Everlink is awarded a $100+ Million Contract for services to Canadian Credit Unions

MARKHAM, Ontario, February 17, 2009 - Everlink, a leading provider of Integrated Payment Solutions and Services in the Canadian financial services marketplace, announced today that it has signed a Master Services Agreement (MSA) contract, estimated at $100+ Million over the contract term, with Credit Union Central Alberta, SaskCentral, and Credit Union Central of Manitoba for the provision of Electronic Transaction processing, ATM Driving & Monitoring, Managed ATM Solutions, EMV Chip and Transactional Fraud Management services and solutions to Canadian Credit Unions, nationally.

The MSA contract was coordinated by the Credit Union Central of Canada (CUCC) which acted on behalf of three Centrals as the Master Client.

“Everlink is highly focused in providing to the Canadian Credit Unions and Group Processors reliable, high-availability and flexible core processing and payment solutions, including Transaction Processing, ATM Driving / Monitoring, and EMV Chip expertise” said Mark Ripplinger, President of Everlink. “This expanded and long-term relationship under the MSA will further enable Canadian Credit Unions and Group Processors to take advantage of a revamped pricing model for our Core Solutions, as well as our new innovative Integrated Payment Solutions suite.”

The Everlink MSA contract, with a mandate to deliver services nationally to over 345 Credit Unions and 4 major Group Processors – with a total of approximately 3.8 Million members and over $80 Billion in assets, provides for:

• Delivery of a high performance Payment Solutions Suite: Everlink commits to supplying the following standard and optional services:
  o Transaction Processing
  o Node Gateway Access
  o EMV Chip Services
  o Settlement Reporting and Reconciliatory Services
  o Reports and Data Management
  o National Client Support Centre (NCSC)
  o Disaster Recovery Services
  o ATM Driving / Monitoring Solutions
  o Managed ATM Solutions
  o Data Warehouse Services
  o Fraud Management
  
• Client-Centric Participation: The 10-year Everlink contract has taken into account valuable feedback from and reflects well the present and future requirements of the Canadian Credit Union community. It provides allowances for participation in product and services committees and councils, including an annual Client & Partner Conference. These provisions will facilitate better communication with credit unions, will increase industry knowledge share, and will promote a best-practices-based collaborative approach.
  
• Service Excellence: In the MSA contract, Everlink has committed to providing our clients with reliable and high-integrity mission-critical services, with a level of quality that exceeds industry standards. Everlink has committed to deliver specific Service Level Standards (SLAs), such as a 99.5% Transaction Processing availability and with significant penalties and performance guarantees.
  
• Industry Leading Pricing and Flexibility: Everlink has established itself as the Canadian price-leader for transaction processing, ATM related services and Integrated Payment Solutions, and will ensure that the pricing remains competitive by allowing a benchmarking pricing review several times during the contract term.
  
• EMV Chip Capability: Everlink, already Certified for EMV by Interac since 2007 for Shared Cash Dispensing and having already enabled a major credit union for EMV transactions, has been a trusted source of expertise to credit unions and banks for the operational deployment of EMV credit and debit transactions. The new contract calls for continued and enhanced functionality in this mission-critical area.

Bob Lafond, Chairman of the National Node Coordinating Committee (NNCC) comments: “The Master Services Agreement further strengthens NNCC, CUCC and our national members’ relationship with Everlink. As our Canadian Credit Unions rely on the Everlink transaction processing and payment solutions to deliver high quality and business-critical services, they will realize immediate cost savings within a flexible payment solutions suite and pricing model, supported by defined Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) and performance guarantees. CUCC, NNCC and Canadian Credit Unions look forward to continue our trusted and successful relationship with Everlink via this strategic Master Services Agreement.”

Prospective Canadian Credit Unions are invited to contact Everlink via the following resources:

Peter Kalogiannides, Vice-President – Customer Relations, Sales & Marketing
Peter.Kalogiannides@Everlink.ca
Cell: 416.428.5094

Strategic Account Managers:
Steve Mott: Steve.Mott@Everlink.ca - Cell: 604.999.5934
John Fisher John.Fisher@Everlink.ca - Cell: 416.818.9535
Darlyn Thompson Darlyn.Thompson@Everlink.ca - Cell: 416.522.3539

National Client Support Centre (NCSC):
1-888-354-6577

About Everlink
Everlink Payment Services Inc., a Metavante Corporation and Celero Solutions company, with a full Interac EMV certification for Shared Cash Dispensing (SCD), is a recognized leader in the dependable secure delivery of Electronic Transaction Processing services, EMV Chip, Managed ATM and Integrated Payment Solutions in the Canadian financial services marketplace.

With 90 percent of the Canadian credit union system and financial services organizations, Everlink products, solutions and services are delivered today nationally to more than 375 Credit Unions, 30 Schedule I and Schedule II banks and FIs, 5 major Group and Intercept Processors and a growing number of POS and ATM ISOs with over 12,000 terminals and ATMs.

To learn more about Everlink Services, visit www.Everlink.ca.