For Immediate Release
May 9, 2006

CUETS Names Vice President of Chip Centre of Excellence

Today, Tom Kindred, Executive Vice President, Client Services and Chief Information Officer for CUETS, announced Brian Guillemin has been appointed to the role of Vice President, Chip Centre of Excellence.

“Mr. Guillemin will provide excellent leadership to our strong and growing chip team,” said Kindred noting that CUETS stated its intention to provide a comprehensive and cost effective chip card solution for credit unions and caisses populaires in October of 2005. “Over the last 13 years, Guillemin has been one of CUETS’ resident experts on acquiring, and has been a critical contributor to the organization’s success and growth in merchant products and technology. His senior management experience and product development background will serve CUETS well as the company undertakes its aggressive chip card program.”

As Canadian issuers and acquirers work together to ensure the successful deployment of chip in Canada, Guillemin, in his new position, will be responsible for the overall management and implementation of CUETS innovative chip card program. He will also act as a senior liaison on chip card issues within the industry, among credit unions and caisses populaires, and with other important groups such as suppliers and partners.

“Guillemin provides the right blend of industry know-how and credit union system experience to ensure that CUETS Chip Centre of Excellence provides the kind of support and expertise our clients will require during this fundamental shift in the payments industry,” said Kindred.

Chip cards are plastic cards with an embedded computer chip. The computer is capable of performing a variety of functions, including card authentication, PIN verification, and information storage, all in a highly secure environment. The move to chip in Canada has accelerated due to a substantial increase in fraud activity. As the rest of the world has been embracing chip technology to reduce fraud, criminals have migrated to Canada and the United States. Chip cards address fraud and also offer cardholders and merchants many benefits, such as greater convenience at point of sale, faster transactions and, in future, the potential for multiple payment options on a single card.

Guillemin, who is currently the Vice President, Product Development (Acquiring), holds undergraduate designations in administration and computer science from the University of Regina, and Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology. He will take up his role as Vice President, Chip Centre of Excellence, in June.