SelectCore awarded multi-year government contract with the City of Toronto

TORONTO, July 18, 2012 /CNW/ - SelectCore Ltd (TSX-V: SCG), a pioneer and leader in prepaid payment solutions for underserved markets, has released the details of a multi-year contract with the City of Toronto for the issuance of prepaid payment cards. The contract award was first announced by the Company on March 14, 2012.

The term of the agreement is for 42 months plus two additional one-year extensions.  SelectCore expects this high-margin business to be worth between $15 million and $18 million for the initial period. Revenue from the contract will be earned primarily from fees charged to the City as well as interchange through the MasterCard network.  SelectCore won the contract through a competitive RFP bidding process.

The long-term contract encompasses multiple phases with the first phase launching today with Toronto Employment and Social Services (TESS) for the delivery of Social Assistance disbursements.

The City Services Benefit Card is the first of its kind prepaid card program to be launched in North America.  SelectCore's proprietary card solution will enable residents on Ontario Works to instantly receive their benefits through an EMV chip and PIN prepaid MasterCard^® card that offers ATM access and can be used anywhere MasterCard^® is accepted at over 29.4 million locations worldwide. The program offers card-to-card money share, mobile apps, text messaging for balance and transaction inquires, online account access and 24/7 multilingual customer care.

The introduction of the card will replace the need to produce paper cheques, resulting in significant cost savings for the City as well as for residents who will no longer have to incur expensive cheque-cashing fees.

"Governments are looking to modernize service delivery and do more with less - and Toronto is no exception," said Keith McKenzie, CEO of SelectCore. "What we have introduced is the most practical, secure and cost-effective means for the delivery of government disbursements."

"Under this contract, we have completed one of the most complex and sophisticated implementations of its kind," said Ryan Deslippe, President of SelectCore. "We successfully tailored our technology to meet the specific needs of Canada's largest city.  We now have the unique capabilities to provide turn-key cheque replacement card programs to other municipal, provincial and federal government agencies across Canada."

"More and more, governments, businesses and consumers are moving to a world beyond cash and cheques," said David E. Orzel, SVP, Market Development, MasterCard^® Canada. "As a leader in payments innovation, we are proud to partner with SelectCore to help bring safe, simple and smart solutions like the City Services Benefit Card to clients of Ontario Works."

About SelectCore
SelectCore Ltd. (TSX-V: SCG) is a pioneer and leader in prepaid payment solutions for underserved markets. Founded in 1999, the Company offers a range of prepaid products and services from stored-value cards to mobile top-up that provide financial empowerment to a market of millions of under-banked consumers.  SelectCore has been ranked among Canada's fastest growing companies by Profit Magazine four times in the past six years and was included in the 2011 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list of North America's fastest-growing technology companies. For more information visit www.selectcore.com.

About the City of Toronto
Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.7 million people. Toronto's government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

About MasterCard Worldwide
MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard's products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Cashless Conversations Blog and subscribe for the latest news.

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This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks related to market and financing conditions as well as risks associated with the prepaid telecom and prepaid financial industries, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the period ended December 31, 2010, available on www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Alex Mangiola
Pilot PMR
416-462-0199 Ext. 21
[email protected]