CUP Data to Provide Card Processing Services for Bank of East Asia.

BEA is First Foreign Bank to Launch Card Program in China

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- TSYS today announced that China UnionPay Data Services Co., Ltd. (CUP Data), TSYS' joint venture with China UnionPay (CUP), has signed a long-term credit card processing agreement with the Bank of East Asia (BEA).

BEA, regarded as a longstanding market leader in the Asia Pacific region, is the first foreign bank to independently launch its own credit card program in China.

BEA has the largest number of operating outlets of any foreign bank in China. Through its large and growing distribution network and reputation as the first foreign bank to successfully launch a credit card, it has taken a leading position among foreign banks in China.

"It is a great honor to establish a working relationship with a bank as reputable as the Bank of East Asia. By selecting CUP Data as a processing partner, it has reaffirmed our status as a leader in the eyes of both domestic and international players looking to enter the Chinese market," said Mr. Yan Fang Wang, president of CUP Data.

"Partnering with the first foreign credit card issuer in China is a significant milestone in CUP Data's development," said Mr. David E. Duncan, Group Executive for China and Southeast Asia for TSYS. "TSYS could not be more pleased with the success that CUP Data has achieved. We see CUP Data's success as a long-term trend and will continue to fully support its growth."

CUP Data is China's largest third-party processor of electronic payments, providing transaction processing, disaster recovery and other services for issuing banks in China. CUP Data was established in 2003, and has signed more than 61 credit, debit and prepaid processing client banks at year-end 2008.

TSYS owns a 44.5-percent equity stake in CUP Data, a subsidiary of China UnionPay (CUP). CUP is the only payments network sanctioned by the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, and has become one of the world's largest and fastest-growing payments networks.

About The Bank of East Asia

Incorporated in Hong Kong in 1918, BEA is dedicated to providing comprehensive retail and commercial banking services to its customers in Hong Kong, Greater China and overseas. BEA is the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, with total consolidated assets of HK$396.6 billion (US$50.85 billion) as of 30th June, 2008. The bank is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index.

With more than 230 outlets worldwide, BEA operates an extensive international network covering Hong Kong and Greater China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the British Virgin Islands and Southeast Asia. For more information on BEA, please visit any BEA branch or the bank's homepage at www.hkbea.com.

About TSYS

TSYS (NYSE: TSS) is one of the world's largest companies for outsourced payment services, offering a broad range of issuer- and acquirer-processing technologies that support consumer-finance, credit, debit, debt management, healthcare, loyalty and prepaid services for financial institutions and retail companies in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. For more information contact [e-mail] or log on to www.tsys.com. TSYS routinely posts all important information on its website.