First Financial Sells Merchant Service Portfolio
October 11 2007 - 8:22AM
PR Newswire (US)
HAMILTON, Ohio, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Financial
Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) today announced the formation of a long-term
exclusive marketing agreement and the sale of its merchant payment
processing portfolio to Metavante Corporation, the current
technology provider for First Financial. Under the terms of the
agreement, merchant processing will be offered by Metavante to
existing clients of First Financial, and First Financial will
jointly market merchant processing with Metavante to prospective
clients. In exchange for 1,743 merchant accounts in the portfolio,
First Financial expects a pre-tax gain of approximately $5.5
million net of expenses or approximately 9 cents per share in the
fourth quarter of 2007. "I am very pleased at the outcome of this
transaction as it is a win-win for First Financial and its clients.
Existing and future First Financial merchant clients will receive
an enhanced processing platform from Metavante while First
Financial will receive incentives to further grow the merchant
portfolio and a substantial gain from its sale," said Claude E.
Davis, president and chief executive officer of First Financial
Bancorp. "There is no change in merchant equipment and software,
statements, or telephone numbers. Furthermore, no conversion is
necessary." About First Financial Bancorp A $3.3 billion publicly
owned bank holding company with banking roots dating to 1863, First
Financial Bancorp has 83 banking centers in Ohio, Kentucky, and
Indiana. The company's wealth-management services include the First
Financial Wealth Resource Group, First Financial Capital Advisors
LLC, and First Financial Insurance. Additional information about
the company is available at http://www.bankatfirst.com/ About
Metavante Metavante Corporation delivers banking and payments
technologies to over 8,600 financial services firms and businesses
worldwide. Metavante products and services drive account processing
for deposit, loan and trust systems, image- based and conventional
check processing, electronic funds transfer, consumer healthcare
payments, electronic presentment and payment, and business
transformation services. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Metavante
(http://www.metavante.com/) is wholly owned by Marshall &
Ilsley Corporation (NYSE:MI). On April 3, 2007, Marshall &
Ilsley Corporation announced its plans to split Metavante
Corporation and Marshall & Ilsley Corporation into independent
publicly traded companies. This release contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ from those discussed in the
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the
strength of the local economies in which operations are conducted,
the effects of and changes in policies and laws of regulatory
agencies, the ability of the company to implement its business plan
and retain qualified personnel, inflation, and interest rates. For
further discussion of certain factors that may cause such
forward-looking statements to differ materially from actual
results, refer to First Financial's 2006 Form 10-K and other
company filings with the SEC. DATASOURCE: First Financial Bancorp
CONTACT: Media, Cheryl Lipp, +1-513-979-5797, ; Analysts, J.
Franklin Hall, +1-513-979-5770, Web site:
http://www.bankatfirst.com/ http://www.metavante.com/
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