First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC), a global leader in electronic commerce and payments, announced that Pentagroup Financial LLC, a nationally recognized leader in accounts receivable management, has become the first adopter of the new First Data LIFTSM technology, powered by Intelligent Results. First Data LIFT is a family of analytic solutions designed to significantly improve collections and marketing performance for financial institutions and receivables management companies.

?Call Manager, a LIFT application, will provide valuable insights for our business. We've invested in strategic tools to assist with portfolio strategies and have done quite a bit of in-house development to support analytics. Call Manager is the tool that allows us to make better-informed tactical decisions as we work each portfolio and the accounts age. With Call Manager, we can benefit from insights contained in text from collector notes to improve the use of our data warehouse and drive our action plan at the account level. Because this is a hosted solution we anticipate realizing rapid improvements in portfolio performance,? said Ron Rovall, president of Pentagroup.

The LIFT family of solutions combines analytics and data to generate actionable business decisions across the customer lifecycle. The link between analytics and action improves the effectiveness of collections efforts and helps organizations make daily, time-sensitive decisions regarding which actions to take to improve business performance. In addition to Call Manager, the LIFT family includes:

  • Letter Manager: allocates correspondence resources to increase recovery by focusing efforts on those accounts where it will make the biggest impact
  • Settlement Manager: determines the optimal settlement rate for each account
  • Outsource Manager: determines which accounts to outsource in order to reduce contingency fees and balance internal resource constraints
  • Self-Cure Manager: reduces account attrition and collection costs by identifying accounts that will self-cure, while reducing losses on accounts that are most likely to charge off
  • Usage Manager: predicts which debit or credit accounts are most likely to experience reduction in card usage, and supports marketing decisions/programs designed to stimulate usage, prevent attrition and more effectively manage points and reward programs.

Also key to Pentagroup's decision was the opportunity to deploy LIFT in a hosted environment, which offers a time-to-market advantage and allows them to use the technology as a service. The collections-specific LIFT solutions are available to clients in either a hosted environment, or transaction-based model depending on the degree of flexibility and customization desired.

About Pentagroup Financial LLC

Pentagroup Financial, LLC, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a nationally recognized leader in accounts receivable management. A leading innovator, Pentagroup assists creditors in achieving higher profitability and improving cash flow by utilizing its highly respected management expertise, next-generation intuitive technology and performance-driven collections team. Founded in 2002, the privately held company is owner managed and has experienced rapid growth. For more information, call 832-615-2100 or visit www.pentagroup.us.

About Intelligent Results

Intelligent Results customers are able to manage their business more dynamically with a new standard in customer analytics and decision management software. The Intelligent Results analytics platform allows companies to better understand and predict customer behavior, then quickly plan and implement targeted strategies ? resulting in an improved customer experience, more effective resource allocation and increased profitability. Intelligent Results solutions are available through custom analytics engagements, as a software platform, or hosted and delivered as a service. For more information, visit www.intelligentresults.com.

About First Data

First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) is a leading provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions for businesses worldwide. Serving over 5 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and their customers, First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods and services using virtually any form of payment. The company's portfolio of services and solutions includes merchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions; receivables management solutions; electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2 million ATM and retail locations. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.

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First Data Corp.
Donna Pennington, 402-222-6178
donna.pennington@firstdata.com
or
Pentagroup Financial
Ron Rovall, 832-615-2108
rrovall@pentagroup.us
or
Intelligent Results
Debbie DeGabrielle, 425-455-5100, ext. 209
debbie.degabrielle@intelligentresults.com