07.05.05 | Checkgateway Forms Alliance with TRANSFIRST to Provide Electronic Check Processing

Phoenix, AZ – July 5, 2005 -- Checkgateway, a leading provider of electronic payment and innovator in the Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment processing industry, announced today that TRANSFIRST, one of the nation’s premier providers of transaction processing services and payment enabling technologies, has signed a one-year contract for electronic check processing on Checkgateway’s new processing platform.

This is an enhancement to the existing relationship between the two companies. “We have had a long and successful relationship to date with Checkgateway and we look forward to expanding upon it to better serve our customer base,” says Chuck Holm, vice president, sales and marketing, TRANSFIRST ePayment Services. “With this new alliance we can significantly increase the number of customers that utilize our echeck capability and provide them with enhanced and added value services they need to be successful.”

Checkgateway recently upgraded its processing platform so that the system can now handle a larger volume of transactions in a faster turnaround time. The payment processor has servers that are co-located in different facilities, which protect the merchant from any power outages.

Checkgateway’s Merchant Center, an ultra-streamlined online network, is a unique aspect of this payment processor.In the Merchant Center merchants can:

• enter transactions
• view transactions
• modify transactions
• view settlement reports
• issue a refund
• cancel a transaction
• search for a transaction
• manage recurring transactions
• communicate with tech support on-line

Checkgateway is the only processor that allows the merchant to fully customize a scoring system for authentication.

Based on The Nilson Report’s “2004 Top U.S. Bank Card Acquirers” consolidated list, TRANSFIRST ranks as the eighth largest processor in the United States.

“We are very pleased that TRANSFIRST, a leader in this industry, has selected our new processing platform to handle their electronic check processing,” says John Kirchhefer, President Checkgateway. “We are looking forward to another year of working with this company.”

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. Company wide, TRANSFIRST currently processes approximately $20 billion in annual sales volume for more than 160,000 merchants and more than 760 financial institutions. TRANSFIRST can be reached at 1-888-254-4137 or at www.TRANSFIRST.com.

About Checkgateway
Checkgateway, a leader and innovator in the Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment processing industry, has been an ACH service bureau since 1993. Checkgateway is an affiliate member of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), an organization charged with making operational rules for the ACH network. The firm’s expert staff participates in numerous rules working groups that help devise modifications or additions to the ACH rules. This effort puts Checkgateway at the forefront of ACH payment processing. The company is based in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information contact 480-785-2262 see www.checkgateway.com.