CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA--(MARKET WIRE)--Feb 26, 2008 -- International Card Establishment
(I.C.E.) (OTC BB:ICRD.OB - News) today issued the following corporate
update:
Over the course of the past year, we have been working diligently to form a
number of strategic alliances and marketing initiatives to increase our
revenues and profitability. The first such initiative was announced in
September when we became a Preferred Partner of CPAmerica, one of the
world's largest networks of independent CPA and consulting firms, and
formed an alliance to cross-market our credit card processing and gift and
loyalty programs.
In the fourth quarter 2007, we followed up on this sales and marketing
initiative by entering into similar agreements with E-Chx, a leading
payroll solutions provider and with National Association of Professional
Allstate Agents (NAPAA), a 4,000 member association of insurance agents.
We are happy to report that each of these partnerships has yielded new
accounts for both our credit card processing and gift and loyalty business
units. We expect that these alliances will continue to generate an
increasing number of accounts to I.C.E. in 2008 and beyond
Another significant initiative occurred when we announced our strategic
alliance with American Bancard, a merchant services provider that offers
credit and debit/check card processing services and processing equipment to
merchants. American Bancard has committed to promote I.C.E.'s proprietary
"smart card"-based gift and loyalty program to its significant merchant
base. American Bancard key sales agents have recently been trained in the
use and marketing of I.C.E.'s gift and loyalty program and we expect to see
the results of their marketing program as early as the second quarter of
2008. As part of this strategic alliance I.C.E has begun introducing
American Bancard's cash advance program to our existing merchant base.
I.C.E. sales representatives are also now able to offer an additional
financial product to merchants looking for capital to expand their
business.
Internally, we announced our Community Card Program in October 2008. The
community card will enable local residents to earn rebates from
participating merchants while also benefiting local school districts and
charities. Participating merchants will rebate a percentage of each
participating customer's purchase to the consumer.
We have hired a dedicated sales force to sign up local merchants in the
Thousand Oaks, California area and intend to launch as soon as we have
enough merchants on board to insure a strong consumer reception. While we
had initially envisioned a launch for early 2008, we decided to handle all
of the transaction processing internally reducing third party costs and
requiring participating merchants to process their bankcard transactions
with I.C.E. Accordingly, we hope to launch our Community Card program
later this year. If successful in our test market of Thousand Oaks, we
could readily expand the program to other adjoining markets rapidly.
I.C.E.'s intrinsic value is rooted in the market value of its merchant
account portfolio. We have been successful at maintaining a steady number
of high quality merchant accounts after we made the decision to not
continue to carry high-risk accounts that carry substantial loss potential.
In consultation with our auditors, we expect to write down the book value
of this asset substantially in order to more accurately reflect the value
in accordance with GAAP and the charge that we incur every time we lose an
account to attrition. This adjustment to amortization in the fourth
quarter will result in a significant non-cash loss for the period, but
should reduce overall amortization expenses in future periods.
Our goal, since inception, has been to increase shareholder value by
building a profitable merchant portfolio. We continue to strive to realize
this goal, and intend that the initiatives that we have already undertaken,
in combination with a host of others on which we are currently working will
further this objective.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject
to risks and uncertainties. Important factors which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements,
include but are not limited to: the company's short operating history which
makes it difficult to predict its future results of operations; the
company's initial history of operating losses with possible future losses
which could impede its ability to address the risks and difficulties
encountered by companies in new and rapidly evolving markets; the company's
future operating results could fluctuate which may cause volatility or a
decline in the price of the company's stock; the possibility that the
company may not be able to price its services above the overall cost
causing its financial results to suffer; and other factors detailed in this
press release and in future company filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, at such time as the company is required to report its
results of operations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
