, such as loyalty marketing programs and proprietary branding for the retailers, so that they can have important new ways to strengthen customer relationships.”
Concord EFS’ pre-authorized debit uses a magnetic-stripe card and requires the customer to enter a personal identification number to complete the transaction. It is “pre-authorized” because the customer completes an application that authorizes ACH transactions for payment from his or her checking account. There is no hardware conversion or systems development required by the retailer, because the system uses the “debit” button that already exists on the store’s point-of-sale terminal. The transaction is authorized against a positive file, and at the end of the merchant’s business day the transaction is sent to the ACH network for clearing and settlement.
About Concord:
Concord is a vertically integrated electronic transaction processor, providing transaction authorization, data capture, settlement and funds transfer services to selected markets. Concord’s primary activities include providing credit, debit, check authorization, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) processing services to supermarket, petroleum, convenience store and other retailers; and providing gateway processing, ATM driving and MAC® network access to the financial services industry. Concord also provides electronic payment and payroll services to trucking companies, truck stops and other segments of the market. Concord news releases, links to SEC filings, and other financial information are available on its corporate web site at
http:// www.concordefs.com
About FMI:
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is a nonprofit association conducting programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 members including their subsidiaries – food retailers and wholesalers and their customers in the United States and around the world. FMI’s domestic member companies operate approximately 21,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $220 billion – more than half of all grocery store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, small regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 members from 60 countries.
This release may contain or incorporate by reference statements which may constitute "forward-looking" information, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of1934, as amended. Any such statements are not guarantees for future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future results over time. See the cautionary statements included as Exhibit 99 to our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999 for a more detailed discussion of certain of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements.
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