ATM cardholder rewarded with $10,000 in anniversary sweepstakes.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 1995--It certainly paid to use the Star System ATM network in April. For Fremont resident Larry Alberty, a Wells Fargo customer, it paid $10,000.

His Star System ATM transaction at a local convenience store was randomly selected among more than 5.2 million transactions in 10 states for the network's Anniversary Sweepstakes Grand Prize.

Star System Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the first Star System ATM transaction and a decade of providing convenience and value to cardholders by rewarding users with a special sweepstakes. Star System is the leading regional ATM network in the country, growing at an annual rate of 25.11 percent since 1986.

From April 1-10, 1995, every Star System financial transaction became an automatic entry into the network's sweepstakes. In addition to the $10,000 Grand Prize winner, ten $50 winners were selected daily for ten days in each of 10 Western states. Participating states included Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

"I use my ATM card all the time -- at Wells Fargo ATMs, other banks' ATMs, gas stations, and grocery stores," said Alberty, who was notified on his 41st birthday that he won the $10,000 Grand Prize. "I hope to pay some bills with the prize money and perhaps put the rest toward a home of my own in Fremont."

"When Star System started ten years ago, regular ATM card use was in its infancy," said Ron Congemi, president of Star System. "Today, they're a standard convenience used several times a week by millions of Americans."

Congemi attributes the network's success to keeping operations efficient and costs low. "Most major financial institutions in the West have joined Star System because we're able to help them serve their customers efficiently, in a seamless manner. The 10th Anniversary Sweepstakes is our way of saying 'thank you' to all cardholders whose use of Star System has made us such a success."

Since 1986, the number of Star System ATMs has grown from 3,183 to 18,900 today, and cardholders (86 million) have grown by 46.17 percent annually. Star System member institutions currently number 811, an increase of 17.72 percent each year.

In 1994, the rapid expansion of Explore -- Star System's point-of-sale service that allows cardholders to use their ATM cards to pay for goods and services at participating merchants -- accounted for a large part of the network's growth. The Explore network includes almost 20,000 merchants in 10 states, up 106 percent from 1993, and 60,000 locations, an increase of 72.2 percent.

Wells Fargo installed its first Express Automated Teller Machine in 1978. Today, the bank has more than 1,900 ATMs located at branch offices, supermarkets, and other non-bank sites in California. ATMs give customers 24-hour access to perform traditional banking transactions.

Enhancements now offer customers innovative services including printing statements, making contributions to investment accounts, paying bills electronically, and even buying postage stamps.

CONTACT: Star System Inc., Fremont

Nikki Waters, 619/234-4774

or

Braun Ketchum

Christy Salcido, 310/444-1312