NASHVILLE, Tenn. – December 19, 2002. Verus Financial Management, Inc., a Nashville based electronic transaction processing company, announced today that they have added another organization to their growing enterprise. Cornerstone Payment Systems, an Alpharetta, GA based credit card processing company, is the second company to join the Verus campaign to consolidate “best practices” electronic transaction processing companies to create a leading payment services firm. The acquisition includes both the sales channel and merchant portfolio of Cornerstone and all Cornerstone management and staff will remain with the company.

Verus selected Cornerstone Payment Systems for its commitment and ability to provide merchants and sales agents with a fully integrated package of on-line and retail solutions. Richardson M. Roberts, Chairman & CEO of Verus commented, “Adding Cornerstone`s extensive sales expertise to our growing enterprise brings value and diversity to our processing solutions. Nick`s history as an executive with Card Service International, followed by his leadership positions within PMT Services, Inc. and then Nova Information Systems led us to be attracted to Nick and his team. I look forward to working with Nick and the team he has built at Cornerstone to further our goal in building a premier acquiring company in our segment of the marketplace”.

Nick Logan, President of Cornerstone, has positioned the company as the “Foundation of a Merchant`s Business.” Cornerstone is committed to providing a comprehensive offering to address merchant`s non-cash transaction requirements. Cornerstone provides a full compliment of processing solutions that offer merchants multiple payment options. The company has focused on delivering time and cost savings that allow merchants to focus on growing their businesses.

President, Nick Logan, explained, “Today, the key word in the marketplace is choice. Increasingly, consumers want a choice of how they pay for their goods and services. I am confident that joining forces with Rich Roberts, one of the most successful and proven leaders in our industry, will give us an opportunity to provide better solutions with more choices than ever before. Becoming a part of the Verus vision, to combine successful companies in our industry, and leverage our strengths as a team, was an opportunity we couldn`t pass up.”

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Verus was founded by Richardson M. Roberts, the former chairman and CEO of PMT Services, Inc (PMT). Roberts led PMT to a public offering in 1994 and ultimately engineered the merger of PMT with NOVA Information Systems, Inc. in 1998. PMT successfully consolidated the small and mid-sized merchant marketplace to create one of the largest and most successful payment processing companies in the country.

Verus is funded in large part by FTVentures (“FTV”), a San Francisco based venture capital firm.

About Verus Financial Management, Inc.

Verus Financial Management, a privately held Nashville, TN based company established in 2002, is a leading consolidator of successful payment processors into a “best practices” payment services company. Solutions offered by it`s wholly owned subsidiaries include a wide range of payment processing services that meet the needs of traditional and non-traditional merchants. These services include electronic payment processing for associations, retail, mail order/telephone order and Internet based merchants. Additionally, the Company`s proprietary gateway provides OEM software makers in a variety of vertical markets with the ability to build a flexible payment module into their billing modules, allowing added convenience to their merchant bases, while creating new and attractive revenue streams for these technology partners. Verus, Latin for “true, fair, or just,” takes the best practices of its subsidiaries and leverages them across the Verus family of providers, partners and merchants.

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Contact: Renee Chenue
Phone: 703-852-5386
Email: [email protected]

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