ACI Worldwide, Inc.: ACI Worldwide and Dedagroup Bring Real-Time Payments to Italy in Response to Increasing Consumer Demand

Almost half of Italian consumers are planning to switch banks for better and
more innovative services, with real-time banking high on their wish lists,
survey by ACI Worldwide and YouGov reveals 

London, Milan, 2017-11-20 09:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading global provider of real-time electronic
payment and banking solutions and Dedagroup, an Italian software and IT
services company, today announced a strategic alliance to support Italian
financial institutions and payment service providers (PSPs) with the
implementation and adoption of real-time banking services. 

With its Universal Payments (UP) solutions portfolio, including  UP Immediate
Payments and UP Real-Time Payments, ACI enables PSPs to connect to any domestic
or pan-European EPC-based instant payments scheme. Dedagroup is one of the
largest Italian IT companies, supporting companies, public authorities and
financial institutions in designing and implementing IT strategies. 

New research reveals the extent to which the disruption in the global banking
sector is affecting Italy. According to a global online survey by ACI Worldwide
and YouGov of more than 9,000 consumers, almost half of Italian respondents
(47%) are planning to switch bank account providers in the next 12 months, more
so than in any another European country. Of those who want to switch 21 percent
said they were considering opening accounts with a mobile-only bank provider,
20 percent with another high-street bank and 5 percent said they wanted to join
a retailer bank. 

Barry Kislingbury, Director Solution Consulting Immediate Payments, ACI
Worldwide comments: 

"Our research shows that Italian consumers are amongst the keenest adopters of
financial services in Europe. This is great news for the banking industry as
many financial service providers have been leveraging these new technologies
for some time. 

"The partnership between ACI and Dedagroup comes at a crucial time when
financial institutions in Europe are preparing for the launch of several
domestic and pan-European schemes. These new schemes will empower consumers and
businesses to send and receive real-time payments from their existing accounts.
They will also provide a platform for banks to launch new and innovative
services for today's digital economy." 

Gianni Spada, CEO Dedagroup Business Solutions comments:

"The introduction of real-time payments offers financial institutions in Italy
a great opportunity to develop new and innovative banking services for their
customers. The benefits will be for everyone: Consumers will be able to pay
pills or send money to friends and family immediately. Faster cash flows will
optimize cash and supply chain management for businesses. The immediacy of
transactions will also lead to better trade agreements. The partnership with
ACI will enable us to provide banks with the necessary support in the
implementation of real-time payments solutions." 

Other key findings of the ACI Global Consumer Survey:

-The appetite for new and innovative banking services in Italy is on the
increase: Almost half of respondents (49%) welcome loyalty discounts and offers
from their bank, 37 percent want better security and fraud prevention, 43
percent want their account provider to offer real-time banking services, 30
percent want more ATMs offering access to better services and 30 percent want
more user-friendly and intuitive mobile banking services 

-Italian banking customers have more complaints than consumers in other
European countries when it comes to banking services: 52 percent said they are
annoyed about fees, 26 percent complained about issues with ATMs and 12 percent
were unhappy about delays in payments 

-The majority of Italian consumers are amenable to the idea of sharing data
with new financial service providers that are expected to come onto the market
in January in 2018 when the new European PSD2 regulation takes effect. 65
percent of respondents want to better understand what happens to their personal
data and how it is protected before they use such services 

-ends-

Methodology and Demographics: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from
YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 9,372 adults, 1,002 in Italy, 1,010 in
France, 1,152 in United States, 2,104 in Germany, 2,078 in the UK, 1,000 in
Hungary, 1,026 in Spain.  Fieldwork was undertaken between 25th May - 5th June
2017.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and
are representative of all adults in each country (aged 18+). 

ACI's UP Immediate Payments offers a proven solution for financial institutions
to provide connectivity to IP schemes globally. We not only provide our
customers with a technical gateway, but also payment processing functionality,
guidance on compliance, fraud, scheme rules, testing and certification, as well
as support throughout the complex on-boarding process. 

ACI has an unmatched global customer base of financial institutions and payment
service providers using its UP Immediate Payments solution. In the UK, it has
been used by financial institutions to access the UK Faster Payments scheme
since its launch in 2008. Currently, more than half of the direct participants
of the UK's Faster Payments Scheme use ACI's solutions. Additionally, ACI has
customers using UP Immediate Payments to access Singapore FAST and Australian
NPP (New Payments Platform). ACI serves on the ISO 20022 Real-Time Payments
Group, the EPC Instant Payments Technology Group, payments and security task
forces for the U.S. Federal Reserve, and chairs the IPFA rules working group. 

Media Contact:

Dan Ring E-mail: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

Katrin Boettger (EMEA) E-mail: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments (UP) company, powers electronic payments
for more than 5,100 organizations around the world. More than 1,000 of the
largest financial institutions and intermediaries, as well as thousands of
global merchants, rely on ACI to execute $14 trillion each day in payments and
securities. In addition, myriad organizations utilize our electronic bill
presentment and payment services. Through our comprehensive suite of software
solutions delivered on customers' premises or through ACI's private cloud, we
provide real-time, immediate payments capabilities and enable the industry's
most complete omni-channel payments experience. To learn more about ACI, please
visit www.aciworldwide.com. You can also find us on Twitter @ACI_Worldwide. 

About Dedagroup

With a turnover of over $260 million and more than 1,600 employees, Dedagroup
is one of the most important players in the "Made in Italy" Information
Technology industry. It supports Companies, Public Authorities and Financial
Institutions in their IT and digital strategies with technological, application
and system integration skills. Since its creation in 2008, the Group has been
registering a steady growth and has internationalized its operations in Mexico,
the United States, France, and the Middle East. Dedagroup acts as a Digital Hub
with core competencies that integrate around the customers' needs to assist
them in their Digital Transformation. The "innogrative" strategy, the deep
knowledge of the Italian business context, the global vision and the
determination to constantly enhance skills and methodologies while preserving
operational agility make Dedagroup an ideal partner able to adapt the digital
strategy to the customer's specific context. Dedagroup has its headquarters in
Trento, but thanks to its branches in Italy and abroad, the Group supports over
3,600 customers worldwide. www.dedagroup.it/home-en 

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2017.
ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payment Systems, the ACI logo and all ACI product names
are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its
subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties'
trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. 

Product roadmaps are for informational purposes only and may not be
incorporated into a contract or agreement. The development release and timing
of future product releases remains at ACI's sole discretion. ACI is providing
the following information in accordance with ACI's standard product
communication policies. Any resulting features, functionality, and enhancements
or timing of release of such features, functionality, and enhancements are at
the sole discretion of ACI and may be modified without notice. All product
roadmap or other similar information does not represent a commitment to deliver
any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making a
purchasing decision. 

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/91a10c0a-2f08-4fd9-b771-cbffc
4de9c8b 

         Andrea Snyder
         ACI Worldwide
         6466754451
         [e-mail]