Global Payments and HSBC Finalize Joint Venture in the Asia-Pacific Region

Global Payments and HSBC Finalize Joint Venture in the Asia-Pacific Region

July 25, 2006

    ATLANTA and HONG KONG, July 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leader in payment
processing services, announced today it has completed the
formation of a joint venture with The Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation Limited to provide payment processing
services to merchants in the Asia-Pacific region.  The
joint venture, Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited, will
provide merchant acquiring services to over 45,000 merchant
outlets across ten countries and territories: Brunei, Hong
Kong, India, Macau, mainland China, Malaysia, Maldives,
Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

    (Logo: 
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010221/ATW031LOGO)

    "We are honored to have been chosen by HSBC for
this important joint venture.  Having the ideal partner for
payment card processing makes our prospects for success in
this dynamic and growing region even more compelling,"
said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Global Payments, Paul R. Garcia.

    "This joint venture will strengthen our
capabilities in the merchant acquiring business as Global
Payments Asia-Pacific will benefit from HSBC's large and
extensive footprint in the region as well as Global
Payments Inc.'s technological expertise.  I am personally
pleased to lead this exciting and innovative venture in the
rapidly-expanding Asia-Pacific payments market," added
Ian Courtnage, Managing Director of Global Payments
Asia-Pacific Limited. 

    Under the terms of the agreement announced in September
2005, Global Payments paid HSBC US$67.2 million in cash to
acquire a 56 percent ownership interest in the joint
venture.  HSBC controls the remaining 44 percent and
contributed its existing Asia-Pacific merchant acquiring
channel in ten countries and territories to the joint
venture.  In addition, HSBC and Global Payments have
entered into a ten-year marketing alliance in which the
bank will refer its customers, in the ten Asia-Pacific
countries and territories, to the joint venture for
merchant payment processing.

    Global Payments expects this transaction will be
non-dilutive to earnings per share.  Over the long term,
the company anticipates strong revenue growth and earnings
accretion from this transaction, as the joint venture
endeavors to further penetrate mainland China, India and
the other joint venture regions, in addition to maximizing
operating efficiencies.  The company will further discuss
this transaction and the related financial impact during
its fourth quarter and year end fiscal 2006 earnings
conference call on July 28, 2006.

    Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading provider
of electronic transaction processing services for
consumers, merchants, Independent Sales Organizations
(ISOs), financial institutions, government agencies and
multi-national corporations located throughout the United
States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific
region.  Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of
processing solutions for credit and debit cards,
business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards,
electronic check conversion and check guarantee, check
verification and recovery, as well as terminal management. 
The company also provides consumer money transfer services
from the U.S. and Europe to destinations in Latin America,
Morocco and the Philippines.  For more information about
the company and its services, visit
http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com .

    This announcement and comments made by Global Payments'
management during the forthcoming earnings conference call
may contain forward-looking statements pursuant to the
"safe-harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward
looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such as
product demand, market and customer acceptance, the effect
of economic conditions, competition, pricing, development
difficulties, foreign currency risks, costs of capital,
continued certification by credit card associations, the
ability to consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other
risks detailed in the company's SEC filings, including the
most recently filed Form 10-Q or Form 10-K, as applicable.
The company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these
statements to reflect future circumstances or the occurrence
of unanticipated events.

    For more information, please contact:

    Investor Relations Contact: 
     Jane M. Elliott (formerly Forbes)
     Tel:   [phone] Voice
     Email: [e-mail]

    Media Relations Contact: 
     Phyllis McNeill
     Tel:   [phone] Voice
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Global Payments Inc.