MENTOR, Ohio, May 27, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Today, CardinalCommerce Corporation and Fifth Third Bank announced that they have signed an agreement to provide Fifth Third online merchants with CardinalCommerce's payment authentication software, Cardinal Centinel(tm).
CardinalCommerce will enable MasterCard(r) SecureCode(tm) and Verified by Visa(r) to authenticate cardholders during online transactions at participating merchants. The service requires cardholders to enter their private password in a pop-up window on their PC before their online transaction can be approved and completed. With these extra security measures, members can be confident that their account is protected, and Fifth Third Bank merchants gain greater assurance about the identity of the person completing the transaction.
CardinalCommerce is the leading provider of online merchant payment authentication for securing online transactions. Cardinal Centinel is designed for financial institutions, merchant service providers and their merchants. The software reduces the level of online fraudulent transactions and guarantees payment to online merchants who use it, while protecting the accounts of cardholders.
"Fifth Third Bank is one of the leading merchant acquiring banks in the United States," stated James Butler, Executive Vice President for Cardinal Commerce. "Fifth Third's selection of CardinalCommerce as their provider of payment authentication services is a great compliment. Their merchants will gain immediate benefits with our software by eliminating their fraud liability, gaining guaranteed payments for the first time, and increasing the security and confidence of online customers."
Robert A. Sullivan, Fifth Third Bank Executive Vice President, offers, "Payment authentication is very important to our online merchants --they want an easy-to-use, reliable system and CardinalCommerce was able to provide that. Cardinal Centinel has the leading-edge technology Fifth Third customers have come to expect, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with CardinalCommerce."
CardinalCommerce Corporation is a leading provider of a technology-neutral authentication platform for securing electronic and wireless commerce, thus ensuring that individuals, businesses and government agencies can process electronic transactions and access confidential information safely, securely and privately. Cardinal's proprietary technology provides consumers, merchants, credit/debit card issuers, and processors the ability to conduct fully authenticated Internet-based e-commerce, while protecting the transactions from fraud. Cardinal Centinel has been chosen as the solution for merchants by more acquirers, processors, gateways and merchants around the world then any other 3D Secure product. CardinalCommerce is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and has partners throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India. For more information, visit www.cardinalcommerce.com.
Fifth Third Bank processes 8.2 billion ATM and POS transactions per year for more than 185,000 retail locations and financial institutions worldwide, including The Kroger Co., Abercrombie & Fitch, Nordstrom, Inc. and The Finish Line. Fifth Third processes $83 billion in credit card sales annually. Fifth Third Bank is the fifth largest bank acquirer according to The Nilson Report (March, 2003).
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $84 billion in assets, operates 17 affiliates with 941 full-service Banking Centers, including 132 Bank Mart(r) locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 1,880 Jeanie(r) ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee and West Virginia. The financial strength of Fifth Third's affiliate banks continues to be recognized by rating agencies with deposit ratings of AA- and Aa1 from Standard & Poor's and Moody's, respectively. Additionally, Fifth Third Bancorp continues to maintain the highest short-term ratings available at A-1+ and Prime-1, and was recently recognized by Moody's with one of the highest senior debt ratings for any U.S. bank holding company of Aa2. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Retail, Commercial, Investment Advisors and Fifth Third Processing Solutions. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. The company's common stock is traded through the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "FITB."