Atos Origin Signs A Contract With Wm Morrisons For Fuel Card Management

London, UK July 11th, 2006 - Atos Worldline, an Atos Origin Company, today announced that it has been awarded a five year contract by Morrisons Supermarkets to provide support and business account services for its new Business Fuel Card. It is the first card in the UK retail fuel market to be EMV compliant and Chip & PIN based.

Following the successful takeover and integration of Safeway sites, Morrisons intends to substantially grow its retail fuel business and as part of this drive is launching a new business-to-business fuel card, EMV compliant with Chip and PIN functionality.

Atos Worldline was chosen by Morrisons to manage all services related to the fuel card from application processing via a Web portal with telephone support, credit checking and insurance, account holder database management ; transaction processing, such as online authorisation and invoice & statement production; management information; credit and debt risk management services; through to customer support services.

A key component of the service offered by Atos Worldline is its market leading approval rating for new applications. Experience has shown that this capability has assisted in enabling customers to significantly grow their business account revenues and increase market share.

Atos Worldline was awarded this contract for its in-depth understanding of the fuel market needs as well as proven capabilities in supporting and enabling customers to significantly optimise their business account relationships with powerful and innovative solutions in the domain of payment.

Atos Worldline has for many years been processing the cards and payment business of many large fuel based organisations, which includes credit, debit, loyalty, fuel, fleet and charge cards. The Atos Worldline system provides for transaction authorisation, data acquisition, application processing and fulfilment, credit checking and insurance, account holder management plus merchant reimbursement of all card payment transactions; an end-to end proven solution that delivers tangible benefits and measurable customer growth in a competitive market.

Phil Maud, Director, Petrol Filling Stations, at Wm Morrisons, Wakefield, "We chose Atos Worldline because of its considerable expertise in the delivery and development of fuel card management services. They clearly understand the opportunities and challenges that face this sector today and the future needs of this market. The choice of Atos Worldline as our business partner met our need for a specialist who understands our business requirements, has the technology focus and innovation to deliver and possesses the right mix of creativity, knowledge and experience.

"This contract provides Atos Worldline with a sound basis from which to develop our relationship together into a new era", states Peter Phillips, Business Unit Director, Electronic Payments & Card Processing, Atos Worldline in the UK. The new Morrisons fuel card will be the first of its kind in the UK retail fuel market. It is unique in that it is EMV compliant, Chip & PIN based and includes the required levels of security and compliance to meet Morrisons business needs.