Contract extension

8 July 2013

Escher Group Holdings plc

Seven year contract agreement with An Post

Escher Group Holdings plc, (AIM: ESCH, "Escher" or "the Group"), a world-leading provider of outsourced, point of sale software to the postal industry, announces that it has agreed a seven year contract extension with Ireland's national postal operator, An Post.

An Post will use Escher's Riposte point of service software to provide innovative services, driving growth. These will include the iTunes card for Apple iTunes purchases and the PostFX prepaid currency card that allows customers to purchase a US Dollar or Sterling card, commission free.

The iTunes card service, which is due to launch before Christmas, is a compelling addition to An Post's offering, providing an alternative to direct debit and credit card payments when making iTunes purchases online, eliminating the threat of fraud and identity theft. Escher's Riposte software allows An Post to securely transact with Apple's back-end systems in real-time, making funds available both anonymously and immediately.

Liam Church, CEO of Escher Group said,

"We are pleased to enable An Post to diversify into Apple iTunes and payment card services, which are increasingly popular in the current climate of card fraud and identity theft." 

"Amid several recent contract wins, we are particularly proud of our continued engagement with An Post - having been their technology partner for 20 years. An Post is a progressive postal organisation and is a great example of the business opportunities open to postal services if they invest in the right software and systems."

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About Escher Group

Escher is a world leading developer and provider of outsourced, point of service software for use in the postal industry worldwide. Its core software, RiposteEssential, enables post offices to expand upon their traditional offering, providing additional new services, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Riposte is a messaging middleware that enables applications operating on different computers to communicate with each other. The Riposte software manages data, monitors the system status and communicates across the network. Escher operates across two divisions - its Retail Software Division and its Message Based Communications Division.

The Retail Software Solution (RiposteEssential) serves the postal and courier markets. Transactions include mail and financial services and the system is integrated with utilities and financial services companies, banks and central and local governments.

Escher's Message Based Communications Division (RiposteTrEx) is based on a digital post office box model and is designed to provide a national digital infrastructure linking governments, businesses and citizens via a secure platform.

About An Post

An Post delivers financial, banking, retail, mail, ticketing and other services in Ireland that include; Interactive Point of Service, The Digital PostBox, Digital Passport, Address Pal, Digital Certification, Document Vault and Signature Capture. An Post recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary running Escher's Riposte, processing 130 million transactions annually across its network.