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Exhibit 99.1
NPC
Consultants in Transaction Technology
PRESS RELEASE Dan Shingler
Media Relations
National City Communications
(216) 575-2441
For Immediate Release
NPC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF FA HOLDINGS, NAMES LEEHY HEAD
OF CARD SERVICES, WIMSETT IN CHARGE OF CHECK SERVICES
Louisville, KY October 24, 1997 -- National Processing, Inc.
(NYSE: NAP) announced today that its subsidiary, National Processing Company
("NPC") has completed the initial stage of its acquisition of FA Holdings, Inc.
("FA") and named FA Chief Executive Officer John Leehy to the position of an
Executive Vice President of Merchant Services.
"We are completing our acquisition on schedule," said NPC Chief
Executive Officer Bob Showalter.
FA, the soled owner of Financial Alliance Processing Services, Inc., is
a leading provider of credit and debit card processing services and one of the
nation's largest independent sales organizations (ISO). Financial Alliance
markets its services through a direct sales force of over 250 people, as well
as through a network of more than 40 ISO's. These distribution channels will
continue to focus on smaller merchants, while the existing NPC sales force will
continue to grow the large national account base, Showalter said.
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One Oxmoor Place
101 Bullitt Lane, Suite 450 Telephone 502 326-7000
Louisville, KY 40222 Facsimile 502 326-7100
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FA's CEO John Leehy will be responsible for card processing services,
while Tom Wimsett, also Executive Vice President of Merchant Services, will
focus his efforts on the check acceptance and call center services. "In
discussing how FA would be integrated into National Processing, it became
apparent that we has two very strong executives in John Leehy and Tom Wimsett,
each with their own unique set of skills. I'm confident that the duties
assigned to each of them will best leverage their respective experience for
the benefit of National Processing as a whole," Showalter added.
Financial Alliance has annual net revenues of approximately $50
million, and the acquisition will increase both the revenues and profitability
of NPC's Merchant Services division. The acquisition is expected to be
non-dilutive to National Processing, Inc.'s earnings per share in 1998 and
accretive thereafter.
Profile of National Processing Company
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NPC is an operating subsidiary of National Processing, Inc. (NYSE:NAP)
and is a leading provider of transaction processing services and customized
processing solutions. Deploying technology and applications software, NPC
provides products and value-added services which include processing of card and
check transactions for merchants, outsourcing of administrative and financial
functions, and ticket processing and settlement for providers of travel-related
services. National City Corporation (NYSE:NCC), a $53 billion financial
services company based in Cleveland, Ohio is the majority owner of National
Processing, Inc.
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