Corporate | 25 August 2005 07:59

SHS Informationssysteme continues success story in Switzerland

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Leading Swiss card issuers and processors Viseca Card Services and Accarda use SHS Agency Gateway to access centralized credit rating information Munich, Germany, August 25, 2005 – Munich-based software company SHS Informationssysteme AG continues its success story in Switzerland: Accarda AG (formerly Billag Card Services) and Viseca Card Services SA, two of the largest Swiss card issuers and processors, have selected SHS Agency Gateway. The two companies will use the software solution from SHS as an interface for high-speed access to the leading Swiss credit rating data pool, ZEK/IKO (Central Office for Credit Information/ Information Office for Consumer Credits). The integration of additional data providers is currently in the planning stage. In Switzerland, SHS has been cooperating with Orell Füssli Wirtschaftsinformationen AG since June 2005 and hooked up BMW Group Financial Services as the first member to ZEK/IKO. Fast, secure, reliable and scalable – these were the core requirements which Accarda AG defined for a system that provides ZEK/IKO data to its customers via a multi-client enabled platform. The SHS Agency Gateway solution also enables further Swiss or international credit agencies to be connected to the system. “The fulfillment of these requirements, which are essential for our business relationships, provides us with a high degree of investment security,” says Uwe Behr, Head of Risk Management at Accarda AG. In addition to easy ZEK connectivity, there were other factors which played a key role in the decision of Viseca Card Services AG: “The advantages of the SHS Agency Gateway solution include its independence of data providers, the excellent value for money it offers, its international focus, and its ability to integrate quickly and efficiently in our existing system environment. This enables the easy and automated integration of comprehensive credit rating information in our processes,” explains Stefan Kämpfer, Manager Operations Support and member of the management of Viseca Card Services SA. “The strong demand for SHS Agency Gateway in Switzerland shows that our software has been successfully tailored to integrate with a modernized ZEK. Having won the two large Swiss credit and customer card issuers as users of the system shows that we are well on the way of establishing SHS Gateway Agency as the standard system for providing easy and cost-efficient access to credit agencies in the Swiss market,” says Dr. Jörg Seelmann-Eggebert, member of the board of directors of SHS Informationssysteme AG. Munich-based SHS Informationssysteme AG is listed on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and operates a subsidiary in Spain. The IT services provider focuses on offering customer management and credit risk management solutions to companies with a broad customer base. In 2004, the company recorded revenues of EUR 32 million. The customers of SHS AG include Ingram Micro, Crédit Agricole, T-Mobile, T-Online, Südleasing, Telefónica, amena, Barclaycard and other international companies in the information and financial sectors. For more information, see www.shs.de Accarda AG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swisscom, is the Swiss market leader for customer cards with payment and credit functionality, electronic gift cards and direct marketing services. Customer cards are customized to include a variety of additional services such as cash withdrawal at ATMs, bonus or discount functionality, if requested. Accarda is also the leading Swiss provider of customer loyalty systems. The company manages a total of 1.7 million customer payment cards with total sales of more than CHF 2 billion per year. Accarda is headquartered in Brüttisellen and employs about 190 people. Viseca Card Services SA is a joint venture of the cantonal banks, regional banks and Raiffeisen banks, MIGROSBANK und Bank Coop as well as private and commercial banks. Since its establishment in 2000, Viseca has consolidated and expanded its position in the Swiss market. Managing almost 940,000 card and customer relationship, Viseca has grown to become the second-largest credit card issuer in Switzerland. The company issues MasterCard and Visa cards for banks and other partners including Postfinance, Air France, DaimlerChrysler and Bertelsmann Buchclub. Further information: SHS Informationssysteme AG Andrea Labonte Phone: +49 – 89 – 747257-19 E-Mail: andrea.labonte@shs.de HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Public Relations GmbH Christof Kaplanek Phone: +49 – 40 – 369050-38 E-Mail: c.kaplanek@hoschke.de End of announcement (c)DGAP 25.08.2005 —————————————————————————— WKN: 507240; ISIN: DE0005072409; Index: Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 250759 Aug 05