CONSUMERS CONSCIOUS ABOUT CARD NUMBERS, BUT FEAR DOES NOT EQUAL ACTION Recent Survey Finds 28 Percent of Americans are Careless With Receipts

A new Paymentech survey shows Americans are very concerned about someone obtaining their credit, debit or check card numbers, but at the same time a surprising number of Americans are careless when it comes to disposing of receipts. According to a recent Paymentech survey, almost half the population is more concerned about someone obtaining their credit, check or debit numbers than about losing their car keys, checkbook, appointment book, cell phone or even having someone hack into their computer files. Yet 35% of those polled said they are "just a little" or "not at all" concerned that many receipts expose entire account numbers and expiration dates.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              Contact: Mike Manning
303-237-0616

CONSUMERS CONSCIOUS ABOUT CARD NUMBERS,
BUT FEAR DOES NOT EQUAL ACTION
Recent Survey Finds 28 Percent of Americans are Careless With Receipts

DALLAS, Texas. (March 26, 2002) --Americans are very concerned about someone obtaining their credit, debit or check card numbers, and with good reason. But new fraud-protection services offered by Paymentech are helping to decrease the incidence of identity theft and credit card fraud.

According to a recent Paymentech survey, almost half the population is more concerned about someone obtaining their credit, check or debit numbers than about losing their car keys, checkbook, appointment book, cell phone or even having someone hack into their computer files. Yet 35 percent of those polled said they are just a little" or not at all" concerned that many receipts expose entire account numbers and expiration dates.

Consumers need to be diligent about checking their receipts," said John Shirey,             e-Business Group Manager, Product Development, Paymentech. In todays world, discarding receipts that have valuable information on them greatly increases the risk of credit card fraud."

Paymentech, the nations premier processor and acquirer of credit card transactions and provider of fraud-prevention software, recently commissioned a survey asking 800 adults about their concerns regarding personal loss from credit card fraud. Here are the results:

o   Responses showed 46 percent of Americans said they are most concerned about someone obtaining the numbers of their credit, debit or check card, followed by fourteen percent - losing the keys to their car, 12 percent - losing their checkbook, six percent - someone tapping into their computer files, three percent - losing their personal planner or appointment book and two percent - losing their cell phone.

o   On those occasions where consumers do not keep the receipt from a credit card purchase, 33 percent throw the receipt away after tearing or shredding it, 13 percent throw the receipt away without tearing or shredding it, 13 percent leave it in the bag they got with the purchase, two percent leave it with the clerk, store or restaurant, and 24 percent never throw away any receipts.

The fact that there is such a large percentage of people who simply toss receipts away without tearing them up first is alarming," said Shirey. Would-be thieves can easily find receipts with valid account numbers in trash cans and ashtrays at restaurants, gas stations and retail locations. Once they obtain these numbers, they can go on a shopping spree courtesy of the unsuspecting consumer."

o   When informed that some receipts expose the entire series of sixteen card numbers and expiration dates used to make the purchase, more than half of the respondents expressed concern. Thirty-six percent said that they are very concerned, 21 percent said that they are somewhat concerned, 14 percent said they are just a little concerned and 21 percent said that they are not concerned at all.

It is encouraging to see that Americans are concerned about fraud, but there is still a lot of work to be done to further educate consumers and to encourage them to take better care of personal information," says Shirey. Receipts that expose entire account numbers and expiration dates are a license to shop if they end up in the wrong hands."

Paymentechs fraud detection services help merchants reduce the risk of fraud and protect consumers by stopping illegal transactions from being completed. When an illegal transaction is stopped, merchants save money and consumers are saved the hassle of cleaning up damage done to their account. Also, those attempting fraudulent transactions are significantly less likely to attempt additional transactions with the same account once a transaction has been prevented. Merchants can use a variety of systems offered by Paymentech including address verification, card validation using the cards numeric code, real-time fraud scoring and the verification of the cardholders identity using passwords, chip cards and digital certificates.

We feel an obligation to help keep consumers informed about credit card fraud," said Mike Duffy, President and CEO of Paymentech. Additionally, we strive to provide the thousands of merchants we serve with the tools they need to run their businesses effectively and efficiently. We must take credit card fraud very seriously, as it costs consumers and merchants billions of dollars each year."

WHO IS PAYMENTECH?
Dallas-based Paymentech, delivers secure and reliable payment services in merchant acquiring and point-of-sale transaction processing with a wide array of product functionality and support. Paymentech (www.paymentech.com) processed approximately 3.7 billion total transactions and $114 billion in bankcard sales volume in 2001. Founded in 1985, Paymentech is the nations premier processor and acquirer of electronic payment transactions.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
The polling company added three questions to a nationwide omnibus survey of 800 adults. The survey was fielded February 27-28, 2002 at a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) phone facility.

The margin of error is calculated at +3.5% at the 95% confidence level, meaning that the results obtained would differ by no more than three percentage points in either direction even if the entire population nationwide were to be surveyed.

***EDITORS NOTE***
To obtain full copies of survey results, data analysis, survey graphic, consumer or merchant fraud prevention tips or to request a Paymentech interview, contact Mike Manning at
(303) 237-0616, mmanning@gemgroup.com or Tonya Williams at (214) 849-3727, tonya.williams@paymentech.com.