New east African partner for Prism, VeriFone

Issued by Prism Holdings Limited
Johannesburg, 31 Oct 2006

Trusted transactions company Prism today announced the signing of a preferred partner agreement with Computech Ltd which will see Computech representing Prism and VeriFone in Kenya and Tanzania.

This announcement follows a rigorous tender process, resulting in Computech being named Prism's partner of choice. While Prism has previously had business dealings in the East Africa region, this reseller partnership signifies the commitment of the trusted transactions' company to solidifying its presence within the region.

The agreement by Prism, VeriFone's international partner for African markets, further strengthens VeriFone's continued growth in the region.

"We are pleased to announce a more substantial representation for Prism and VeriFone in East Africa and certainly with Computech's technical capabilities, strong regional presence and favourable customer relationships, we are confident that our partnership will result in positive business growth of all organisations," says Llewellyn Walters, Group Sales Director - Prism.

Prism designs and develops integrated circuit card, transaction terminal, infrastructure and cryptography technologies that are applied to electronic commerce transactions in the telecoms, banking, retail, petroleum and utilities market sectors. These technologies provide Prism with the building blocks for developing secure end-to-end payment solutions.

Kenya-based Computech Ltd, a leading HP/Compaq dealer in East Africa with offices in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, specialises in the development and integration of end-to-end solutions.

Commenting on the partnership, Computech's Managing Director, Hassan Popat says: "We have been challenging our teams to achieve leader status in various vertical markets and are thrilled to be representing Prism, and are well-placed to be a reseller of VeriFone products in the different verticals on behalf of Prism."

VeriFone is a key business partner to Prism. As the VeriFone International Partner (VIP) for the Sub-Saharan and Indian Ocean Islands region, Prism is the only formal supplier of VeriFone Point of Sale devices and PINpads into these regional markets. Prism has successfully included VeriFone devices and PINpads in its solutions since 1998.

"VeriFone's strong relationships with best-of-breed regional partners enable us to deliver world-class solutions with exceptional local service, and our partnership with Prism is a great example of this success. Our growth across the African region can only benefit from this new agreement with Computech," says Nigel Bidmead, EMEA managing director for VeriFone.

This partnership agreement was announced and celebrated at a cocktail function held in Nairobi by Prism and Computech recently.

VeriFone Holdings (www.verifone.com)

VeriFone Holdings, Inc (NYSE: PAY), a global leader in secure electronic payment technologies, provides expertise, solutions and services for today with a migration strategy for tomorrow. VeriFone delivers solutions that add value to the point of sale, resulting in improved merchant retention and the generation of new sources of revenue for its partners and customers. VeriFone solutions are specifically designed to meet the needs of vertical markets including financial, retail, petroleum, government and healthcare.

Prism, a subsidiary of NET1 UEPS Technologies

Net1 UEPS Technologies Inc acquired Prism Holdings Limited on the 4 July 2006. Net1 is a US-domiciled company, with its operations and management headquartered in South Africa and a market capitalisation of $1.4 billion. Net1 is an established Nasdaq-listed company, a market that provides a deep appreciation for intellectual capital and allows for the development and commercialisation of technology on an international basis.

Net1 provides chip card technologies and systems such as its Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS) to establish a secure and affordable transacting channel between formal businesses and the un-banked and under-banked populations of developing economies.

Prism has historically focused on the provision of end-to-end EMV solutions, m-commerce technologies, GSM SIM mask technologies, and encryption products typically applied to high-end transaction processing for national retailers, banks and international network operators.

The combination of Prism and Net1 technology and service offerings creates an entity providing electronic payment solutions across all sectors of the economy including leveraging Net1's pension payment infrastructure into the formal retail sector in South Africa, Africa and other global markets.

It is the convergence of core technologies and people coupled with Prism's global reach, experience and knowledge of working within the Asian market as well as clear synergies between the two companies that has the potential to enhance the company's geographical penetration, amplify the company's technological advantage and increase the total number of transactions being processed.

The two companies will be fully integrated within the following six to 12 months.

Net1 (www.net1ueps.com)

Net1 provides its Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS) as an alternative payment system for the un-banked and under-banked populations of developing economies. Net1 believes that it is the first company worldwide to implement a system that can enable the estimated four billion people who generally have limited or no access to bank accounts to enter affordably into electronic transactions with each other, government agencies, employers, merchants and other financial service providers.

UEPS accomplishes this by utilising secure smart cards that operate in real-time but offline. This is unlike traditional payment systems offered by major banking institutions that require immediate access through a communications network to a centralised computer. This offline capability means that users of Net1's system can enter into transactions at any time with other cardholders in even the most remote areas so long as a portable offline smart card reader is available. In addition to payments and purchases, Net1's system can be used for banking, healthcare management, international money transfers, voting and identification.

Prism (www.prism.co.za)

Prism is a trusted transactions company with expertise in the area of secure electronic transaction technologies and services. The company has a strong presence in South Africa, an established and expanding footprint across Africa and South-East Asia and local representation in the United Kingdom and Germany. Prism's head office is located in Johannesburg, South Africa; there are regional South African offices in Durban, Cape Town and Springs, as well as an Asia-based office situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Prism has a proven track record in the delivery of own IP technologies, solutions and services. Its core competencies around secure online transaction processing, cryptography and integrated chip card technologies are principally applied to electronic commerce transactions in the telecommunications, banking, retail, petroleum and utilities market sectors.

Prism has developed and implemented innovative payment-centric products that bridge the following technologies:

* Chip and Wireless products including telecoms and financial software, 2G and 3G GSM SIM cards and Secure Access Modules (SAMs).
* Incognito Transaction Security Modules (TSMs), security products ensuring transaction authentication, confidentiality and integrity; third party products.
* OEM Transaction Modules including Secure Payment Modules (SPMs), Encrypting PIN Pads (EPPs) and Outdoor Payment Terminals (OPTs).
* Payment Solutions incorporating secure integrated POS payment systems, VeriFone products, EMV solutions/upgrades, payment software and the FlexiLANE/POS/GATE multi-lane chip payment system.
* EasyPay Services which controls the largest bank-independent financial switch in southern Africa.

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