International Card Establishment Signs Sweet Factory for Credit Card Processing, Gift and Rewards Program
22 Août 2006 - 5:49PM
PR Newswire (US)
Agreement Covers 111 Stores in 23 States CAMARILLO, Calif., Aug. 22
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- International Card Establishment, Inc.
(I.C.E)(OTC:ICRD) (BULLETIN BOARD: ICRD) today announced that it
has entered into an agreement to process credit card purchases at
111 Sweet Factory stores in 23 states. The agreement calls for
I.C.E. to install credit card terminals at each Sweet Factory
location and process credit card purchases; the rollout is
substantially complete. Sweet Factory has also agreed to launch a
gift and rewards card program that will be provided by I.C.E.'s
Neos Merchant Solutions unit. Sweet Factory and Neos Merchant
Solutions have designed a special Sweet Card for its customers. The
Sweet Card will entitle the holder to earn double points every
Sweet Tuesday and every day during Sweet October. For every 25
points earned, Sweet Factory customers will receive 1/4 pound of
candy; 1 pound of candy for every 50 points; and, 2 pounds of candy
for every 75 points. The initial credit card charge volume is
expected to exceed $1,000,000 monthly and Sweet Factory has
indicated that it expects to order 100,000 gift and rewards cards
in its first month. The launch of this program is scheduled for
September 2006. The program confers a number of benefits to Sweet
Factory franchise owners, including: (1) improved cash flow --
prepaid gift cards are issued for cash today against future sales;
(2) brand identity -- a gift card acts as a "walking billboard" in
the owner's wallet, offering a constant reminder of where to shop;
(3) brand loyalty -- the gift card awards Sweet Factory customers
points on their purchases, which can be redeemed for candy at Sweet
Factory stores; (4) faster check out lines and more security --
because the smart card based gift card stores all of the data on
the card itself without the need to dial up and verify the credit
on the card and is virtually impossible to counterfeit. "We are
delighted to partner with Sweet Factory, one of the largest
independent candy store chains in the country, to assist it in both
its credit card processing and gift and rewards program," said H.
Wain Swapp, President and CEO, Neos. "Our aim is to enhance our
client's profitability and return on investment, which in turn
earns us a loyal client base." About Sweet Factory Sweet Factory
owns and operates 94 stores across the United States. The company
also has 17 franchise stores in California alone. The Sweet Factory
serves over 5 million guests per year and is the largest bulk candy
retailer in the nation. Sweet Factory focuses on providing the
highest quality and largest variety of proprietary candies as well
as hard to find novelty candies available in America's high-traffic
malls. Sweet Factory now has its own online Sweet Factory store
which you should visit at http://www.sweetfactory.com/ About Neos
Merchant Solutions http://www.neosmerchant.com/ Neos Merchant
Solutions is full service payment processing company offering a
turnkey solution to today's retail merchants. Neos offers custom
application development, electronic payment processing, card
personalization services, terminal integration & deployment,
and customer support. As an application developer, Neos has
developed a variety of scalable smart card and mag stripe card
applications utilizing all of the elements of stored value and
frequency/loyalty card programs and services. Neos integrates its
proprietary software to many of today's POS terminal and cash
register interfaces. In addition, Neos offers one of the most
robust internet-based transaction collection and database reporting
systems in the marketplace today. About I.C.E.
http://www.cardnetone.com/ I.C.E. is a rapidly growing provider of
diversified products and services to the electronic transaction
processing industry. I.C.E. establishes merchant accounts for
businesses that enable them to accept credit cards, debit cards and
other forms of electronic payments; supplies point-of-sale systems;
facilitates processing; and markets a proprietary "Smart
Card"-based system that enables merchants to offer store-branded
gift and loyalty cards. Forward-Looking Statements This press
release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties. Important factors which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking
statements, include but are not limited to: the company's short
operating history which makes it difficult to predict its future
results of operations; the company's initial history of operating
losses with possible future losses which could impede its ability
to address the risks and difficulties encountered by companies in
new and rapidly evolving markets; the company's future operating
results could fluctuate which may cause volatility or a decline in
the price of the company's stock; the possibility that the company
may not be able to price its services above the overall cost
causing its financial results to suffer; and other factors detailed
in this press release and in future company filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, at such time as the company is
required to report its results of operations under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Contact: William Lopshire Chief
Executive Officer, I.C.E. 877-689-4309 email: or Investor Relations
Contact: PAN Consultants, Ltd. Philippe Niemetz, toll-free:
800/477-7570212/344-6464 email: DATASOURCE: International Card
CONTACT: William Lopshire, Chief Executive Officer, of I.C.E.,
+1-877-689-4309, ; or Investor Relations Contact - Philippe Niemetz
of PAN Consultants, Ltd., toll-free 1-800-477-7570, +1-212-344-6464
Web site: http://www.sweetfactory.com/ http://www.neosmerchant.com/
http://www.cardnetone.com/
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