February 25, 2002

ERNEX LAUNCHES REAL-TIME REDEMPTION; ALLOWS CREDIT CARDHOLDERS TO REDEEM REWARD POINTS INSTANTLY AT THE POINT-OF-SALE

REPORTER'S SUMMARY

Ernex , a provider of real-time marketing solutions, announced it has launched Real-Time Redemption, a new capability that allows credit cardholders to instantly redeem their credit card points for rewards at any participating merchant point-of-sale.

Ernex Real-Time Redemption provides the cardholder immediate access to their rewards by enabling the merchant's point-of-sale device with connectivity to a centrally hosted cardholder database at Ernex This solution will be used in tandem with Ernex's Loyalty Database Hosting service - an integrated real-time points management system. These two solutions combine to provide reward program operators with efficiencies in the call center workload and streamline fulfillment and reconciliation processes.

On February 11, 2002, RBC Royal Bank became the first credit card issuer to pilot this capability for select Royal Bank Visa Classic II cardholders in four cities in Ontario: Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener and Waterloo. Using Ernex's Real-Time Redemption technology, RBC cardholders are able to redeem their Classic II points in real-time at 12 participating Home Hardware locations and 13 RadioShack Canada locations during the five-month pilot program. The pilot targets approximately 5500 Classic II cardholders in the Ontario region through a direct mail campaign. Point-of-purchase materials will be displayed at participating Home Hardware and RadioShack locations to drive awareness. Ernex will provide RBC Royal Bank with ongoing business analytical reports to assess the success of the pilot program for a national launch across Canada.

The Ernex Real-Time Redemption technology is available today to credit card issuers and membership organizations that operate multi-merchant coalition loyalty programs.

STRATEGY

This new real-time capability is another innovative solution that Ernex is offering credit card issuers and large membership organizations that operate reward programs. The RBC Royal Bank pilot program, leveraging Ernex's Real-Time Redemption technology, is the first of its kind to offer credit cardholders instant payment using points across a multi-merchant network. Traditionally, credit cardholders had to initiate a long rewards-fulfillment process before they could redeem rewards because there was no direct linkage between the points that they had earned and the many independent merchants who provided the rewards. A typical process was to request a gift certificate or reward through a call center, which would then mail out the reward. In the case of a gift certificate reward, the cardholder would then have to visit the participating merchant to utilize the gift certificate value against merchandise. Ernex Real-Time Redemption would eliminate the need for call centers to order, track and manage physical gift certificates or reward merchandise.

With the addition of Ernex's Real-Time Redemption solution to Ernex Accelerator and Ernex Loyalty Database Hosting, Ernex now offers credit card issuers and large membership organizations a real-time end-to-end rewards management system.

• Ernex Accelerator: utilized by reward program operators to increase cardholder retention by delivering real-time value-added marketing promotions at the point-of-sale. Real-time promotions include instant Swipe 'N Win sweepstakes, custom coupon offers and bonus points campaigns.
• Ernex's Loyalty Database Hosting: a service that provides large loyalty program operators with complete management of points data including transactions from the point-of-sale, call center and Internet channels. This service provides program operators with powerful tools to efficiently manage the administrative, help-desk, partner redemption and rewards catalogue management tasks associated with the accrual, redemption, fulfillment and reconciliation of loyalty points.

DETAILS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Benefits of Ernex Real-Time Redemption include:

• Point-of-sale neutrality: Ernex is able to interface its software and connectivity to a majority of point-of-sale devices in the market to provide real-time redemption capability plus Ernex's full suite of real-time marketing solutions. For the Classic II pilot, Ernex -enabled devices - Moneris Solutions' SmartSelect and Transelect systems (www.moneris.com) provide the connectivity at the point-of-sale for Home Hardware and RadioShack locations.
• Streamlining fulfilment and logistics: Ernex provides cardholders with immediate access to their rewards directly at the merchant's point-of-sale, thereby providing an immediate, electronic fulfilment instead of a physical fulfilment taking days or weeks. The card issuer experiences a lower call volume in the call center, and no longer requires the administration of ordering, inventory management, tracking and the management of outstanding gift certificates.
• Streamlining reconciliation and settlement: Ernex provides business and analytical reports to reconcile points-redemption costs between the card program operator and participating merchants. With electronic fulfilment, reconciliation and settlement can be enacted immediately since there are no physical gift certificates to reconcile prior to settlement.
• Opportunities to increase store traffic and lift sales: By being a featured Real-Time Redemption merchant, there will be a significant increase in store traffic as cardholders recognize the convenience and empowerment of selecting and redeeming rewards in real-time. The real-time interaction at the point-of-sale also creates opportunities for sales clerks to up sell higher margin or higher priced merchandise, as a cardholder's points may already cover a major portion of the purchase price.

ABOUT ERNEX

Ernex is a provider of innovative real-time marketing solutions for merchants, credit card and bankcard issuers, and large membership organizations. Its solutions include loyalty programs, stored-value gift card programs, reward fulfillment services and loyalty database hosting services. For more information, contact Ernex at 877-GO-Ernex or visit www.ernex.com.

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INTERVIEW CONTACTS:

• Ernex executives are available for interviews on this announcement and/or to provide comment on other electronic marketing solutions.
• Analyst references are available on request.
• Partners and Customers are available to speak with the media.

Please Contact:
Marketing & Public Relations Manager
Ernex
604-415-1500
pr@ernex.com

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