Two Retailers Renew with Fifth Third Processing Solutions

CINCINNATI, March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifth Third Processing Solutions is pleased to announce that the following retailers have recently renewed their multi-year contracts for merchant processing services:

• Dean & DeLuca has renewed its credit, debit, and gift card processing agreement.  They have been a valued Fifth Third Processing Solutions client since December 2001.  Founded by Joel Dean and Giorgio DeLuca with artist Jack Ceglic in 1977, Dean & DeLuca is a worldwide purveyor of gourmet food, fine wine and kitchenware. Dean & DeLuca offers customers a sumptuous variety of artisanal cheese, seafood, baked goods, and more as well as gift baskets and handcrafted products of the highest quality from around the globe.  The store's elegant displays overflow with colorful products and the aesthetics make food shopping an experience.  To learn more visit http://www.deandeluca.com.

• Belk, Inc., has renewed its credit and pin debit processing agreement.  Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Belk, Inc. is the nation's largest privately owned mainline department store company with 306 Belk stores located in 16 Southern states.  The company was founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, and is in the third generation of Belk family leadership.  Its Belk.com Web site offers a wide assortment of fashion apparel, shoes and accessories for the entire family along with top name cosmetics, a wedding registry and a large selection of quality merchandise for the home.  To learn more visit www.belk.com.

"Our company has relied upon Fifth Third Processing Solutions since 1999 for secure and efficient processing," said James Ward, Vice President of Credit, Belk, Inc.  "We continue to be impressed with their proactive support and consultative services; we rely on their technical expertise."

"We are tremendously honored and pleased when our valued clients renew their contracts with our company, especially those whom we have serviced for many years like these well established merchants," said Donald Boeding, President, Merchant Services at Fifth Third Processing Solutions.  "As a merchant processing leader for more than 408,000 merchant locations, it is our people who make the difference for our clients regardless of size or type of industry.  Our leading card acceptance solutions backed by exceptional customer service, position our clients well for success and profitability."

About Fifth Third Processing Solutions

Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC delivers innovative payment transaction processing and acceptance solutions to create and support complex payment strategies for merchants, businesses, and financial institutions around the world. A pioneer in card payment acceptance in the early 1970s, Fifth Third Processing Solutions is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a joint venture with Advent International and Fifth Third Bank, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

As a premier full service payment solutions provider, the Company provides servicing solutions and product engineering for financial institutions' and retailers' credit card, debit card, merchant and private label programs, processing over 11.4 billion ATM and point of sale transactions and over $378 billion in debit and credit card sales volume annually. Its subsidiary, NPC, is the largest provider of payment processing services exclusively focused on the small-to-medium merchant processing market.  The Company supports over 408,000 merchant and financial institution locations and 11,000 ATMs in 44 states and 8 countries. According to the Nilson Report (March 2011), the Company is the largest PIN Debit U.S. acquirer and third largest U.S. merchant transaction acquirer ranked by general purpose transaction volume. Learn more at www.FTPSLLC.com.

SOURCE Fifth Third Processing Solutions