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ACE AMERICA'S CASH EXPRESS CONVERTS TO INKJET AT POS WITH ITHACA® POSJET® -Ithaca® POSjet® Delivers Transaction Receipt Printing Speed Enhancement- Wallingford, CT - January 2, 2003 - TransAct Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: TACT), announced today that ACE America's Cash Express, the largest owner, operator and franchiser of retail financial service stores in the United States, has selected its Ithaca® brand POSjet® 1500 two-color inkjet printer for use at point-of-sale (POS) in its network of nearly 1,200 stores. The installation represents ACE Cash Express' migration from impact technology to inkjet, to cut transaction receipt printing time in half. ACE Cash Express has operations in freestanding buildings, shopping centers, kiosks in gas stations and other retailers, and relationships with supermarkets. Its business includes check cashing, money orders, money transfers, lottery tickets, bill payments; all transactions represent mission critical receipt printing. The Ithaca® POSjet® 1500 is used by ACE Cash Express to validate checks and print customer receipts. The Ithaca POSjet® 1500's patented validation drive module and sensing scheme contribute to the printer's ease of use. The POSjet® 1500 prints on forms that can be inserted in two different orientations -vertical and horizontal. A patented automatic paper loading system, Insta-Load®, reduces the downtime involved with changing paper rolls. And, at 12 lines per second, the POSjet® 1500 is 144% faster than the industry's leading impact printer. Yet, it is 75% quieter. ACE Cash Express sought to speed up transactions; the company cashes and validates more than 1.3 million checks per month. ACE Cash Express, having relied successfully on Ithaca® impact printers for years, selected the Ithaca® POSjet® 1500 for its ability to print the average receipt in half the time it took their previous impact printer. "In addition to the speed factor, the POSjet delivers many other operational and customer service improvements, lowering the total cost of ownership of the POS printer," said Quentin Daniels, Director of Technical Support for ACE Cash Express. "Ithaca's® POSjet® technology reduces the cost of consumables, delivers consistently high print quality, offers a lengthy warranty and prints on paper that maintains print integrity," Daniels said. "Customer service is also improved. For instance, when a customer purchases a prepaid phone card, the receipt carries a PIN number or toll free customer service number that needs to be readable long after it is printed." "Another upside that we initially didn't consider was the reduction in the noise level," commented Daniels. "Typically, there are two agents at a location in a closed environment and behind bullet-proof glass, which, with impact printing technology, can be noisy. The quiet operation of Ithaca's POSjet® technology enhances customer communication." Another reason ACE Cash Express selected TransAct's Ithaca® brand POSjet® printer is the support. Daniels said, "We were charged with selecting a printer that would not require software changes. We had the printer built to our specs, and the TransAct customer support team was there with us all the way to get the printer out in the field quickly. It is a real value." "We appreciate our long term relationship with ACE Cash Express, and are pleased that they have embraced our POSjet technology, " said Mark Bauer, Vice President, The Americas Sales, TransAct Technologies. "With heavy work loads, the fast pace of transactions and diverse transaction types, including elements of retail sales and retail banking, the ACE application is a challenging one for any transaction printer. It is affirming to see that the forethought that went into the design and development of the Ithaca® POSjet 1500® is being proven at ACE," continued Bauer. While the critical goal of the POSjet® installation was speed enhancement, "the printer's two-color capabilities open up new possibilities for promotional opportunities," said Daniels. "Marketing will be eager to take advantage of the possibilities." The Ithaca® POSjet® combines Hewlett-Packard's world-class inkjet technology with TransAct's expertise in the POS market to deliver a custom business solution that not only meets the functional demands of the POS market, but also transforms receipts into cost effective marketing vehicles. The HP inkjet cartridges print an average of 7 million characters, for high-volume, low-replacement usage. About TransAct Technologies: TransAct designs, develops, manufactures and markets transaction-based printers under the ITHACA® and MAGNETEC® brand names. In addition, the company markets related consumables, spare parts and service. The Company's printers are used worldwide to provide receipts, tickets, coupons, register journals and other documents. The Company focuses on the following vertical markets: point-of-sale (POS), gaming and lottery, financial services and kiosk. All of TransAct's products are manufactured in ISO 9001 certified facilities. Visit www.transact-tech.com for more information. About ACE Cash Express, Inc. ACE Cash Express, Inc. is headquartered in Irving, Texas and is the largest owner, operator and franchiser of check-cashing stores in the United States. Founded in 1968, the Company has a total network of 1,190 stores, consisting of 1,002 company-owned stores and 188 franchised stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia. ACE also maintains automatic check-cashing machines at 22 company-owned store locations and, during the tax season, at more than 150 H&R Block retail offices. ACE offers a broad range of check-cashing and other consumer financial services and is one of the largest providers of MoneyGram wire transfer transactions. In addition, ACE offers money orders, bill payment services, and prepaid local and long distance telecommunication services. Small, short-term consumer loans are also available to customers at various ACE company-owned stores. The company's website is found at www.acecashexpress.com. |
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