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Press release:

Ref: OGI0290
6th October 2011

Open GI becomes a Payment Service Provider

By partnering with Universal Payment Gateway Plc (UPG), Open GI has now become a Payment Service Provider for all credit and debit card payments with its new service, CreditLine Plus.

Fully integrated with the Core Back-Office, CreditLine Plus meets the latest requirements of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance for making secure, fast and simple electronic payments by credit and debit cards. As a new Payment Service Provider, Open GI will fully manage payments to multiple banks, card and payment networks by validating, authorising and processing credit and debit card payments for all types of brokers selling Personal and Commercial Lines online, through High Street branches or Call Centres.

Brokers will be able to benefit from this new service by way of capturing card information without the need to rekey data into the Core Back-Office, saving valuable staff time and improving levels of customer service.  The new service allows brokers to make refunds and additional payments without having to re-enter card details and authorise payments for card holders not present.  CreditLine Plus provides accurate audit reporting and brokers can track the progress of payment transactions and their status via an online portal.

In an exclusive deal with Lloyds Bank, Open GI will be able to offer a highly competitive transaction rate to brokers if they change their merchant provider to Lloyds as well as receiving a 20% discount on the software.

Through partnership with UPG, leveraging its strong relationship with the UK’s acquiring banks, brokers could now benefit and secure a reduction in bank charges for each transaction compared with their existing card acquiring provider.

UPG is one of the UK’s largest independent payment gateways with a 12 year pedigree of processing card payments worth over £4bn per annum. UPG has over 4,000 clients, including some of the UK’s largest online High Street retailers and Financial Institutions. UPG provide a highly resilient secure service through its enterprise grade payment Gateway which adheres to Level 1 PCI DSS accreditation. Through its on-going investment in market leading technology and hardware UPG is proud to offer outstanding customer support and service levels.

Simon Ridge, Sales Director, UPG Plc said: “We are really excited to partner with Open GI as this is a fantastic opportunity to offer brokers a seamless and secure service for all card payment processing requirements.  In the future Brokers will also be able to benefit from an additional range of services via our partnership with Open GI such as fraud prevention and risk management solutions for card payments and enhanced solutions to comply with PCI DSS regulations.”

Simon Hughes, Sales and Marketing Director, Open GI commented: “We are delighted to partner with UPG to become a Payment Service Provider.  We can offer brokers a secure and effective way of accepting and processing credit and debit card payments without any hassle.  With peace of mind for brokers, this solution reduces the risk of customer card data getting into the wrong hands.”

For More Information about Open GI:
Adele Clarkson
Marketing and PR Manager
Open GI
Tel: +44 (0)1905 754455
email: adele.clarkson@opengi.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Open GI supplies market leading IT solutions to insurance brokers across the UK & Ireland. With 20,000 users in around 2,000 firms, the company has a 40% share of the UK broker market and is committed to technological innovation. Open GI technology enables personal and commercial lines brokers trading in standard and niche markets to streamline business activity and become more profitable. With a workforce of 350 people and a 30-year heritage, the company enjoys a strong financial performance. For the year ended 31st May 2010 Open GI reported revenues of £35.0 million and an operating profit of £21.1 million.