Hypercom, Visa USA, Vital Processing Services and NPC Team to Roll Out First EMV Smart Card Program in North America; Significant Landmark for Smart Card Adoption in North America.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2001

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE:HYC) today announced that it has teamed up with Visa U.S.A., Vital Processing Services(R) (Vital(R)) and National Processing Company (NPC) to introduce EMV certified card payment terminals in North America that support smart card based Visa credit and check card purchase transactions.

The terminals, Hypercom's advanced ICE(TM) touch-screen, consumer activated devices, fully comply with payment scheme standards and, in particular, with the EMV 3.1.1 credit and debit chip card specifications developed by Visa International, Europay International, and MasterCard International. The EMVCo-certified smart card enabled ICE card payment terminals will be made available to Visa U.S.A. member banks and NPC's nationwide merchant network within the next several weeks.

"This rollout is the first of its kind in North America, and follows successful International EMV smart card rollouts. Hypercom has played a leadership role in the national migration projects now underway in the UK and Brazil," said Jairo E. Gonzalez, president, Hypercom Transaction Systems Group. "As smart card adoption accelerates in North America, merchants with Hypercom EMV-certified terminals will be well-positioned to incorporate other applications, such as loyalty. Equally important, our experience in other regions has already demonstrated that EMV brings significant benefits, including new risk management capabilities, improved security and substantial reductions in the number of fraudulent transactions. We expect that the continued expansion of electronic commerce will be made more secure through the use of smart card-based payment terminals. We are pleased to join with Visa, Vital and NPC to make smart cards a reality in the U.S."

Hypercom's ePOS-infocommerce(TM) (epic) represents a comprehensive framework of ICE touch-screen terminals, which are increasingly consumer operated and connect to the World Wide Web to deliver web-enabled applications at the point-of-sale (POS) through the browser embedded in the ICE terminal. The EMVCo level 1 (hardware) and level 2 (software) specifications ensure the ability of POS terminals and software to correctly process chip card transactions.

"Hypercom is the first electronic payment provider to deliver EMV-certified, smart card-enabled card payment terminals to the North American market. They have clearly demonstrated their solid understanding of merchant needs and EMV requirements," said Liz Farnsworth, Vice President, Smart Card Applications, Visa U.S.A. "We fully expect this latest Hypercom achievement will provide additional momentum for building the physical POS acceptance infrastructure for smart card based payment cards."

"Vital is pleased to extend its long standing relationship with Hypercom in this important area. We will be providing the software application to support Hypercom's smart card-enabled ICE terminals, and look forward to the continued roll out of smart card payment services at the POS," said Denise Lewis, executive vice president of product development, Vital Processing Services.

"We are truly pleased to be part of this very significant development," said T. Jack Williams, Senior Vice-President, Client Relations, NPC. "Approximately two weeks ago we began accepting and processing the first EMV-certified smart card transactions in the U.S. We are, together as an industry, moving forward towards making smart cards a part of our everyday lives."

About Visa U.S.A.

Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest consumer payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and merchant customers with the best way to pay and be paid. More than 14,000 U.S. financial institutions rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate over $810 billion in annual transaction volume -- including more than half of all Internet payments -- with virtually 100 percent reliability. U.S. consumers carry more than 353 million Visa-branded smart, credit, commercial, stored value and check cards, accepted at approximately 22 million locations worldwide. Visa has long led the industry in developing payment security standards, and has been named the most trusted payment brand online. Visa's people, partnerships, brand and payment technology are helping to create universal commerce -- the ability to safely conduct transactions anytime, anywhere and by any device. Please visit www.visa.com for additional information.

About Vital Processing Services

Arizona-based Vital Processing Services(R) (Vital(R)) is a leader in technology-based commerce enabling services. Vital's clients include acquirers and merchant service providers that offer electronic payment processing services to merchants. Vital provides leading point-of-sale (POS) products and services, electronic authorization and data capture; VirtualNet(TM) Internet-commerce services; clearing, settlement and exception processing; accounting, billing and reporting; risk management; and customer service. Vital is a merchant processing joint venture of Visa U.S.A. and TSYS(R) (NYSE: "TSS"). Additional information regarding Vital can be found at www.vitalps.com.

About National Processing, Inc.

National Processing, Inc., through its wholly owned operating subsidiary, National Processing Company (NPC(R)) (NYSE:NAP), is a leading provider of merchant credit card processing. National Processing is 86 percent owned by National City Corporation (NYSE:NCC) (www.nationalcity.com), a Cleveland-based $94 billion financial holding company. NPC supports over 550,000 merchant locations, representing nearly one out of every five Visa and MasterCard transactions processed nationally. NPC's card processing solutions offer superior levels of service and performance and assist merchants in lowering their total cost of card acceptance through our world-class people, technology and service. Additional information regarding National Processing can be obtained at www.npc.net.

About Hypercom (www.hypercom.com)

Hypercom Corporation (NYSE:HYC) is the leading global provider of electronic payment solutions that add value at the point-of-sale for consumers, merchants and acquirers, and yield increased profitability for its customers. Hypercom's products include secure web-enabled transaction terminals that work seamlessly with its networking equipment and software applications for e-commerce, m-commerce, smart cards and traditional payment applications. The company's widely-accepted ePOS-infocommerce(TM) (epic) framework of consumer-activated, EMV-certified, touch-screen ICE (Interactive Consumer Environment) terminals enable acquirers and merchants to decrease costs, increase revenues and improve customer retention.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Hypercom is independently acknowledged as the leading provider of point-of-sale card payment terminals worldwide. Demand for Hypercom's terminals surpassed one million units last year alone. Hypercom today maintains an installed base of more than 4 million terminals in over 100 countries which conduct over 10 billion transactions annually.

Hypercom is a registered trademark of Hypercom Corporation. ICE, and ePOS-infocommerce are trademarks of Hypercom Corporation. All other products or services mentioned in this document are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks of their respective owners. Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although management of Hypercom believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include industry, competitive and technological changes; risks associated with international operations and foreign currency fluctuations; the composition, timing and size of orders from and shipments to major customers; inventory obsolescence; market acceptance of new products and other risks detailed from time to time in Hypercom's SEC reports, including the company's most recent 10K and subsequent 10Qs.