First Data

BAD VILBEL, July 19, 2011 – TeleCash GmbH, a First Data company and one of Germany’s leading network operators for processing card payments, today announced the appointment of Mark Freese as Managing Director of TeleCash, effective July 1. Prior to this appointment, 51-year-old Freese was Director of Finance for First Data’s businesses in Germany, Austria, the Benelux countries and Italy. Mark succeeds Klaus Schöpflin, who announced his intention to leave TeleCash at the end of August 2011 to take on new professional opportunities. Mark Freese and Klaus Schöpflin will work closely together over the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities.

“I’m delighted that Mark Freese, a seasoned First Data executive, will be taking over the operational and strategic management of TeleCash, ensuring its ongoing success and providing continuity for our customers, business partners and employees,” said Wolfgang Heinrich, managing director of First Data in Germany. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank Klaus Schöpflin for many years of successful work for TeleCash and wish him all the best in his future career.”

Mark Freese takes over at TeleCash following many years of uninterrupted growth. In 2010, for the first time, the number of transactions processed by TeleCash exceeded the one billion mark. Around 240,000 TeleCash terminals were in use in Germany last year. TeleCash’s reputation for innovation continues to grow as demonstrated most recently by its role as one of the first network operators and payment services providers to implement contactless payments functionality, its pioneering introduction of electronic receipt archiving and the launch of its service managedIQ, which was praised by Germany’s Central Credit Committee (ZKA) as the “terminal architecture of the future” and honoured with the prestigious business magazine handelsjournal’s distinction “Top Retailing Product 2011”.

“I’m greatly looking forward to this exciting role. Our goal will be to build on TeleCash’s position as one of Germany’s leading innovators,” said Mark Freese, managing director, TeleCash. “With contactless payments, the introduction of a proprietary terminal, e-commerce and customer cards, TeleCash will maintain its commitment to growth in relevant areas. Additionally we will focus on extending our business model into new markets.”