Heartland Payment Systems Credits Merchants with More than Quarter Billion Dollars in Durbin Debit R

Heartland Payment Systems Credits Merchants with More than Quarter Billion Dollars in Durbin Debit Reform Savings

Business Owners and Consumers Reap Financial Benefits One Year After Reform's Implementation

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Since the implementation of the Durbin Amendment debit swipe fee reform one year ago, Heartland Payment Systems^® (NYSE: HPY), one of the nation's largest payments processors, has delivered more than $262,000,000 in signature debit savings to its merchant customers throughout the United States. Of these savings, restaurant merchants received more than $75,000,000, lodging merchants received nearly $10,000,000, retail merchants received almost $30,000,000 and petroleum/c-store merchants received more than $55,000,000.

Designed to reduce the cost of accepting debit cards for business owners, the Durbin Amendment, part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, caps debit card interchange rates for issuing banks with more than $10 billion in assets at 21 cents per transaction, plus one cent for issuers with an effective fraud prevention system, and 0.05 percent of the volume of transaction - a significant reduction from the average of 44 cents that merchants paid per debit card purchase before the Durbin Amendment.

"Both business owners and consumers are feeling the relief of lower debit card swipe fees," said Bob Carr, Heartland's chairman and CEO. "Our merchant customers are putting their 'Durbin Dollars' to work in a variety of ways, such as opening new locations, purchasing new equipment, fixtures and delivery cars, offsetting rising fuel and food costs and more. Consumers are also benefitting from our merchants not raising prices, and from non-Heartland merchants such as Home Depot, which lowered prices as a result of overall lower operating costs thanks in part to the regulation."

John Bertram, owner of Stuft Pizza Bar & Grill in La Quinta, Calif., added, "The cost of everything, especially food, has gone up but our processing expenses have gone down. Thanks to Heartland passing through the Durbin savings, which have totaled more than $10,000 since last October, we've been able to keep our menu pricing the same for consumers and are exploring options for opening a second location."

While actual figures are determined by the volume and dollar amount of debit transactions, among other factors, on average, Heartland's merchants are saving approximately $1,000 annually per location. In aggregate, these funds represent a significant capital infusion for state and local economies, as evidenced by the data below:

Heartland also found:

• 60 percent of its signature debit sales volume qualified as regulated

• 64 percent of its PIN debit volume qualified as regulated

• On average, there is a savings of $0.19 per transaction for regulated (vs. non-regulated)

  • The average signature debit non-regulated interchange fee per transaction is $0.42

  • The average signature debit regulated interchange fee per transaction is $0.23

• On average, there is a savings of 68 basis pointsfor regulated (vs. non-regulated)

  • The average signature debit non-regulated effective rate is 1.48 percent

  • The average signature debit regulated effective rate is 0.80 percent

For more information on the Durbin Amendment and its benefits, visit www.GetYourDurbinDollars.com.

About Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE: HPY), the sixth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, school solutions, loyalty marketing services, campus solutions, payroll and related business solutions and services to more than 250,000 business and education locations nationwide. A FORTUNE 1000 company, Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, (www.MerchantBillofRights.org), a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. The company is also a leader in the development of end-to-end encryption technology designed to protect cardholder data, rendering it useless to cybercriminals. For more detailed information, visit www.HeartlandPaymentSystems.com or follow the company on Twitter @HeartlandHPY and Facebook at facebook.com/HeartlandHPY.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains statements of a forward-looking nature which represent our management's beliefs and assumptions concerning future events.Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to us. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including risks and additional factors that are described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Media:
Heartland Payment Systems
Michael J. LaCosta, Director of Public Relations, 1-888-798-3131, ex. 2245
michael.lacosta@e-hps.com
or
Vault Communications
Pamela Caruolo, 610-455-2746
pcaruolo@vaultcommunications.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America New Jersey

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