BankServiss Changes its Name Officially and Becomes a Subsidiary of First Data International in Latvia

On November 14, 2005, SIA Banku Servisa Centrs registered its new name, SIA First Data Latvia, with the Commercial Register of the Republic of Latvia, and the well-known in Latvia brand BankServiss has been replaced by the brand of the card processing leader First Data International.

The name of the company was changed because since July 2005 it has a new owner, the leader in electronic business and payment market - concern First Data, which, expanding its business in Europe, acquired companies of EuroProcessing International (EPI) Group, inter alia, the leading Baltic card processing SIA Banku Servisa Centrs. By this acquisition, First Data expanded its network of companies that processes issue and acceptance of credit cards and debit cards and provide support to local banks.

The Managing Director of First Data International in Latvia, Zanda Brīvule, pointed out that this event means a historic and significant turn in the field of payment cards in Latvia. BankServiss, which is part of the EPI Group, now is part of the largest in the world electronic business and payments authorisation concern, which in reality means that the best and most current in the world professional experience has entered the market of payment cards processing and authorisation in Latvia, as well as a number of other services, which are being offered or will be offered within the new concern by BankServiss.

Formally, in the result of the registration of the changes only the name of the company has changed and a new website "www.firstdata.lv" has been opened; other details, including the legal address of the company, have remained unchanged.

In the result of this significant acquisition, the concern First Data has obtained also 330 new employees and is now represented in Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Hungary, and Norway, where the Headquarters of EuroProcessing International are located.

Along with the management of business expansion in the Central and Eastern Europe, the management team of EuroProcessing International will manage also the business of First Data International in the market of Nordic countries, offering a complete portfolio of card issue and processing services to financial institutions in this region.

First Data is a world leading provider and consumer of electronic business and payment solution services. The company services 4.1 million outlets, 1400 card issuers and millions of consumers.

Among the clients and partners of BankServiss (now a subsidiary of First Data International in Latvia) there are 22 commercial banks of Latvia, petrol merchants Neste Latvija and Latvija Statoil, telecommunications operator Tele2, more than 6000 retailers, and wholesaler Karsten Latvian.