Date: 22 June 2010
Issued By: Card Alliance Pte Ltd

- Card Alliance enters Singapore’s S$20.5 billion market for debit card transactions*
- Citibank and Maybank first two banks to launch EPINS
- Cashback to be rolled out in the next quarter

Singapore, June 21, 2010 – Card Alliance Pte Ltd (“Card Alliance”), announced today the launch of EPINS, a PIN-based debit payment service partnering Qualifying Full Banks (“QFBs”). Citibank Singapore Ltd (“Citibank”) and Maybank Singapore (“Maybank”) are the first two banks to offer this new, convenient and secure debit payment mode. Both banks’ existing ATM/Debit cardholders are set to be the first beneficiaries of this new service.

EPINS offers consumers holding our partner banks’ ATM/Debit cards an additional way to pay for their purchases at any of the merchant locations accepting EPINS debit payments in Singapore. The EPINS debit merchant network is currently available at major retail merchants such as Cold Storage, Shop N Save, Market Place supermarkets, Giant hypermarkets, Guardian Health & Beauty, selected 7-Eleven stores, Singapore Post (“SingPost”) and Courts. Consumers can also use their ATM/Debit bankcards to pay for postal and agency services as well as purchases made at SingPost outlets. In addition, Card Alliance will be broadening EPINS services to include cashback and aims to roll out top-up services for
concession cards and ez-link cards progressively.

*http://www.mas.gov.sg/fin_development/fin_sec/payment_system/PaymentSettlement.html

Managing Director of Card Alliance, Mr. Jeremy Tan, said: “We are privileged to work with both Citibank and Maybank to offer another payment platform to their customer base through the launch of our PIN-based debit payment service, EPINS. The two banks’ customers will be the first in Singapore to enjoy the convenience of this additional direct PIN-based debit payment service. Going forward, we intend to further expand our merchant network to enable more consumers to enjoy this payment option and other services across Singapore.”

Mr. Han Kwee Juan, Managing Director & Head of Credit Payment Products, Citibank Singapore Limited, said: "At Citibank, providing our customers with accessibility and banking convenience is a top priority. We have therefore been steadily growing our branch and ATM presence as well as expanding on the multiple touch-points where customers can bank or transact with us. EPINS opens up a new channel of payment for customers that can be performed on their banking accounts using their existing ATM/Debit card and PIN. This will help further enrich their banking experience with us."

Said Mr. Lim Kuo Siong, Head, Information Technology & E-Business, Maybank Singapore: “At Maybank, we are always on the lookout for opportunities to offer more convenient payment solutions for our customers. In addition, we are in active discussions with participating EPINS merchants to offer more EPINS value-added services. One service we hope to offer soon is the cashback service, which means every time a customer makes a payment over the counter, he can choose to withdraw cash. This will significantly increase the locations where our customers can make cash withdrawals, and complement our network of Branches and ATMs.”

With EPINS, Card Alliance intends to penetrate and grow the S$20.5 billion debit card transactions market, which saw a total of 182 million transactions done in 2008, according to statistics from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) website.

“We are actively exploring opportunities with several Qualifying Full Banks in Singapore to enable their cardholders to enjoy the benefits of EPINS, and have so far, received very positive indications. We are confident that we will be able to extend the advantages of EPINS to a significant base of bank card holders from partnering QFBs in due course,” says Mr. Tan.

Mr. Jeff Lee, Finance Director, Dairy Farm South Asia, said: “We are pleased to offer the EPINS PIN-based debit payment service to our broad base of customers across our various banner brands. Ultimately, we want our customers to benefit from a wider range of payment options and they can select from these options to fit their needs. EPINS is a refreshing payment platform which will serve the requirements of our diverse customer base.”

Mr. Loh Choo Beng, Executive Vice President (Retail & Financial Services) of SingPost said: “At SingPost, we aim to deliver greater convenience and value to our customers. Our customers will now have the added choice of using their bankcards of participating QFBs to make purchases and bill payments through our retail network of 62 post offices across Singapore.”

Mr. Terry O’Connor, CEO of Courts (Singapore) Pte Ltd said: “We are constantly looking at ways to provide additional benefits and greater flexibility to better cater to the different needs and preferences of our customers. With EPINS, our customers will now have the option of an additional payment gateway to pay for their purchases when they visit any of our retail outlets.”

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About Card Alliance
A member of the Korvac group of companies, Card Alliance operates EPINS, a PIN-based debit payment service in Singapore. Partnering Qualifying Foreign Banks (QFBs) in Singapore, Card Alliance enables holders of participating QFBs’ ATM/Debit cards to make PIN-based debit payments through Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) terminals.

The EPINS direct debit payment service also expands the choices of payment methods available at merchants, offering consumers more payment options and added convenience.

About Korvac Holdings Pte Ltd
Established in 1999 in Singapore, Korvac Holdings Private Limited is the management and holding company of four separate groups of businesses. Headquartered in Singapore, Korvac Holdings also has offices in Malaysia and Thailand. The Korvac Group of companies are dedicated to providing Payment and Consumer Data Processing Services. The Group’s subsidiaries are:-

PaymentLink Pte Ltd: A Korvac-Mitsui joint venture company, PaymentLink Pte Ltd is the partner of the Land Transport Authority of Singapore and the exclusive partner of EZ-Link Pte Ltd for the provision of non-transit payment and loyalty services for concession and ez-link cards respectively.

Card Alliance Pte Ltd: Provides PIN-based debit payment services

Consumer Cube Pte Ltd: A specialised consumer data analytics and targeted marketing firm.

Korvac Payment Services: Provides fully-managed merchant payment infrastructure services to
bank clients.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through its two operating units, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com
or www.citi.com.

About Maybank
The Maybank Group is the largest financial services group in Malaysia and is a leading banking group in South East Asia since 1960. Globally, Maybank is present in 14 countries with over 700 offices worldwide. As at December 2009, the Group’s total assets were RM330.8 billion.

Maybank started its operations in Singapore in 1960 and is a Qualifying Full Bank (QFB) with 27 service locations (22 Branches and 5 offsite ATMs). Maybank is also part of atm5 – Singapore's only shared ATM network among six QFBs with a combined reach of more than 140 ATMs.

Maybank Singapore is committed to bringing seamless banking and a wider spectrum of value-added financial services to our valued customers. By harnessing the latest technological advances to increase our network's effectiveness, our customers are able to conduct their banking transactions at any time and anywhere in the world, via the traditional as well as electronic channels.

Maybank Singapore believes that human resource is the Bank’s best asset. In Singapore, Maybank received the Excellence in Employee Engagement Award as part of The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Service Awards 2010. In recognition of its fair and merit-based employment practices, Maybank was also conferred the inaugural Exemplary Employer Award given out by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices (TAFEP). To find out more about Maybank Singapore, please visit www.maybank2u.com.sg