TeleCash becomes general contractor for IKEA's German cashless payments

Frankfurt - July 15, 2008 (AllPayNews) - TeleCash GmbH & Co. KG, one of the leading network service providers (NSP) for the processing of card payments in Germany and a subsidiary of global payment services provider First Data, and IKEA Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG have renewed their existing network service provider contract for cashless payments. Under the terms of the agreement, TeleCash will continue processing card-based payments at IKEA's 43 furnishing retail outlets and restaurants in Germany.

Today, IKEA operates more than 1,500 point-of-sale (POS) terminals in Germany. Services provided by TeleCash include project management, installation and maintenance of the terminal hardware and processing of all IKEA's card-based transactions in Germany. IKEA will also use TeleCash's blacklisting technology to reduce risk associated with non-reconciled debit payments.

In addition, IKEA is the first client to use TeleCash's latest development, an 'electronic receipt storage service', which provides a number of benefits including reducing the costs associated with physical archiving. With electronic receipt storage, cardholders sign an electronic signature pad at the POS, as opposed to a paper-based slip, to confirm their payment. TeleCash then files these electronic receipts. The process does not change the POS experience for the cardholder, who receives a printed copy of the transaction receipt as before.

The electronic receipt storage service provides a number of advantages for merchants, such as reducing the processing costs incurred with paper-based receipting and accelerating the processing cycle of debit refunds. As part of the agreement, IKEA will also have anytime access to TeleCash's online systems to analyze receipts of card-based transactions at its stores.

Holger Apel, Project Leader at IKEA, comments: "We anticipate a noticeable optimization of our payment processes as a result of using the new terminal hardware and introducing the electronic receipt storage solution. TeleCash has demonstrated a record for quality throughout our previous partnership. This, coupled with TeleCash's ability to provide IKEA with a customized solution, was a convincing factor in our decision to renew our service agreement."

Thomas Haarmann, Managing Director of TeleCash GmbH & Co. KG., adds: "We are very pleased that IKEA has renewed its contract with TeleCash, and we look forward to building on our previous success. We stood out from the competition as a result of our strong performance in the past, and our ability to provide client driven solutions."

About TeleCash and First Data
TeleCash is a part of First Data Corporation and one of the leading network service providers in Germany. With more than 200,000 installed terminals, TeleCash manages all kinds of payment processes and offers industry-specific solutions as well as standard applications.

First Data is a global technology leader in information commerce. The company processes transaction data of all kinds, harnesses the power of that data and delivers innovations in secure infrastructure, intelligence and insight for its customers. With operations in 37 countries, First Data serves more than 5.4 million merchant locations and more than 2,000 card issuers and their customers. It powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods and services using virtually any form of payment. The company's portfolio of services and solutions includes merchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions; electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2.1 million ATM and retail locations. Through First Data's centers of excellence, such as security, analytics, customer loyalty and mobile payments, it offers data-driven commerce solutions for customers around the globe. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com [1].

About IKEA
IKEA is a multinational retailer of home furnishings established in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden and belongs today to the foundation Stichting INGKA which is registered in the Netherlands. The IKEA business idea is to offer a wide selection of shapely and appropriate fixtures at prices which are so favorable that as many people as possible can afford those.

The IKEA group holds 231 furnishing houses in 24 countries, 45 purchasing offices in 31 countries and 31 distribution centers as well as 11 client distribution centers in 16 countries.

The IKEA group has 118,000 employees in 40 countries. The IKEA range of goods comprises 9,500 products and is the same in all IKEA furnishing houses. The number of IKEA suppliers is 1,350 in 50 countries. The IKEA catalogue is printed with a print run of 191 million and is being published in 27 languages and 56 issues.

In the fiscal year 2007 (1 September 2006 until 31 August 2007) the IKEA group generated a total revenue of 19.8 billion Euro while IKEA Germany with its 43 furnishing houses registered the largest revenue part within the IKEA group.

Media Contacts
First Data
Andrea Pansegrau
+49 (0) 69 7933-1686
andrea.pansegrau@firstdata.de [2]

IKEA Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG
Holger Apel
Spezialist Customer Relation
Am Wandersmann 2-4
65719 Hofheim-Wallau
+49 (0) 6122-5851000