MONERIS SOLUTIONS NAMES J. BRIAN MERENA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

CHICAGO, IL, February 17, 2004 – Moneris Solutions, one of North America’s largest electronic transaction processors, today announced that J. Brian Merena has joined the executive team as Senior Vice President, Financial Institutions. In this role, Merena will be responsible for developing and maintaining the company’s financial institution partner program.

“Moneris Solutions is determined to be the ‘financial institution’s provider of choice’ and Brian has the expertise to help make that happen,” said Larry Wine, president of Moneris Solutions U.S. Group.

Merena boasts an extensive background in the financial services industry with a track record of developing new business opportunities and strategic partnerships. He comes to Moneris Solutions from Diversified Acquiring Solutions, an electronic payment and e-commerce solutions provider. As the senior vice president of sales, Merena focused on defining and executing the company’s sales strategies, with particular emphasis on leveraging the company’s relationships with financial institutions. He enhanced the company’s sales goals and compensation packages to allow for aggressive growth and increased productivity.

Prior to his tenure at Diversified Acquiring Solutions, Merena founded JB Enterprises, a business service solutions company.  Previously, he was vice president of sales for Merchant Card Management Systems, and senior director of sales and strategic partnering with Nova Information Systems. Earlier in his career, Mr. Merena held positions at National Data Corporation and People’s Bank of Bridgeport, Conn.

“Moneris’ pure play strategy is exactly what the market needs and I am thrilled to join the Moneris team,” said Merena. “Financial institutions recognize the need for a merchant services strategy and Moneris helps these organizations develop merchant services programs that drive alternative growth without creating competition to their existing client bases.”

About Moneris Solutions
Moneris Solutions ( www.monerisusa.com) has a 30-year history as one of North America’s largest electronic transaction processors, delivering advanced payment card processing capabilities through point-of-sale hardware, payment processing software, e-commerce solutions and a gift and loyalty program. Moneris provides transaction-processing services nationwide through numerous agent banks and serves the small to medium-sized business market through direct sales and strategic partnerships. A joint investment of the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal, which have assets in excess of $700 billion, Moneris Solutions serves more than 350,000 North American merchant locations and has a staff of over 1,100 employees. U.S. headquarters are located outside of Chicago, IL.