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February 9, 2005


From matchmaker to personal shopper – Cupid’s picks for Valentine’s Day

Sales at Candy Stores up 214% in 2004

Toronto, February 9, 2005 - Just six weeks after the holiday season, Canadians come out of hibernation for the same reasons as groundhogs – food and romance.  This weekend’s mad rush for last minute Valentine’s Day gifts will find stores packed with shoppers trying to find the perfect token of affection.  According to Moneris Solutions Corporation (“Moneris”), Canadians preferred sweets for Valentine’s Day 2004, as Moneris’ data from February 1 to 14, 2004 showed sales at candy, nut and confectionery stores jumped 214% compared to the equivalent preceding time period (January 18 to 31, 2004).

Moneris is Canada’s largest processor of debit and credit card transactions and is in a qualified position to analyze the increase in spending at Canadian merchants.

“Valentine’s Day revives shoppers and rejuvenates the retail season,” said Brian Green, Moneris’ VP Marketing.  “Moneris’ annual spending roundup finds florists, health and beauty spas, jewelry stores and confectionery stores should have strong sales this weekend.”

The following merchant categories had a successful 2004 Valentine’s Day season and this data may be an indication of which merchant segments will perform well in 2005:

From chocolate hearts to roses to pedicures, love is in the air:

Gift Cards a Popular Choice
Ernex, Moneris’ gift card and electronic loyalty division, found gift card activations jumped 25% during the two-week period leading up to Valentine’s Day 2004.  The adoption rate of gift cards by merchants and consumers is expected to increase substantially this year – fueled in part by Moneris’ recent launch of a gift card program for independent businesses.

“With Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday, this is the first major shopping weekend of the New Year. A retailers’ point-of-sale is their ‘front-line’ and should be managed with the same high-level of importance as other critical operations,” said Green.  “With the demands on today’s consumers, the need for speed at the checkout has never been greater.”

About Moneris Solutions Corporation
Moneris is Canada's largest provider of credit and debit card payment services for merchants in virtually every industry segment, handling more than two billion transactions a year. Through its Ernex division, Moneris offers leading-edge electronic loyalty and gift card programs. With more than 350,000 merchant locations, Moneris provides the hardware, software and systems needed to improve business efficiency and manage point-of-sale information, and is the only payment processor in Canada to offer a private IP network solution to merchants coast-to-coast. Moneris estimates that 50% of current debit and credit card transactions will shift to an IP network by 2006. For more information please visit www.moneris.com.

About Ernex
Ernex, a division of Moneris Solutions Corporation, is a provider of innovative real-time marketing solutions including privately branded and multi-merchant loyalty programs, stored-value gift cards, reward fulfillment services and loyalty database hosting services. Leading companies in the financial, retail, restaurant and hospitality industries as well as large membership organizations use Ernex solutions. For more information, contact Ernex at 877-GO-ERNEX or visit www.ernex.com.

Details about the data cited in this news release: The data cited above is based on Moneris’ aggregate data of card transactions across hundreds of merchant locations in Canada. The percentages stated are derived from actual sales volumes i.e. the dollar values of card transactions processed by merchants in the timeframes indicated.

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For more information, please contact:

Darryl Silva
Moneris Solutions
416-734-1951

Matt Cram
Environics Communications
416-969-2726

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