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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dawn M. Thompson                       Ange Jaskiewicz
National Processing, Inc.              National City Bank
Phone:  800.255.1157                   Phone: 216.575.2441
Fax:  502.315.3535                     Fax:  216.575.9483
e-mail:  dmthompson@npc.net            e-mail: ange.jaskiewicz@national-city.com
www.npc.net                            www.national-city.com




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

          NATIONAL PROCESSING, INC. ACQUIRES MERCHANT SERVICES BUSINESS
                   FROM NATIONAL CITY CORPORATION'S AFFILIATES

LOUISVILLE, KY., JAN. 8, 2001 - National Processing, Inc. (NYSE: NAP) announced
today the purchase of the merchant services business unit from several of
National City Corporation's affiliates. This unit is made of about 30,000
merchant contracts with more than $4 billion in annualized credit and debit card
volumes. National City's Merchant Services unit employs about 75 employees
involved in sales and service. National Processing, Inc. through its wholly
owned operating subsidiary, National Processing Company, LLC. (NPC(R)) is the
second largest merchant processor in the United States, providing merchant
credit card processing and corporate outsourcing solutions.


Through a third party processing contract with National City, NPC already
handles all authorization and settlement processing for the approximate 30,000
merchants. This transaction provides NPC with direct ownership of the merchant
contracts without requiring customer conversions. In addition, through an
exclusive multi-year marketing agreement, NPC will assume responsibility for all
merchant-processing sales efforts throughout National City's 1,200-branch
network.

"We are very excited about this deal," stated Thomas A. Wimsett, president and
chief executive officer of NPC. "This transaction increases our market share in
the regionally-based `Mom and Pop' merchant segment, while simultaneously
allowing us to rapidly expand our distribution footprint." Mr. Wimsett estimates
that the 30,000 new accounts acquired from National City will generate about $18
million in incremental annual revenue for NPC and will be immediately accretive
to the company's earnings.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for everyone," said A. Joseph Parker,
executive vice president and head of National City's Retail Sales and
Distribution unit. "Our merchant customers will benefit by having a direct
relationship with NPC's expertise and broad product offerings. This relationship
complements the business banking services that National City will continue to
provide to current and future merchant customers."

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ABOUT NATIONAL PROCESSING, INC.

National Processing, Inc. through its wholly owned operating subsidiary,
National Processing Company (NPC(R)) is a leading provider of merchant credit
card processing. NPC supports over 500,000 merchant locations, representing one
out of every six Visa(R) and MasterCard(R) transactions processed nationally.
NPC's card processing solutions offer superior levels of service and performance
while assisting merchants in lowering their total cost of card acceptance
through our world-class people, technology and service. Additional information
regarding NPC can be obtained at www.npc.net. National Processing, Inc. is an 87
percent owned subsidiary of National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC)
(www.national-city.com), a Cleveland based $85 billion financial holding
company.

About National City Bank

National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) is an $85 billion bank holding company
headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with banking assets ranking 12th in the United
States. The company offers a full range of financial services, from investment
banking and brokerage services to traditional banking services for individuals
and businesses. National City has offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana,
Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan. National City can be found on the World Wide
Web at http://www.national-city.com.

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