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Z ENTRALER K REDITAUSSCHUSS MEMBERS: BUNDESVERBAND DER DEUTSCHEN VOLKSBANKEN UND RAIFFEISENBANKEN E.V. BERLIN · BUNDESVERBAND DEUTSCHER BANKEN E. V. BERLIN · BUNDESVERBAND ÖFFENTLICHER BANKEN DEUTSCHLANDS E. V. BERLIN · DEUTSCHER SPARKASSEN- UND GIROVERBAND E. V. BERLIN-BONN · VERBAND DEUTSCHER PFANDBRIEFBANKEN E. V. BERLIN German banking industry launches pilot project: ec cards will soon be accepted even more widely in Europe Frankfurt am Main, 17 May 2006 – European bank customers will be able to use their debit cards (formerly "ec cards") across international borders at even more acceptance locations within Europe as of 2007 - for the first time this will take place on the basis of the debit card schemes with which cardholders are familiar in their home countries. Thus in the future, customers of German banks and saving institutions will be able to use their debit cards to withdraw cash at ATMs and for POS payments - for example in Italy, Spain and Portugal. To accomplish this, today the associations of the German banking industry represented in the Zentraler Kreditausschuss (ZKA) signed letters of intent with other European partners regarding the launch of a pilot project for the mutual acceptance of their debit cards and the direct bilateral processing of these transactions. The medium-term objective is the interlinking of the existing national debit card schemes. "With the letters of intent signed today, we have achieved one of the most important milestones in the development of the European card market of the last 15 years", stated Hubert Piel, board member of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken (BVR), which is the lead association this year of Zentraler Kreditausschuss. Among the initial partners are EUFISERV, a European supplier of processing services for card payments, and SIBS, the operator of the ATM and card payment system “Multibanco” in Portugal, as well as Raiffeisen Landesbank Südtirol and Südtiroler Volksbank as partners in a collaboration with the Italian banking industry. A further letter of intent with EURO6000 will follow in the next few days. All German cards will be accepted at all partner terminals no later than the first quarter of the 2007. This represents the first step towards interlinking debit card schemes in Europe. The objective is a pan-European system network to be known as the "Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes", which is to be developed within the next two years. For this purpose, the member associations of Zentraler Kreditausschuss, representing the electronic cash and the German ATM system, will conclude a consortium agreement with other partners in Europe that likewise bear responsibility for debit card schemes. Payment system operators from eight European countries are involved in the planning. This project will permanently change the market environment for card-based payment systems in Europe. For the first time, the Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes will facilitate direct pan-European acceptance of debit cards without the necessity of having an existing international payment system as an intermediary. This will make transaction processing more efficient. At the same time, this will protect the investments made in the past 15 years by the banking and retail industries, and the blanket coverage of the existing systems can be used as a basis for further development. ZKA chair Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken • BVR • Press Office Schellingstrasse 4 • 10785 Berlin, Germany • Phone: +49 (0)30 2021-1320 • Fax: +49 (0)30 2021-1905 • www.bvr.de Zentraler Kreditausschuss (ZKA) on the Internet: http://www.zka.de - 2 - This gives the banks and savings institutions in Europe an additional option for the processing of debit card payments as a complement to the systems offered by MasterCard and VISA. This new option is based on the success and the business model of today's national debit schemes and will intensify the competition in the European debit card market. Milestone achieved on the path to uniform European payments With the harmonisation of the existing regional debit card schemes, the German banking industry and its European partners will complete an important step towards the implementation of a Single European Payments Area (SEPA). National debit card schemes such as electronic cash, pago bancomat or Euro6000 and Multibanco have demonstrated that they can make a valuable contribution to the widespread use of electronic payment methods and that they are altogether more efficient than the existing international payment systems. The interim report of the EU Commission on the sector analysis positively highlighted the efficiency of the national debit card systems as well. In the coming weeks, Zentraler Kreditausschuss anticipates additional letters of intent as well as contracts on bilateral transaction processing and mutual acceptance of debit cards. For instance in the Netherlands, Interpay, has already declared its willingness to establish the necessary technical basis quickly so that the acceptance of German