Cash Technologies Signs Debit Card Marketing and Processing Agreements LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cash Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:TQ) announced today that its subsidiary, Heuristic Technologies, Inc. ("Heuristic"), has signed agreements with First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest, dba Meta Payment Systems ("Meta") and eCommLink, Inc. which allow Heuristic to market its new stored-value debit card products. Heuristic will offer a stored-value MasterCard(R), useable wherever MasterCard is accepted around the world for the purchase of goods and services and at more than 900,000 ATMs in over 120 countries. Employers will be able to use the cards to fund Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs), expense/benefit reimbursements and payroll without the need to issue paper checks. Pending approval, check-cashing operators will also be able to offer the cards to their customers, thus reducing the disbursement of cash in the stores and providing additional card-related services. Meta, under its agreement, shall be the issuer of the cards, providing all card-related banking functions and access to the MasterCard network. eCommLink will provide transaction processing for all card transactions, including ATM, POS, card-loading, bill payment and other types of transactions. In the future, Heuristic intends to add proprietary features to the card using the capabilities of Cash Tech's advanced EMMA(TM) data processing technology, which the parties intend to integrate into eCommLink's sophisticated platform. "Partnering with the experienced teams at Meta and eCommLink will permit us to deliver a high-quality card product into an exploding market. We believe that fees from recurring card transactions will become a steady and growing source of revenue for Heuristic. Our future ability to integrate Cash Tech's proprietary EMMA technology is anticipated to give our cards functionality that is not currently offered by competitors," stated Ray Pedden, CEO of Heuristic. The first cards are expected to be issued in January 2005. Brad Hanson, Division President of First Federal Savings Bank stated, "We're pleased to have Heuristic Technologies on board and look forward to helping them deliver their stored-value card to the marketplace." Grace Chen, CEO of eCommLink stated, "We believe our advanced processing platform, combined with Heuristic's distribution channels and additional technology from Cash Tech, is a winner. We're pleased to have Heuristic Technologies on our system and look forward to helping them make the card a market leader." About e-CommLink eCommLink provides expertise in payment card management, financial transaction processing, funds settlement and web-enabled customer experiences for consumers, merchants, financial institutions and corporations. eCommLink's history in the development of Internet banking products and its advanced stored-value platform uniquely positions the company for growth in these emerging market. For more information, visit http://www.ecommlink.com/. About First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest First Midwest Financial, Inc. is the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank of the Midwest, headquartered in Storm Lake, Iowa, and for Security State Bank, headquartered in Stuart, Iowa. First Federal Savings Bank operates as a thrift with five divisions -? First Federal Northwest Iowa, Brookings Federal Bank, Iowa Savings Bank, First Federal Sioux Falls, and Meta Payment Systems. Security State Bank operates as a state-chartered commercial bank. Seventeen offices support customers throughout northwest and central Iowa, and in Brookings and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. During the first half of calendar year 2005, First Midwest Financial, Inc will change its name to Meta Financial Group, Inc. (pending shareholder approval). The Company's stock will continue to trade on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol "CASH". For more information see http://www.fmficash.com/. About Cash Technologies Cash Technologies, Inc. develops and markets innovative data processing systems, including the BONUS(TM) and MFS(TM) financial services systems, EMMA(TM) transaction processing software and PrISM(TM) security system. Its Heuristic subsidiary creates and markets employee benefits and insurance data processing solutions. The Company also produces CoinBank(R) self-service electronic coin counting machines. For more information, visit http://www.cashtechnologies.com/ and http://www.heuristictech.com/. Matters discussed in this release include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may be materially different. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include technical barriers that prevent the implementation or success of Cash Tech's technology, competition within the debit card and employee benefits industries, activity levels in the securities markets and other risk factors disclosed in Cash Tech's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Forms 10-QSB and Forms 10-KSB on file with the SEC. For more information, please contact: Ed King of Cash Technologies, Inc., +1-213-745-2000, ext. 114, . DATASOURCE: Cash Technologies, Inc. CONTACT: Ed King of Cash Technologies, Inc., +1-213-745-2000, ext. 114, Web site: http://www.fmficash.com/ Web site: http://www.ecommlink.com/ Web site: http://www.heuristictech.com/ Web site: http://www.cashtechnologies.com/

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