Western Union Wins Costa Rica National Quality Award

"The National Quality Award is a process that looks to encouragepermanent improvement in organizations, regardless of their size orline of business, through the exchange of knowledge, implementation ofbest practices in organizational management and the combination ofefforts towards a culture of excellence," said Guido Monge, directorof Costa Rica's Institute of Managerial Excellence.

A global leader in money transfer services, Western Union is theonly company to win the honor in its first year as an entrant. Thecompany is also the first to receive this top award while also winningawards in five other categories, including Leadership and Management,Customer Service, Human Resources, Innovation and Technology andProcess Management.

"Receiving this award demonstrates Western Union's continuousdrive to provide consumers around the globe a service that they knowand trust," said David Larkworthy, Western Union senior vicepresident, head of global operations. "Western Union is honored to berecognized and remains committed to meeting the money transfer needsof consumers throughout all of Latin America, the Caribbean and theworld."

This is the ninth year that the Institute of Managerial Excellenceof the Costa Rican Chamber of Industries has organized the awardceremony. The Institute of Managerial Excellence evaluatesorganizations in the categories of Leadership and Management, CustomerService, Human Resources, Innovation and Technology, ProcessManagement and Environmental Impact.

About First Data and Western Union

First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC) is a leading provider of electroniccommerce and payment solutions for businesses and consumers worldwide.Serving 4.6 million merchant locations, 1,600 card issuers andmillions of consumers, First Data powers the global economy by makingit easy, fast and secure for people and businesses around the world tobuy goods and services using virtually any form of payment. Thecompany's portfolio of services and solutions includes credit, debit,private-label, gift and other prepaid card issuing and merchanttransaction processing services; money transfer services; moneyorders; fraud protection and authentication solutions; check guaranteeand verification services through TeleCheck; as well as Internetcommerce and mobile solutions. Western Union, together with itsaffiliates Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, are leaders in global moneytransfer, providing people with fast, reliable and convenient ways tosend money around the world, pay bills and purchase money ordersthrough a network of over 270,000 Agent locations in more than 200countries and territories. The company's STAR Network offersPIN-secured debit acceptance at 1.9 million ATM and retail locations.For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.

FDC - 1