Press Release
Source: SureFire Commerce Inc.
SureFire Expands Credit Card Acquiring Business - Certified as an Independent Sales Organization by Visa and MasterCard in the United States
Wednesday April 30, 8:45 pm ET
Boston, MA, April 30 /CNW Telbec/ - SureFire Commerce Corp. (SFCC), the U.S.-based, wholly owned subsidiary of SureFire Commerce Inc. (TSX: FIR - News), today announced a major expansion into the American credit card acquiring market, an industry with estimated annual processing volume of over US$1.2 trillion. SFCC has been formally certified and registered as an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) by Visa U.S.A. and a Member Services Provider (MSP) by MasterCard International. The arrangement enables SureFire, through its SFCC subsidiary, to continue its diversification strategy into new markets and new payment verticals.
"This is a major development and a valuable asset for our company", said Mitchell Garber, President and Chief Executive Officer of SureFire Commerce Inc. "The registration and certification process is a long and serious one, and we are now ready to begin a major offensive in the U.S. card acquiring market", continued Mr. Garber. "Today's announcement of our expansion in the United States, on the heels of our merger with ebs Electronic Billing Systems AG, is tangible evidence of our commitment to becoming an international leader in the payments industry."
SFCC will immediately begin offering Visa and MasterCard merchant accounts (along with its previously available electronic check processing) to mainstream point-of-sale and e-commerce/card-not-present customers throughout the United States. SFCC will continue to exploit its parent's expertise in card-not-present transactions (such as mail order/telephone order and Internet transactions), but will for the first time in the SureFire group's history be able to acquire transactions for retail point-of-sale merchants.
"We expect our new status in the United States will help generate at least C$10M of revenue in the first year", said Michael Liquornik, who as SureFire Commerce Inc.'s Chief Operating Officer led the negotiations and rollout of this project. "We have been building an independent sales network in the U.S. in anticipation of achieving ISO/MSP status and, as a result, sales efforts begin immediately."
About SureFire Commerce Corp.
SureFire Commerce Corp. (SFCC), is the U.S.-based, wholly owned subsidiary of SureFire Commerce Inc. SFCC provides a number of payment processing solutions in the credit card acquiring and check processing markets. SFCC is a registered Independent Sales Organization for Visa merchant accounts and a Member Services
Provider for MasterCard merchant accounts. SFCC has offices in Boston, MA, and Houston, TX.
About SureFire Commerce Inc.
SureFire Commerce Inc. (TSX: FIR - News ) is an international leader in the payment processing industry. The Company provides technology and services that businesses require to accept credit card, electronic cheque, and direct debit payments. SureFire Commerce processes credit card payments for retail point-of- sale, Internet, and mail order/telephone order merchants, as well as processing electronic cheque or direct debits online and by phone. Headquartered in Montreal (Quebec), SureFire Commerce has operations in Canada, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of SureFire Commerce with respect to its performance, business, and future events. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Actual results and events may vary significantly.
For further information visit www.surefirecommerce.com.