GZS Reports Financial Result for 2003

It was also able to buck the trend and increase the number of transactions processed in all business areas, in spite of persisting overall economic weakness. At a group level, the final count of 922.4 million for 2003 was the highest ever in its history. Last year, GZS successfully completed the most extensive investment programme in its history, with the resultant processing platforms providing its customers with much greater flexibility for designing their card businesses. GZSs card-processing offering now covers a broadened spectrum of services ranging from traditional card-business support with extensive integration into banks and saving banks retail businesses to the design of sophisticated, non-standard product portfolios. The results now enable GZS not only to address more effectively the requirements of its financial clients in Germany, but also to serve the needs of new customer bases in other European countries. The first success was notched up shortly after the platforms productive commissioning in late 2003, when an eminent, internationally active private bank signed up as a new customer for GZSs issuing processing . The services available to GZSs cross-border acquiring customers were also significantly improved, with new key accounts outside Germany now being processed by GZSs fully modernised acquiring processing platform. The bulk of the costs for GZSs new systems were included in the companys 2003 Statement of Accounts and, as such, will not affect the bottom line in future years. Transaction counts rose in all business areas, resulting in a net increase of 4.3 percent compared with 2003. The smallest gain was in issuing processing, with a rise of 2.8 million from 134 million to 136.8 million. At the other end of the scale was cross-border debit processing, chalking up a gain of 18.3 percent (51.7 million transactions). Acquiring-processing transactions rose 7.6 percent (115.5 million) and terminal/network operations, 5.1 percent. Network operations, however, recorded an absolute growth of 30 million transactions. The total volume of 616 million transactions is unmistakeable evidence of the importance which debit business has come to enjoy in Germany.