DUBLIN, Ireland, Feb. 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- China UnionPay Ltd. (CUP), the largest credit card issuer in China, has certified Rahaxi Processing Oy., a wholly owned subsidiary of FreeStar Technology Corp. (OTCBB:FSRT), an international card payments processor and technology company, as its third party service provider. This allows Chinese visitors to use their CUP credit and debit cards during their visits to Europe.
The certification means European bank acquirers will process CUP transactions at their merchant terminals and at their ATMs.
Angel Pacheco, vice president of business development of FreeStar Technology, said, "I believe the entrance of the CUP brand into the world market to be one of the most important events in the payment industry. With an upsurge in economic growth in China coupled with the ability of the Chinese people to travel and spend abroad, we are tapping into a new source of revenue for the western markets; therefore we at FreeStar Technology invite all acquirers that share our vision on this subject to join the project and become part of the network."
FreeStar Technology noted that, as a result of years of work and significant investment in engineering and resources, Rahaxi Processing has put together a system that is extremely flexible and exposes a reliable and comprehensive interface to the acquiring community. This lowers their barrier of entry to accept CUP cardholders at their merchant locations and provides a low-cost solution with fast time to market to guarantee an excellent return on investment.
According to Chinese government statistics and Nielsen Reports, Chinese tourists and business travelers stay an average of four days in Europe and spend on average more than 2,400 euros. Typically, these visitors have prepaid their hotel bills, so their expenditures are largely for meals and shopping.
The acquirers already enrolled and the ones in current negotiations with Rahaxi Processing for the use of the gateway account for hundreds and thousands of merchant point of sale (POS) and ATM locations in: Ireland, UK, France, Italy, Greece, The Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Ukraine and Czech Republic.
Paul Egan, chief executive officer of FreeStar Technology, said, "By achieving the certification of our gateway to CUP, we believe that we have brought value to all parties involved in the acceptance of CUP cards as a method of payment. The cardholder benefits by being able to use their cards at more locations; the merchant has access to wealthy foot traffic; the acquirer sees new forms of revenue by acquiring the CUP payments, but also by having a competitive edge in merchant acquisition with this new offering."
Paul Warren, European sales director said, "Certification strengthens Rahaxi Processing's relationship with CUP and enhances its position as an expert in meeting the needs of European and Chinese businesses. Certification will contribute to boosting the company's expected revenue growth."
About FreeStar Technology Corp.
FreeStar Technology Corp. provides mission-critical solutions to the financial industry worldwide. Working with merchants and acquirers in more than twenty countries, its product suite has empowered partners to focus on their core competencies, while its innovative driven approach has enabled them to benefit from first to market advantage and realize their true potential. FreeStar Technology has adopted a partnership strategy for growth. Its partners are market leaders in their respective industries. These include IKEA, Finnair and Stockman. Its subsidiaries, Rahaxi Processing Oy., Finland, FreeStar Technologies Ireland, Ltd., and FreeStar Dominicana S.A. Dominican Republic, continue to develop and implement first class products and solutions that enhance the service level its partners can offer their customers. For more information please visit www.freestartech.com or www.rahaxi.com.
About China UnionPay
Based in Shanghai, China UnionPay, also known as UnionPay, or by its abbreviation, CUP, is the only credit card organization in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 2002, China UnionPay is an association for China's banking card industry. It is the only interbank network in China, excluding Hong Kong and Macau, linking the ATMs of fourteen major banks and many smaller banks throughout mainland China. CUP has been established as the predominant domestic card acceptance brand in the People's Republic of China, and is seeking to expand its acceptance and cash access network internationally. More than 800 million CUP cards are in circulation. As the only national card brand in China, the world's fastest growing economy with a population of more than 1.3 billion, CUP is anticipating exponential growth in demand for its card services both at home and abroad. CUP has embarked on aggressive expansion plans to develop a worldwide acceptance network. The need for a reliable, secure and dynamic networking solution across a unified multi-country platform is of paramount importance.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. When used in this press release, the words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These are statements that relate to future periods and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our adequacy of cash, expectations regarding net losses and cash flow, statements regarding our growth, our need for future financing, our dependence on personnel, and our operating expenses. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the companies, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed above as well as risks set forth above under "Factors That May Affect Our Results." These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications that may arise could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The companies caution that these forward-looking statements are further qualified by other factors including, but not limited to, those set forth in FreeStar's Form 10-KSB filing and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (available at http://www.sec.gov). FreeStar undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.