cards at Dutch ATMs and POS terminals can be implemented as part of the overall plan. Brief profiles of the participants: Initiators: Zentraler Kreditausschuss The leading professional associations of the German banking industry work together in the Zentraler Kreditausschuss (ZKA). Representing their member banks, the associations are jointly responsible for the organisation of the "electronic cash" and "Geldautomat" debit card systems. With 90 million debit cards issued, the German market is the largest debit market in Europe. As part of the electronic cash system they operate roughly 550,000 payment terminals. For cash withdrawals, approximately 55,000 ATMs are available in Germany. The ZKA is the co-initiator of the Berlin Group, which was founded in 2004, and the "Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes", which is currently in the process of being founded. Both of these groups are driving forward the implementation of the common goal of linking the national debit card systems in Europe. Partners: Raiffeisen Landesbank Südtirol AG/ Südtiroler Volksbank Gen. m.b.H.: These two cooperative institutes are the most important regional banks in South Tirol. They have an extensive network of automatic teller machines in the region and are among the most important partners of regional retailing with regard to the acceptance of cards. The two - 3 - institutes are active partners in the Italian "bancomat" ATM system as well as the Italian debit POS system known as "pago bancomat". Raiffeisen Landesbank is the central bank for 52 cooperatives which operate a total of 193 branches in the region. The Südtiroler Volksbank offers its services in a total of 98 branches to private and corporate customers. Web sites: http://www.raiffeisen.it and http://www.volksbank.it EUFISERV S.A.: EUFISERV s.c.r.l. is a card payments processor that manages the EUFISERV Network, processing cross-border ATM cash withdrawals and point of sale transactions between its users. It is a Brussels-based company owned by retail banks from thirteen different countries and by the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG). Its mission is to develop, maintain and operate international financial services for the whole financial industry. Today, it operates a Europe-wide information technology infrastructure allowing more than 70 million bank cardholders to withdraw local currency from over 60,000 ATMs. In addition, EUFISERV has gateways to the systems of Visa International, MasterCard, American Express and China UnionPay, allowing banks to accept these cards at their ATMs. In addition, these gateways permit banks to provide their customers with the ATM card services of these organisations. More information can be found at www.eufiserv.com. Sociedade Interbancaria De Servicos S.A. (SIBS): SIBS’ role comprehends the management of the “Multibanco” domestic scheme, the ATM and POS network, the internet and other innovative payment channels, the interbank clearing of cheques, direct credits and direct debits. SIBS’s clients comprehend the majority of banks operating in Portugal as well as other non banking clients. With 16 million cards issued, 10.700 ATM and 146.000 POS deployed by the banking system in Portugal, SIBS processes annually 1.700 million transactions. Web site: http://www.sibs.pt EURO6000: Euro6000 is the POS and ATM acceptance system of the 35 Spanish savings banks. In addition to the ServiRed and 4B systems, it is one of the three largest and most widespread debit payment systems in Spain. The EURO6000 system includes 284,000 payment terminals and 15,000 ATMs. The participating institutes have issued approximately 13 million cards within the EURO6000 system. Web site: http://www.euro6000.es - 4 - Interpay Nederland BV: For many years, Interpay has ensured that card payments in the Netherlands are processed reliably and efficiently. With its cutting-edge infrastructure, Interpay processes approximately 3.3 billion giro transactions and routes over 1.7 billion POS and ATM transactions for authorisation annually. Interpay plays an important role in payment processing in the Dutch as well as in the European market. Interpay wishes to maintain and further expand its solid market position through growth and international cooperation. The organisation keeps a close eye on developments in the European market and modulates its activities accordingly. This enables Interpay to provide optimal domestic and cross-border payment services to its clients. Upon request of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, Interpay will begin processing pan-European payment products in 2008. Contacts: ZKA chair Melanie Schmergal Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken e.V. Phone: +49 (0)30 2021-1320 Heiner Herkenhoff Dr. Stephan Rabe Bundesverband deutscher Banken e.V. Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands Phone: +49 (0)30 1663-1200 e.V. Phone: +49 (0)30 8192-160 Stefan Marotzke Dr. Helga Bender Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken e.V. e.V. Phone: +49 (0)30 20915-330 Phone: +49 (0)30 20225-5110 .

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