Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2002
FreeStar Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:FSTI), a company providing one of the world's first live and operational debit and ATM with PIN-authenticated payment technology on the Internet, today announced its strategic plans for 2003. Now that FreeStar's PaySafeNow system has received VisaNet certification, the company is poised to move rapidly from a development stage company to a revenue and profit generating entity with the implementation of its business plan, the primary foci being the following:
FreeStar is well positioned to take a foothold in emerging markets such as the Latin American region and Eastern Europe. The company's PaySafeNow system is tailor made to fit in with the current demand from small to medium sized business, who are looking for a cost effective solution to capture electronic transactions. Recent statistics show that in these emerging markets approximately up to 85% of small business are unable to participate in electronic transaction capturing due to the high cost involved in obtaining the necessary equipment, costs can range from $800 to $2000. FreeStar's PaySafeNow system can be installed for as little as $150.
The company expects demand which is based on its historical beta testing with current merchants and its dialog with Banco Nacional de Credito along with VISANET Dominican Republic together with negotiations currently ongoing with financial institutions in these and other regions. Based on the above, the company projects markets sales to be in the region of two hundred thousand by year-end 2003, which can derive gross revenue up to $30,000,000.
FreeStar intends to rapidly leverage Rahaxi's 10-year track record, established customer base, growing revenue stream (currently averaging approximately US$100,000 per month), robust processing platform and historical ties to the point-of-sale industry to accelerate many of our immediate growth objectives. Foremost, Rahaxi empowers FreeStar with an end-to-end financial processing capability that few can rival. And, securing an established processing base in what is arguably the European Union's most progressive telecommunications and electronic payments market clearly bodes well for the successful implementation of FreeStar's long-term growth strategy. Rahaxi is currently processing 1 million transactions per month with a capacity to process 8 million transactions per month .The company will use its best efforts to bring Rahaxi up to its full capacity.
FreeStar's PaySafeNow system is also being utilized in the remittance market. The outlook for remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean in the upcoming years is striking. If immigration patterns and the economic needs of receiving countries continue at current levels, the importance of remittances to the region will keep growing significantly. At current growth rates, cumulative remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean for the coming decade (2001-2010) will reach more than $300 billion. FreeStar together with its strategic partners is well positioned to receive substantial transactional revenue and product sales from this lucrative market.
Some frightening figures show that credit card fraud in the UK alone totals US$453m (E501m) about 50 per cent of total EU figures, according to VISA. FreeStar will be entering the European market place with a population of over 400 million people. The issuance of the new EURO currency into nine countries will make economic conditions more favorable for FreeStar to launch its products.
Presently, in the United States 93% of online purchases are made using credit cards. FreeStar's PaySafeNow system which allows the use of ATM and Debit card over the Internet will enable previously non-credit worthy consumers to consummate financial transactions over the Internet. Currently there are approximately 68 million working Americans who are deemed non creditworthy and are unable to obtain a credit card. FreeStar's PaySafeNow system will allow these consumers to conduct cash transactions over the internet, opening a whole new market and increased client base for merchants and financial institutions alike.
FreeStar also intends to build a strong customer base for the PaySafeNow System in both the domestic and international sales markets, strengthen its relationship with its strategic partners such as Banco Nacional de Credito, and develop relationships with other major financial institutions. The Company believes that strategic relationships and partnerships with large financial institutions and online merchants represent its greatest opportunity to penetrate the secure online card present systems.
Establishing a strong brand name is a key essential component to attracting and expanding a broad and diverse customer base in the United States, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Europe as a whole. The Company intends to build its brand by leveraging its relationships with well-known financial institutions and merchants through joint marketing efforts with such strategic partners. The company intends to participate in major industry trade shows, and engage in aggressive advertising campaigns. It is the company's goal to establish a brand name that is associated with an assurance of security and simplicity of usage.
About FreeStar Technologies, Inc.
With Corporate headquarters in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dublin, Ireland, and Helsinki, Finland, FreeStar Technologies is focused on exploiting a first-to-market advantage for enabling ATM and debit card transactions on the Internet. FreeStar Technologies' Enhanced Transactional Secure Software ("ETSS") is a proprietary software package that empowers consumers to consummate secure e-commerce transactions on the Internet using credit, debit, ATM (with PIN) or smart cards. It sends an authorization number to the e-commerce merchant, rather than the consumer's credit card information, to provide a maximum level of security. For more information, please visit the Company's Web sites at http://www.FreeStartech.com, http://www.Rahaxi.com and http://www.epaylatina.com .
Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
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