Visa U.S.A. Provides Integrated Payment Solution To OmniAmerican Federal Credit Union

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 1, 2000) — Visa U.S.A. continues to meet the changing needs of its member financial institutions. The company announced today it has signed an agreement to provide a highly integrated payment solution for OmniAmerican Federal Credit Union. The solution will combine Visa's Debit Processing Service (DPS), the new Visa check card II product, and access to the Interlink and the Visa/PLUS Global ATM Network. The agreement makes OmniAmerican one of the largest issuers of the Visa check card II product in the southeast.

OmniAmerican has issued more than 35,000 Visa check cards since it was introduced in the first quarter of 2000. The results have far exceeded projections, generating $26.3 million in sales volume last quarter and an active account percentage (70%) that is much higher than the national average (55%).

"We were looking for a single solution that incorporated a full range of deposit access products and that could provide our members with access quickly and easily from anywhere in the world. The quality of the Visa brand allowed us to meet those objectives," said Larry E. Duckworth, President and Chief Executive Officer, OmniAmerican Federal Credit Union. "Additionally, through the Visa Debit Processing Service, we are able to process all transactions through a single on-line interface and are well positioned to provide our members with emerging debit products as they become available."

"Visa has the industry's most successful and comprehensive debit platform," said Kevin Schultz, Executive Vice President of Visa U.S.A. and General Manger of Visa's Debit Processing Service. "Visa members asked for greater flexibility and choice for their debit programs and the ability to process all deposit access products through a single processing platform. We are pleased to provide these products and the processing to support OmniAmerican's strategic initiatives."

ABOUT OMNIAMERICAN

OmniAmerican Federal Credit Union was established in 1956 and provides innovative financial services to over 180,000 members nationwide. With 12 conveniently located full-service offices throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and assets over $600 million, OmniAmerican is one of the nation's largest credit unions.

ABOUT THE VISA DEBIT SOLUTION

* Visa's Debit Processing Service was developed as a strategic part of Visa's deposit access strategy to be the premier debit processing solution for Visa members. Visa DPS offers comprehensive processing support for the full suite of Visa deposit access products, as well as ancillary support for ATM terminal driving and gateway access to regional and national networks.

* Visa check card II provides (signature and PIN) authentication capability, providing member financial institutions added flexibility and choice in their debit programs. It also offers consumers access to all Visa merchant locations, the protection of Visa's newly enhanced $0 liability policy, and the benefit of Visa branded promotions.

* Interlink is a complimentary, PIN-based, single-message debit POS service, providing access at over 550,000 merchant locations nationwide. Cardholders can easily locate Interlink merchants at www.visa.com/interlink.

* Visa/PLUS Global ATM Network is the world's leading ATM service, providing superior coverage and state-of-the-art functionality at more than 625,000 locations in 127 countries. Cardholders can easily locate Visa/PLUS ATMs by using Visa's Global ATM locator at www.visa.com.

ABOUT VISA DPS

As an integral part of Visa's debit strategy, DPS enables member financial institutions to access superior, customized processing services, including: state-of-the-art check card processing services, ATM terminal driving, gateways to regional and national networks, comprehensive fraud detection and call center services, as well as single-point connectivity for Visa deposit access products. The industry's premier debit processor, Visa DPS provides processing support for one-third of all Visa check cards and will process more than 1 billion transactions in the year 2000. Visa DPS is the second largest issuer processor in the United States and provides processing support for 20 of the Top 100 credit unions in the country, ranked by asset size.

ABOUT VISA U.S.A.

Visa U.S.A. is the leading payment brand and the largest payment system in the United States, with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 14,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. There are more than 330 million Visa credit, commercial and check cards, which generate more than $720 billion in annual transaction volume. Visa-branded cards are accepted at over 17 million locations worldwide, including some 625,000 ATMs in the Visa/PLUS Global ATM Network. More information is available online at www.visa.com.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.