Concord EFS Announces Consolidation Plan Related to Recent Acquisitions.

Business Editors

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2001

Concord EFS, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEFT), a leading electronic commerce provider, today announced a company-wide consolidation plan to expedite the integration of recent network acquisitions, including Star Systems, Inc. (STAR(SM)), a debit network acquired by Concord on February 1, 2001. The three-part plan includes consolidation of data centers and other facilities to eliminate redundancies; reassignment or termination of certain employees timed to coincide with the integration of redundant processing platforms; and functional integration of the STAR organization into Concord. Approximately 250 employee positions, which represent about 10% of Concord's work force, are expected to be eliminated through a combination of management action and attrition. The company expects to incur a one-time charge, net of taxes, between $75 million and $90 million in the first quarter of 2001 in conjunction with the consolidation plan.

"These consolidation activities represent the second phase in our multi-year plan to build our network and payment businesses. The first phase was to focus on growing the business by strengthening customer relationships, cross-selling services, and introducing new products, and we succeeded at producing annual revenue growth in excess of 30% over the past two years," said Dan Palmer, Concord chairman and CEO. "While our recent acquisitions have added new technology and management talent, they've also created areas of operating redundancies. Phase two of our multi-year plan is to take steps over the next 12 months to capture synergies within our network operations, and align our resources across the enterprise for greater efficiency and improved service delivery." Mr. Palmer added that Concord strives to maintain a highly efficient operating structure. "Our ongoing focus on reducing our cost per transaction has produced 10% growth annually in operating income per transaction for the last three years," he said. "We believe that the proactive steps we're announcing today will position us well for continued profitable growth."

About Concord EFS, Inc.

Concord is a vertically-integrated electronic transaction processor, providing transaction authorization, data capture, settlement and funds transfer services to financial institutions, supermarkets, petroleum retailers, convenience stores, and other independent retailers. Concord's primary activities include Payment Services, providing credit, debit, check authorization, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) processing services to selected retail segments; and Network Services, providing gateway processing, ATM driving, online and signature debit card processing, and network access to the financial services industry under the Cash Station(R), MAC(R), and STAR(SM) brands. Concord also provides electronic payment and payroll services to trucking companies, truck stops and other businesses. Concord news releases, links to SEC filings, and other information are available on its corporate Web site at www.concordefs.com.

Note to Investors

This release may contain or incorporate by reference statements which may constitute "forward-looking" information, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended. Any such statements are not guarantees for future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Concord undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or changes to future results over time. See the cautionary statements included as Exhibit 99 to our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 1999 for a more detailed discussion of certain of the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements.