BankServ Receives Equity Investment to Support Roll-Out of Check Conversion & Fed Wire Products.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 1999--

Thomson Financial Services to Provide Minority Investment in

Northern California Firm

BankServ, a leading processor of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) transactions for banks and businesses, today announced that it has received a $3.0 million investment from Thomson Financial Services (TFS), a leading provider of information services and workflow solutions to the worldwide financial community.

"Rapid growth in the check conversion market combined with the changing needs of the increasingly consolidated financial services industry create a highly receptive environment for BankServ's innovative technology," said William Zola, Vice President of Thomson Financial Ventures.

BankServ is the first non-bank private company in the US to be granted access to the Federal Reserve wire transfer network. Zola continued, "This connection is significant in allowing financial institutions, for the first time, to outsource the difficult technology needed to operate such a network connection. With the ever increasing sophistication of Fedwire and data communications technology, direct Fedwire access will allow BankServ to offer a level of service to financial institutions previously thought impossible."

According to Dave Kvederis, President & CEO of BankServ "The market for converting checks into electronic funds transfers at the cash register is exploding. Further, banks are purchasing software and outsourcing data center operations in record numbers. Our partnership with Thomson Financial Services will allow BankServ to draw on the tremendous strength, reputation and leadership of TFS to serve our bank and merchant customers as our business rapidly expands".

BankServ currently has four product lines: verifying and converting paper checks into EFTs at the point-of-sale (check conversion), outsourcing of Federal Reserve wire transfer processing for financial institutions, outsourcing of automated clearing house (ACH) transaction processing for financial institutions and outsourcing of financial institution Internet services. The Company offers seamless, "end-to-end" integration of financial institution web sites with back room operations.

BankServ is an industry leader and one of the first companies to develop check conversion, a fully integrated system for converting checks into EFTs at the point-of-sale. When a consumer presents a check to a merchant, it is scanned through a device that reads the magnetic ink imprint on the check which verifies its probable authenticity. The check data is then sent to the company's centralized data center where it is converted into an electronic funds transfer. The merchant then returns the paper check to the consumer, thereby eliminating further handling.

The Federal Reserve wire transfer and the ACH transaction processing products position the Company as a provider of transaction processing services on a service bureau basis to the more than 5,000 small and mid-tier banks in the US. Because efficient and cost effective operations of Federal Reserve wire transfers and ACH transactions in particular, and transaction processing in general, is reliant on scale and focus, banks are increasingly looking to third party service providers to handle the back office processing for these services that banks must offer to their customers.

Incorporated in 1996, BankServ has successfully developed and installed its check conversion product in close to 500 merchant locations and is truncating over 70,000 checks per month. Additionally, the company has procured, modified and tested the wire transfer software and has installed the service with 8 commercial banks and is currently processing over 1,000 transactions per day.

The company has assembled a strong management team with significant experience in banking and point-of-sale processing. BankServ was founded by David F. Kvederis, currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Prior to forming BankServ, Mr. Kvederis was Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Bank where he managed the bank's cash management, national lending and commercial business development efforts. Mr. Kvederis is also past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Automated Clearing House Association.

BankServ is the fourth firm that Thomson Financial Services has added to its investment portfolio, the other three being CCBN.com, Cathox, and Meridian Emerging Markets.

Thomson Financial Services' venture investments are handled by a business unit known as TF Ventures. This group makes investments in venture stage companies that operate in spaces that are strategically important to Thomson Financial Services. TF Ventures looks beyond the financial return potential of a prospective investment to determine possible future synergies with existing Thomson Financial Services business units and products. Areas of interest include companies offering access to new or best-of-breed technologies, emerging markets, vertical integration, and lateral diversification.

Thomson Financial Services (TFS) is a leading provider of information services and work solutions to the worldwide financial community. TFS, part of The Thomson Corporation (TTC), has 40 offices located throughout the world and employs more than 7,000 people dedicated to the success of its clients. With annual revenues approaching US$6 billion, TTC is one of the world's leading information and publishing companies. TTC's common shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal and London stock exchanges. For more information, visit the TFS Web site at www.tfn.com.