NOVA and Givex Partner to Offer Enhanced Electronic Payment and Value-

    Business Editors
    National Retail Federation's 94th Annual Convention and EXPO

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--This week, at the National Retail Federation's 94th Annual Convention and EXPO, NOVA Information Systems (NOVA) and Givex Corporation, a gift card and loyalty transaction processor, announced a strategic alliance that will allow the respective companies to market enhanced electronic payment, gift, loyalty and check products to merchants in North America.
    The relationship introduces enhanced functionality to both Givex's and NOVA's solution portfolios. Additionally, it opens new distribution channels for Givex, and provides NOVA with extended cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
    "NOVA recognizes the growing opportunities in the gift and loyalty markets," said Pamela Joseph, chairman, CEO and president, NOVA Information Systems. "The Givex relationship will enhance NOVA's product offering, while expanding NOVA's geographic and vertical market reach for our processing services."
    "Givex is very excited to be working with a leading payment processor like NOVA," said Don Gray, CEO and president, Givex. "The synergies between our companies and product offering allow us to capitalize on our core strength and offer our customers superior gift, loyalty and payment processing services."

    About Givex

    Givex Corporation (www.givex.com) is a card management company specializing in gift card and loyalty transaction processing for a wide range of industries including retail, hospitality, grocery, shopping centers and petroleum. Founded in 1999, Givex is among the fastest growing transaction processors worldwide. Givex is dedicated to providing customers with turnkey solutions that are flexible, reliable and built with complete security in mind. Givex provides merchants with robust solutions for managing various card programs including gift cards, multi-merchant cards, coupons, e-gift certificates, prepaid/stored value cards and loyalty points programs across multiple sales channels. Givex is a privately held corporation with operating offices in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Bahamas.

    About NOVA

    NOVA Information Systems, a leader in the payment processing industry, is a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB). NOVA partners with financial institutions, independent sales organizations, associations, government agencies and community banks to offer integrated payment processing services to their merchants and retailers. NOVA's products include credit and debit card processing services, software applications, electronic check conversion, gift card solutions and other value-added services to more than 750,000 merchant locations in the United States, Canada and Europe. For more information visit www.novainfo.com.

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CONTACT: NOVA Information Systems Michelle Graff, 678-731-5064

KEYWORD: MINNESOTA NEW YORK TRACK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING TRADESHOW PRODUCT MARKETING AGREEMENTS SOURCE: NOVA Information Systems

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