International Card Establishment (I.C.E.) Enters Into Processing Agreement with First Data Merchant

International Card Establishment, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement with First Data Merchant Services Corporation (FDMS), a subsidiary of First Data Corp., and Fleet National Bank, a unit of Bank of America, whereby Fleet National Bank is processing merchant credit card transactions as an Acquiring bank and FDMS is responsible for all other processing and accounting functions relating to the clearing and settlement of credit card transactions. The agreement provides that I.C.E. is paid its aggregate merchants net processing revenue and ancillary fees, on a monthly basis, for as long as the merchants utilize ICE for bank card processing. This processing agreement establishes I.C.E. as a direct credit card processor and not simply an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) selling credit card services. The distinction is important because I.C.E. now has the ability to ultimately sell and transfer its merchant account portfolio to a third party and allows ICE to offer substantially better terms to ISOs and representatives, something that the company had been unable to do until this agreement was concluded. The company intends to grow its credit card services unit from both internal and external sales growth, including the acquisition of select merchant account portfolios.