UK'S Nationwide Building Society and Mexico's Grupo PISA Join the IFX Forum as Members

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UK'S Nationwide Building Society and Mexico's Grupo PISA Join the IFX Forum as Members

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – July 18, 2005 – The Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum today announced that the Nationwide Building Society, the UK's fourth largest mortgage lender and the world's largest building society, and Grupo Procesamiento Interactivo (Grupo PISA), a Latin American systems and technology solutions provider, have joined the Forum as corporate members.

The IFX Forum is a not-for-profit standards-developing organization working to develop a robust framework for the electronic business-to-business exchange of data among financial service institutions around the world.

"It's my pleasure to welcome Grupo PISA and Nationwide to the Forum," said Richard P. Urban, President of the IFX Forum. "Their strong interest in our work is evidence that IFX is taking hold in the financial services industry on a global level. We look forward to their active assistance in reaching our near-term objectives -- especially in the area of Branch Banking Services -- and in carrying out strategies for meeting our long-term goals."

"Nationwide is proud to lead the way for building societies in developing standards and exploring the application of IFX, in keeping with our history of technological innovation," said Michael Humphreys, Nationwide's Head of Technology Development. "Nationwide was one of the first financial organizations to have a Web site, the first organization to launch an Internet banking service in the UK, the first to have Internet banking service through the TV set, and we offered Europe's first PocketPC PDA mobile banking service. Working with the IFX Forum will help us continue to bring leading-edge services to the communities we serve."

"Grupo PISA continues a tradition of innovation by joining the IFX Forum as the first member from Latin America. Deployment of IFX will strengthen, and broaden the appeal of, our banking solutions, " said Michael Kelley, Grupo Pisa Managing Partner. "With our broad geographical coverage and range of experience, we will also be able to provide the Forum with insight into the needs of the Latin American financial services industry."

About Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide is the UK's second largest high street savings provider, fourth largest mortgage lender and seventh largest retail banking, saving and lending organization by asset size. Based in Swindon in the UK, Nationwide is the largest building society in the world, with around 880 high street outlets. It is a mutual organization, which means that it is owned by its members (customers) and is run day-to-day by an executive management team overseen by an elected board of directors. Nationwide offers a broad range of retail financial services, including mortgages, savings, current accounts, credit cards, life assurance, investment products, personal loans and household insurance. 2.1 million people (almost 20% of Nationwide’s members) are registered to use Nationwide’s online service, and over 25% of current account holders regularly use Internet banking.

About Grupo Procesamiento Interactivo
Grupo Procesamiento Interactivo (Grupo PISA) is an enterprise with more than 20 years experience offering systems and technology solutions to the financial market in Latin America. Grupo Pisa’s solution portfolio includes core and branch banking, channel management, ATM, Internet banking and POS solutions. Based in Mexico, Grupo PISA has a presence in a number of countries, including Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, through business associates, distributors and international agreements with strategic associates.

About the IFX Forum
Membership in the IFX Forum is open to anyone interested in contributing to the development of open financial standards that harness the power of XML. The IFX Forum is currently organized into the following Working Groups: ATM/POS; Business Banking; Branch Banking Services, Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment; and Web Services. IFX Forum Working Groups, in concert with an Architecture Committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages for all sectors of the financial services industry. To learn more about IFX Forum standards or the benefits of IFX Forum membership, please visit www.IFXForum.org.

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