03.15.05 | TRANSFIRST Names Andrew Phillips Senior Vice President TRANSFIRST Holdings, Inc. and President of Independent Sales Services

Phillips to lead sales and marketing strategies and initiatives for the TRANSFIRST Independent Sales Services Division

DALLAS (March 15, 2005) – Dallas-based TRANSFIRST, a leading provider of transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies, today announced that Andrew Phillips has been named Senior Vice President TRANSFIRST Holdings, Inc. and President for TRANSFIRST’s Independent Sales Services Division. Previously, Phillips served as President of TRANSFIRST’s Payment Resources Division, a subsidiary established by TRANSFIRST through the acquisition of Payment Resources International, Inc. (PRI) in 2004. In this new role, he will focus on identifying and implementing key marketing and sales strategies for TRANSFIRST’s entire Independent Sales Division, which includes ISO and agent relationships established by TRANSFIRST through its 2004 acquisition of Fifth Third Bank Processing Solutions’ Third Party Merchant Services Division. Phillips will also drive the company’s efforts to streamline its processes between its Independent Sales Services Division and its core business operations.

“TRANSFIRST continues to experience record growth as one of the nation’s leading payment processing companies,” said Thomas Rouse, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TRANSFIRST. “Andrew brings a wealth of industry experience and expertise to our team, and has become integral to the growth and success of our independent sales efforts. Through Andrew’s leadership of one of TRANSFIRST’s most significant growth channels, I am confident that TRANSFIRST will continue to be a strong leader in the payment processing industry. ”

Phillips, who founded Payment Resources International Inc. in 1998, is a 20-year veteran of the payment processing industry. As president of the company acquired by TRANSFIRST in March 2004, he managed PRI's growth strategy, customer service programs and product and service portfolio. Prior to founding PRI, Phillips owned and operated several payment processing related companies including CheckRite, a check recovery franchise, and Integrated Transaction Services, a full-service processing independent sales organization that also specialized in electronic benefits transfers. His technology expertise has led him to develop some of the industry's top processing technologies, including TRANSFIRST’s proprietary product, Transaction Central, a Web-based centralized payment processing system.

About TRANSFIRST
A premier provider of transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies, TRANSFIRST offers a first-rate suite of products and services and customized processing programs uniquely tailored for the special business needs of financial institutions, independent sales organizations and agents and its referral and reseller partners. Through its in-depth industry knowledge, partnership strategy and innovative solutions, TRANSFIRST provides a specialized approach to transaction processing for healthcare providers, public entities, online and other non-traditional merchants, as well as brick and mortar retailers. Founded in 1995, TRANSFIRST is a market leader in strategic mergers and acquisitions, which has allowed the company to gain significant market share and world-class expertise in growing and profitable industry segments. Built on a platform of personal service, customer commitment and flexible pricing, TRANSFIRST is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has operations facilities in Louisville, Colo., Omaha, Neb., Kansas City, Kan., Newport Beach, Calif., Milwaukee, Wis. and Langhorne, Penn. TRANSFIRST was recapitalized in 2000 by GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, a leading private equity investment firm. Company wide, TRANSFIRST currently processes approximately $20 billion in annual sales volume for more than 150,000 merchants and more than 760 financial institutions. TRANSFIRST can be reached at 1-888-254-4137 or at www.TRANSFIRST.com.